Today’s article comes from several BrickNerd contributors, all experiencing LEGO One Piece in different ways. Some of us have been sailing with the Straw Hat Pirates for decades while others are just now setting foot on deck. Join us as we learn a bit about the manga, build some LEGO sets, and see how the experience of One Piece can differ drastically from one builder to the next.

One Piece From Many LEGO Pieces - Brian Hickey

In 1997, Eiichiro Oda debuted his manga, One Piece, in a monthly magazine called Weekly Shōnen Jump. What spawned from that issue is one of the largest global franchises Western audiences may not have heard of. The adventures of the protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, have spawned over 100 volumes with more than 1,000 chapters. It was first adapted for the screen in 1999 for an anime series that has continued to air over 1,000 episodes. Not only that, it has sold over half a billion copies in its history, safely securing the crown as the best-selling manga series of all time.

Despite its gargantuan reach, its popularity in Western culture has been lower than you’d expect. Only recently, starting with a 2023 live-action Netflix adaptation, has that pendulum started to swing the other way. Its cultural success has finally secured it the ultimate validation: a full product line of LEGO sets. But what if you want to dive into the source material while building your set? Where does one even start with a franchise having this much history?

What is One Piece?

The titular piece in One Piece is more than a single piece of treasure. Much like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, its contents are mysterious but very desirable. Its exact nature, even after thousands of episodes and issues, remains a mystery, but it’s generally understood to contain gold, jewels, and relics. It’s somewhat of a MacGuffin—the story is more about the search for the treasure than the treasure itself.

What is known about the treasure is that its former owner, the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, hid the treasure on the isle of Laugh Tale before his execution, and that whoever should find the treasure will become the next Pirate King.

His name is Monkey

Our protagonist is Monkey D. Luffy, and the story is about his search for the One Piece.

Monkey has Mr. Fantastic-like powers of stretchiness, thanks to eating a magical fruit called a Devil Fruit. With his trademark straw hat, a ship, and crew stacked with interesting side characters, he wants to find the One Piece to claim the crown of the next Pirate King. The story has a great cast of bad guys, with each story arc centered on a new island with a new foe for Monkey and his crew. From Buggy the Clown to Crocodile, there are a ton of fan-favorites.

Watch and Build

Out of the One Piece sets sent to BrickNerd from LEGO, I was provided with 75636 Windmill Village Hut for this article, and I wanted to watch the show while I built it. But where to even start? I did some research, and these seem like some good starting points:

Episode 1 - Romance Dawn - Episode 1 is always a good starting point, and in the first three episodes, we meet Monkey D. Luffy, understand his dream to find the One Piece, and see him gain his first crewmate, Zoro. It’s obviously the most natural starting point for newcomers to learn the tone, humor, and vibe of the series. It’s also the basis for the beginning of the Netflix live-action series, so you can compare them.
Episode 31 - The Arlong Park Arc - If, on the other hand, you prefer to jump straight into the action, this is a great starting point. It covers the character Nami’s backstory, has high-stakes battles, and brings the heart. If you like a story about the loyalty of a good crew, you’ll love this.
Episode 207 - The Davy Back Fight Arc - This arc is lighter, heavier on the comedy, and low-commitment. It’s basically a pirate Olympics, as the crew competes in a series of wild games, requiring creativity and cunning. It’s a fun watch without having to know too much previous lore.

As I opened the instruction booklet for the set and looked at Step 1, I knew I wanted to start from Episode 1.

This set contains Luffy, his crewmate Shanks, and Makina, a semi-maternal character for Luffy who tends bar at Party’s Bar, as depicted in the set. You also get the dragon fruit that gave Monkey his stretchiness. The roof comes off for better play access, and I think the set would make a great addition to any beach scene.

I don’t know that I can commit to watching hundreds of episodes, but having watched this intro arc, I’m definitely going to at least watch the others above. It’s a great show. So as I hand this off to a fellow BrickNerd contributor, perhaps this set did what it intended and hooked a new viewer at the beginning of their One Piece journey…

The One Piece is Real, So is LEGO’s Baratie - Henry Licklider

At the time of the reveal of LEGO One Piece, and right up until the line’s release, I knew very little about One Piece and was quite hesitant to engage with the property given the daunting 1,000+ episode anime. However, my defenses were worn down, and just before the launch of LEGO One Piece, I took the plunge and read the first 100 chapters of the manga in less than a week.

One of the key themes of One Piece is friendship. You have to have friends if you’re going to become King of the Pirates. With that idea of friendship fresh in my mind, and the new 75640 Baratie Floating Restaurant set in hand, there was no better way to celebrate the arrival of LEGO One Piece than to tackle this gigantic build with my friends (who I’d like to say are experts on the series). My friends, Dionny, Kenny and Christian all have very different backgrounds with LEGO which made building the Baratie a really unique experience.

