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Netflix Bets Big on a 29-Year-Old Pirate Story
The world's best-selling comic is heading for its ending and three versions of it are running at once.
Imagine a television series that started before Google existed and still has not shown its final episode. That is One Piece.
It began in 1997 as a Japanese comic, written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda. The story follows a young pirate named Luffy, who sails the sea looking for a legendary treasure. Whoever finds it becomes King of the Pirates. Along the way he gathers a crew of friends, and much of the story focuses on them: where they came from, what they owe each other, and the corrupt world government they keep encountering.
It is the best-selling comic ever made. More than 500 million copies, ahead of Batman and Superman. People who started reading it as schoolchildren are now nearly forty and still reading.
After 29 years, the ending has finally begun. In April, Oda revealed the face of the story's hidden villain a ruler who secretly controls the whole world from behind the scenes, and who had been kept in shadow for eight years. Fans had waited most of a decade for that single drawing.
The cartoon version has changed too. It had aired almost every week since 1999. This year the studio, Toei Animation, cut it to about 26 episodes a year instead of up to 50, releasing them in two blocks. Fewer episodes mean more time to make each one. The gamble paid off: the new episodes are being called the best the show has ever looked.
Netflix is now funding two more versions on top of that. Its version with real actors returned for a second season in March, and a third is confirmed for 2027. And in February 2027 comes a complete remake of the cartoon, starting again from page one, made by the studio behind Attack on Titan. That last one has an obvious purpose: a newcomer can start there instead of facing more than 1,100 episodes.
The Empty Chair That Wasn't Empty
In One Piece, the world is secretly ruled by Imu, a mysterious figure seated on the supposedly empty throne. Even the five Elders kneel before Imu, whose existence dates back 800 years. Imu has the power to erase entire countries and rewrite history. After eight years of mystery, fans were finally shown Imu's face in recent episodes — a major revelation that has fueled speculation and signalled that One Piece is moving closer to its long-awaited final chapter.
Back After Five Years And This Time It Can Finish
Five years ago, one of the biggest cartoon series in Japan simply stopped in the middle of a fight. No ending, no explanation on screen.
Black Clover is about Asta, a boy born with no magic in a world where magic decides everything — a kid with nothing, out-shouting and out-working people born with every advantage. By 2021 it had run 170 episodes in a row and was finally getting the reviews fans always thought it deserved.
Then the screen went dark.
The reason was almost funny. The cartoon had been made so fast that it caught up with the comic it was copying from. There was nothing left to turn into episodes. The show had not failed — it had overtaken its own source.
Fans spent five years asking the same question at every convention: when is it coming back?
They have the answer. Same studio, same voice actors, returning in October on the streaming service Crunchyroll.
And this time it cannot happen again. The comic itself finished in May, after 11 years, with its final book coming out this month. The story it is chasing has already reached the end — so the cartoon has somewhere to run to.
The Anime That Moved to the Cinema
Demon Slayer is about a boy protecting the monster he loves.
It started in 2016 as a comic by Koyoharu Gotouge. A kind-hearted boy called Tanjiro comes home to find his family killed by demons and his little sister turned into one. Instead of killing her, he carries her on his back and goes looking for a cure.
The cartoon version arrived in 2019, and one episode changed everything. It was so beautifully drawn that people who had never watched a Japanese cartoon in their lives shared it online. The comic went on to sell more than 150 million copies.
Then came the decision that changed the business. In 2020, instead of making a new season for television, the studio put the next part of the story in cinemas as a film. Until then, films like this had been optional extras you could skip. This one was the real next chapter, so fans had to buy a ticket. In the middle of the pandemic, it became the highest-earning Japanese film ever made. Every studio in Japan took notes.
Now the ending is being told the same way — as three cinema films. The first opened in July 2025 and has taken $778.9 million around the world, more than any Japanese cartoon film in history.
The catch is the wait. Part two will not arrive before 2027, and the final film is expected in 2029.
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