Gol D. Roger was known as the 'Pirate King', the strongest and most infamous being to have sailed the Grand Line. The capture and execution of Roger by the World Government brought a change throughout the world. His last words before his death revealed the existence of the greatest treasure in the world, One Piece. It was this revelation that brought about the Grand Age of Pirates, men who dreamed of finding One Piece-which promises an unlimited amount of riches and fame-and quite possibly the pinnacle of glory and the title of the Pirate King. Enter Monkey D. Luffy, a 17-year-old boy who defies your standard definition of a pirate. Rather than the popular persona of a wicked, hardened, toothless pirate ransacking villages for fun, Luffy's reason for being a pirate is one of pure wonder: the thought of an exciting adventure that leads him to intriguing people and ultimately, the promised treasure. Following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, Luffy and his crew travel across the Grand Line, experiencing crazy adventures, unveiling dark mysteries and battling strong enemies, all in order to reach the most coveted of all fortunes-One Piece.
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When One Piece Film: Red was gearing up for release, the weekly anime handed its opening slot over to the movie's own theme, 'New Genesis,' for a short run of episodes. It only aired that way in the Japanese broadcast due to licensing restrictions, making it a fairly rare case of a movie song briefly taking over the TV series it was promoting.
Mackenyu, who plays Roronoa Zoro in Netflix's live-action adaptation, comes from action movie royalty. He's the son of the late Sonny Chiba, the martial artist famous for the Street Fighter film series, and had already built his own reputation doing physical roles in Rurouni Kenshin and Fullmetal Alchemist before picking up Zoro's three swords.
Mackenyu's real martial arts background caused an unexpected problem on the Netflix set. Showrunner Steven Maeda has said the stunt team actually had to slow him down during fight choreography because his natural speed and skill were outpacing what the sequences were designed for.
According to Netflix's own viewership report, the live-action series was the most-watched show on the entire platform for the second half of 2023, pulling in 71.6 million views and over 541 million hours watched. It beat out big-budget originals and other established franchises to take the top spot.
The live-action premiere didn't build an audience slowly, it exploded immediately. In just four days after its August 2023 release, the show had already logged 140.1 million hours viewed globally, making it Netflix's most-watched title in the world that week by a wide margin.
Netflix's One Piece wasn't a quick turnaround project. The series received a straight-to-series order all the way back in January 2020, and actual filming didn't start until January 2022, wrapping that August, meaning fans waited well over three years between the announcement and the first episode airing.
Universal Studios Japan turned one of its existing coasters into a full One Piece experience. The 'Hollywood Dream the Ride' was retrofitted with Straw Hat voices, sound effects and story beats synced to the ride, turning a standard theme park coaster into what the park calls a 'story coaster' built entirely around the crew's adventures.
Universal Studios Japan's One Piece Premier Show has become an annual fixture, running as a summer event nearly every year since 2007. Over the years it's pulled in well over a million visitors, complete with fireworks, live stunts and a rotating cast of villains for the Straw Hats to face down on stage.
As part of the Universal Studios Japan collaboration, guests can eat at 'Sanji's Pirate Restaurant,' a dining spot themed entirely around the Straw Hats' resident chef. It's a rare case of an anime character getting his own functioning restaurant rather than just a themed menu item at an existing eatery.
UNIQLO's UT label first teamed up with One Piece for the franchise's 20th anniversary, and it's become a recurring partnership rather than a one-off. The brand has continued releasing themed T-shirt collections tied to specific arcs, including drops built around the Egghead and Elbaph story arcs years later.
