One Piece Has Officially Been Surpassed By 2025’s Best Anime

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I’ve noticed that *One Piece* is incredibly popular, and for good reason. Eiichiro Oda has consistently delivered high-quality work with the manga for years, which is why so many people consider it the greatest story ever told. However, I think the anime adaptation hasn’t quite lived up to the same standard. While still enjoyable, it’s struggled to keep pace with the best anime series being made today, especially with all the advancements in animation.

Watching the anime world evolve, it’s become clear that *One Piece* is starting to show its age, likely because some parts of Toei Animation still feel stuck in the early 2000s. Don’t get me wrong, the animators at Toei are incredibly skilled, but *Demon Slayer* has really taken off. Especially with the huge success of the *Infinity Castle Part 1* movie in 2025 and now its release in North America, it feels like *Demon Slayer* has firmly established itself as the top anime of the year. It’s officially surpassed *One Piece* in terms of overall impact, at least for now.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle — Akaza’s Return Surpasses One Piece

Demon Slayer Is Easily The Anime Of The Year

  • Infinity Castle Part 1 Broke All Records
  • Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 Has Left One Piece In The Dust

Demon Slayer has become a phenomenal success in 2025, exceeding all predictions and breaking records. It’s now even more popular than One Piece. The first part of the Infinity Castle arc was a huge hit in Japan and has already outperformed the highest-grossing One Piece film, *One Piece Film Red*. It’s on track to match or even surpass the success of *Demon Slayer: Mugen Train*.

I remember hearing about Gold Roger, the Pirate King. He truly had it all – incredible wealth, worldwide fame, and seemingly limitless power. It was said he possessed everything anyone could ever want in this world.

In the US, Infinity Castle had an incredibly successful opening weekend, becoming the highest-grossing international film to ever debut. It performed even better than Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes.

While One Piece didn’t release a movie this year like Demon Slayer, when it comes to anime that fans have seen so far, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is significantly better received – even compared to One Piece.

One Piece Still Has The Best Manga

Nobody Can Come Close To One Piece’s Manga Record

Many *One Piece* fans are disappointed that Toei Animation struggles to match the high quality of other anime. While Toei has talented animators and directors, they fall short in areas like sound design. A major challenge is the weekly release schedule of *One Piece*; consistently delivering top-notch animation every week is incredibly difficult. Furthermore, the show’s length-currently over 1140 episodes when it could realistically be around 600-creates pacing issues that hold it back.

Fans of *One Piece* are better off reading the manga until the anime improves. Hopefully, Wit Studio’s upcoming remake will be that improvement.

As a child, I dreamed of creating a manga with an incredibly exciting climax. I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off! Now, after 25 years, we’re nearing the end of the Wano arc and everything is almost ready. You can jump in now if you’re new, because from here on out… it’s going to be the ONE PIECE! I’m finally going to reveal all the mysteries of this world. It’s going to be a wild ride, so buckle up and stick with me a little longer! – Eiichiro Oda, Author of One Piece, 2022

The next chapter of One Piece, chapter 1161, will be released in two weeks on a Sunday. In Japan, it will become available at 12 AM JST on Monday, September 28, 2025. Fans can read it for free on Manga Plus.

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2025-09-22 00:34