Here are a few comments from each friend about One Piece and building the set:

Dionny: I was introduced to One Piece by my older brother. He would watch the anime when it came on TV. Out of the original crew, Zoro is definitely my favorite because I like swords. I've liked One Piece in the past because it was something I shared in common with my brother, and it gave us something to talk about often. My interest in it now is similar because it’s something we can talk to each other about. My only experience with LEGO is the little bit of the Baratie we built last night.

Kenny: I was first introduced to One Piece by a friend four years ago, and I’ve been watching ever since. What I love most is the development of the crew as the story progresses. Each member has powerful, inspiring moments as well as heart-wrenching ones. Of the original five Straw Hat crew members, my personal favorite is Zoro. His unwavering loyalty to Luffy and the crew is unmatched, and his quest to become the world’s greatest swordsman is truly epic. One of the key milestones on that journey—his duel with Mihawk—is a standout moment, and it is included in the Baratie set! I think the main appeal of One Piece lies in its incredible storytelling, driven by emotionally rich characters and set in a vast, multi-layered world that constantly surprises and evolves as you watch.

“I’m not the kind of fool who hunts rabbits with a cannon.”

I’ve been a die-hard LEGO fan since the age of five. My all-time favorites are the LEGO Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean sets. Seeing the One Piece live-action series receive official LEGO sets is a huge step for the anime community.

While many fan-made anime LEGO customs exist, they often don’t quite meet the design quality we expect from official LEGO. Choosing to base the sets on the live-action adaptations instead of the anime versions was a smart design choice that I think will really pay off.

Christian: I first heard about One Piece from friends at work. The progress of the main character, Monkey D. Luffy, became a regular part of downtime conversation with him. Of the Going Merry crew, I've always liked Sanji. His presence on the ship creates a strong bond that’s heavily tested later in the series. Plus, he's the perfect foil to Zoro. One Piece is ultimately about friendship; however, the story explores multiple aspects of the human condition. It never shies away from the traumatic experiences often found in childhood, but it always ends in a place of hope for the future.

In terms of LEGO, I've built a couple of the Nintendo sets including the 71411 Mighty Bowser. My appreciation for LEGO has skyrocketed as a result of, once again, discussion with friends. I am pleasantly surprised to see LEGO sets for an anime. It’s breaking new ground.

Dionny with his first complete build: Mihawk’s boat

As you can see and given the extremely varied backgrounds with LEGO my friends had, the overall build time for this set took quite a bit longer than it would have had I put together the Baratie myself—but the time spent with my friends made the two-day build time worth it. Seeing my friend Dionny build with LEGO for the first time was really special. My friends and I were quite impressed by the level of detail and craft found in this set.

What on Earth Is a Baratie?

The Baratie is a floating restaurant staffed with the toughest cooks in the ocean, run by Chef Zeff, a former pirate. The Baratie is also the setting for several key moments early in One Piece, namely Zoro’s defeat at the hands of the greatest swordsman, Mihawk; and Sanji—a chef on board the Baratie—is both introduced to the series and joins Luffy’s Straw Hat Pirates.

My friends and I were quite impressed by the level of detail and craft found in this set. It’s been some time since I’ve built such a large “D2C” (Direct to Consumer) set like the Baratie. It is definitely LEGO One Piece’s prestige offering. (I may have had a little fun with this LEGO Pirates set…)

From Anime to Live Action to Minifigure

The LEGO Group is not entirely unfamiliar with adapting anime-styled source materials to bricks. However, the success of these translations can be argued. Short-lived lines like Avatar: The Last Airbender, a series though not from Japan, were heavily inspired by anime, and LEGO’s efforts to translate the show’s characters to minifigures in the early 2000s left much to be desired.

Exo-Force, The LEGO Group’s in-house response to the growing interest in anime and manga in the 2000s, also tried to directly adapt the distinct features often found in anime series. Though I find minifigures like Takeshi charming in retrospect, they clash with the in-house style of other minifigures produced at the time, as well as contemporary minifigures today. And don’t get me started on the minifigures based on the 2009 Clone Wars series.

So where’s the balance? Is there a good way to translate an animated style for minifigures? I think LEGO One Piece provides part of that answer…

LEGO One Piece’s minifigures and sets are based not on Eiichiro Oda’s manga or the anime, but rather Netflix’s 2023 adaptation. Though I know that LEGO’s iterations of Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, Usopp and Nami are based on the actors and actresses that portrayed them in the Netflix show, given the design standards for minifigures today (after years of improving and perfecting, mind you), I’d argue that these figures capture the spirit of the characters found in the manga/anime.

Minifigures have an inherently unique style to them that make them stand out from other collectibles. LEGO’s minifigures found in their Disney sets do not adhere to their animated counterparts’ designs exactly in an effort to ensure they don’t clash with other figures produced for other themes, and minifigures like Cruella De Ville are pretty definitive adaptations of those characters in brick form.

