One Piece Age Rating: Is It Suitable for All Audiences?

One Piece is one of the most famous and successful manga series of all time, and Netflix recently released a live-action adaptation to widespread acclaim. Plenty of kids are interested in the show, but is One Piece safe for kids? Find out about the One Piece age rating and content in this guide for parents!

Contents:

• What Is One Piece? 
• Ratings And Parents Guide 
• Should You Let Your Kids Watch One Piece? 
• Ways to Keep Your Child Safe Online 
• One Piece Is Not for Young Audiences
• FAQ

What Is One Piece?

«One Piece», 1997

One Piece is a Japanese manga series that has been running since 1997. It was written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, and in 2023, it was adapted as a live-action TV series for Netflix. The series closely follows the story of the manga, charting the adventures of the main characters—the Straw Hat Pirates—in their quest for a mysterious treasure called “One Piece”.

«One Piece», 2023

The manga has been very popular for years. It’s one of the best-selling series of all time, attracting fans from around the world and spawning an entire media empire. The Netflix adaptation has also proven popular, hailed by fans for its faithfulness to the series, impressive casting, and fun-filled episodes.

Ratings And Parents Guide

The first thing that parents typically look at when deciding if a show is suitable for their kids or not is the rating. So, what is the age rating for One Piece? One Piece has been given a TV-14 rating. This indicates that the show is primarily aimed at those above the age of 14 and may not be suitable for anyone below 14, due to certain elements of subject matter.

Specifically, One Piece was given a TV-14 rating due to scenes of strong language, nudity, self-harm, smoking, and graphic violence. Violence is quite a large part of the show, with many scenes involving fistfights and battles with an array of weapons, like swords, guns, knives, and so on. Blood is often shown on-screen, along with the consumption of alcohol.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of scenes from the show that parents may consider to be unsuitable for younger viewers:

• A public execution involves a man stabbed in the back with swords.
• A young boy commits an act of self-harm using a knife.
• A pirate murders multiple people with a mace.
• A person is brutally murdered with the mace, with large amounts of blood shown on the screen.
• A man is split in half at the end of a sword fight.
• A young boy uses a wide range of curse words.
• A woman commits an act of self-harm.
• Severed limbs and a severed head are shown on screen.
• A nude man is shown on screen.
• A person is stretched to an extreme degree.
• A person’s body is divided into multiple pieces.
• A teenager gets trapped in a box underwater.
• A large sea creature attacks and bites people.
• A person is brutally stabbed with multiple knives.
• A large battle at the end of the season involves lots of death and violence.

Note that this list does not cover the full length of the show. There are various other scenes that may be considered disturbing, violent, mature, and unsuitable for children. In general, it’s wise for parents to consider watching the show themselves beforehand to determine whether or not it’s safe to share with their kids.

Should You Let Your Kids Watch One Piece?

Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com

So, taking the rating into account and the various graphic scenes listed above, should you allow your children to watch One Piece? Well, that’s a decision that is up to each parent. Some may decide that the show is suitable for their kids, perhaps with supervision or discussion around some of the violent elements. Others may feel that the show is simply not right for their children.

A lot of young people are interested in the show, just as many young people have enjoyed the manga in the past. And it does have many redeeming qualities that may make parents consider letting their children watch it. For example, many of the themes of the show are positive—it focuses a lot on friendship, loyalty, justice, morality, and the idea of following one’s dreams.

While the heroes of the show may be parents, they often exhibit a sense of fair play and morality, and strong, family-like bonds form between the members of the crew. Even though each person has their dreams and goals, they all share a common purpose and often strive to help and defend one another.

There are also many sacrifices and selfless acts depicted in the show, and the general story involves the crew having to repeatedly overcome adversity and come together to beat the odds when difficult situations present themselves. Young viewers can learn a lot of valuable lessons from watching the show and seeing how the characters behave and interact.

At the same time, as explained above, the show still contains quite a lot of violence and scenes of a questionable nature, which could be interpreted poorly by young viewers. The characters are often shown using violence to achieve their ends, and many scenes are quite gruesome, even though the show is regularly depicted in a cartoonish way.

Parents therefore need to weigh up the pros and cons of the show. On the one hand, it’s a fun piece of pop culture, beloved by many teens and young adults, with some good lessons to share. On the other hand, it shows quite a lot of violence and other forms of mature content that have caused it to receive the aforementioned TV-14 rating.

Ways to Keep Your Child Safe Online

Kids360 app

One Piece is far from the only show that is available on streaming services like Netflix and that may not be suitable for young viewers. Streaming platforms have many other shows and movies that are not recommended to be seen by children or those under a certain age, and parents often need to take steps to monitor or control what their kids are able to see.

• Child Accounts: A lot of big streaming services, including Netflix, feature the option to create child accounts. These accounts have restricted access to certain types of content, including shows like One Piece that have certain ratings. Setting up an account for your kids could therefore be the simplest way to stop them from watching certain shows.
• Supervision: Of course, nothing can replace good old-fashioned parental supervision. By monitoring your children while they use devices like phones, computers, tablets, and smart TVs, you can see exactly what they’re using them for, which sites and apps they’re accessing, and what kind of content they’re seeing.
• Communication: It’s always a good idea to communicate with your kids, talking about some of the risks and dangers online and talking about mature content in movies and shows, like One Piece. This can help you get an idea of how your kids feel about certain kinds of content and what sorts of effects it might have on them.
• Apps: Many parents also rely on handy parental control apps, like Kids360. Kids360 is a useful app that you can download and start using today to protect your children online. It lets you control exactly which apps your kids have access to, blocking unsuitable apps and limiting the amount of screen time they spend on other apps.

One Piece Is Not for Young Audiences

Yiorgos GR/Shutterstock.com

Overall, while One Piece may be a popular show among the younger generations, it’s clear to see that it’s not suitable for the youngest viewers. Young teens may be fine to watch the show, but younger children could be easily frightened, confused, or negatively influenced by some of the violent scenes, curse words, and shocking content.

FAQ

Can a 12-year-old watch One Piece?

Potentially, but the show’s rating is TV-14, which means it’s primarily aimed at audiences aged 14 and above. A mature and sensible 12-year-old may be able to enjoy the show without negative effects from its mature content, but parents should be careful, as One Piece contains a lot of violence.

Is it OK for a 13-year-old to watch One Piece?

The rating for One Piece is TV-14, so a 13-year-old is close to the recommended age range, but still not quite there. It may be best to wait until they turn 14 before watching the show, but mature 13-year-olds may be able to enjoy One Piece, as long as their parents are happy to let them see the violent and mature scenes.

Should I let my 8-year-old watch One Piece?

In general, it’s not recommended for children as young as 8 to watch One Piece. The show is aimed at audiences aged 14 and above. It contains a lot of violence and other mature subject matter which is typically not considered suitable for younger children.

The picture on the front page: by Netflix