I think that if LEGO were to translate Oda’s manga, or the One Piece anime directly, the minifigures wouldn’t look too far off from what we already have. On the other hand, LEGO’s Monkie Kid minifigures may also help to provide insight into how the Straw Hat Crew might have been translated directly from the manga/anime.

Given the style and direction of both Netlfix’s One Piece and The LEGO Group’s adaptation of these designs, I’m quite looking forward to how additional crew members of the Straw Hat Pirates like Tony Tony Chopper and Nico Robin will translate as minifigures.

But for now, it’s time to take a look at that iconic pirate ship!

The Going Merry - Andrew Pankratz

I’ve been watching the One Piece anime since pretty much the beginning—about 20 years ago! When Netflix came out with their live-action adaptation, I was a bit skeptical. I wondered how they could do justice to all the millions of details that make One Piece so epic: the massive, intricate world; the dynamic, endearing (and detestable) characters; and, of course, the heart encapsulated by the main character, Monkey D. Luffy, himself. I was so skeptical that I avoided watching it altogether—granted, not subscribing to Netflix at the time was probably a significant factor in my not watching...

But when BrickNerd was given the opportunity to check out the latest One Piece LEGO sets based on Netflix’s live-action adaptation, I jumped at the chance. Much to my delight, the 75639 Going Merry Pirate Ship sailed my way as one of the most iconic sets. So I resubscribed to Netflix and put the show on in the background while I started my build.

Going Merry LEGO set pouches and instructions. — Getting started!

As with the show, I had high expectations for the LEGO set. The Going Merry isn't just a ship, after all; it’s a member of the crew (or “nakama” (仲間) as Luffy calls them in the anime/manga) in its own right. And just like how the Netflix adaptation needed to skillfully distill hundreds of episodes down to just eight, LEGO needed to capture a lot of personality and camaraderie in just 1,376 pieces.

The Netflix adaptation hit the main points of the first few arcs quite well, I feel. The character development may have felt slightly rushed compared to the anime, but not so much that any character lost what made them truly unique. And no crewmate (presently introduced in the live-action adaptation) was forgotten in the Going Merry LEGO set, thankfully! Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji all made it aboard.

Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Luffy and Zoro LEGO minifigures standing in front of the Going Merry LEGO set. — Nami, sanji, usopp, luffy, zoro and merry

As for the camaraderie, I thought LEGO handled things quite aptly—with food, of course!

LEGO chest and cart filled with LEGO food. — Of course the treasure chest is filled with food!

Whether it was the treasure chest of food or the emphasis on the kitchen, LEGO gave a decent nod to the theme of feasting (perhaps found more in the anime than the live action).

Sanji, Lufy, and Zoro LEGO minifigures in the Going Merry LEGO set's kitchen. — Sanji, luffy and zoro in the Going merry’s kitchen

Of course, it’s not all about food. The Going Merry wouldn’t be complete without at least two sweet spots: Nami’s satsuma trees (although, there really should be three instead of just the two) and Luffy’s favorite seat atop the figurehead.

Nami LEGO minifigure in her nook, including her satsuma trees, aboard the Going Merry LEGO set (left). Luffy sitting atop his favorite spot on the Going Merry figurehead (right). — Nami with her satsuma trees (LEFT); Luffy atop the going merry figurehead (right)

Like with the live adaptation, The Going Merry LEGO set skillfully hits all the main points. With Netflix renewing One Piece for two more seasons, I’m hopeful more sets will be sailing our way (I’m especially hopeful for a Tony Tony Chopper minifigure)!

Completed Going Merry LEGO set with Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji and Nami minifigures. — to the grand line; I’m going to be king of the pirates!

So as the resident One Piece expert here at BrickNerd, I have to say that the set did both shows justice. And the set had the unintended consequence of me subscribing to Netflix too, so win-win?

Sailing On

Whether you’ve been following One Piece since its very first chapter, just jumped aboard with Netflix’s live-action series, or discovered the world through a LEGO set, it’s clear that the Straw Hat Pirates have found a new port in our LEGO hobby. Sets like the Going Merry, the Baratie, and Windmill Village Hut offer a new way to connect with the story, but one that feels natural and connects to the themes of friendship and creativity throughout the show.

Here at BrickNerd, this collaboration between printed manga, anime, live-action adaptation, and LEGO design was too intriguing to ignore. It’s a rare moment when four different storytelling mediums converge, and seeing how each resonates with builders from different backgrounds is what sparked the idea for this article.

And the voyage isn’t over yet. Coming up, we’ll be diving into two more parts of this LEGO One Piece adventure—one exploring LEGO clowns and another stretching the limits of what a minifigure’s arms can do.

LEGO One Piece sets are available now for varying prices in the US, EU, CA, UK, and AU.

DISCLAIMER: These sets were provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors.

What is your experience with One Piece? Let us know in the comments below.

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