Naruto Is Beating One Piece on Netflix—11 Years After the Finale

Naruto vs One Piece has fueled more forum wars than I can count, but 2025 handed a very public W to the Leaf. Even 11 years after Shippuden wrapped, Naruto just topped Netflix’s anime watch-time charts for the first half of the year. Yes, really.

Netflix numbers, January–June 2025

• Naruto leads with 45 million hours watched across its seasons
• Spots 2–4 are Studio Ghibli heavy hitters like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle
• Detective Conan and Pokemon also rank ahead of One Piece
• One Piece lands at No. 5 with 28 million hours, and here’s the wrinkle: on Netflix, only the recent Egghead Island episodes are available. Older arcs are missing due to licensing, which absolutely kneecaps its numbers on this platform

'What's the point of debate when the anime which ended 11 years ago still dominating the era'

Look, the ranking is what it is: a Netflix metric for a six-month window. But the fact that a completed series is outrunning the biggest ongoing shonen on the service is a flex. Limited One Piece library or not, this is still a headline-grabber.

The bigger picture beyond Netflix

This isn’t a one-off blip. Back in the 2010s, Naruto Shippuden was the show that kept popping up at the top of Crunchyroll charts, region after region, long after its biggest arcs had already wrapped. That momentum never really died.

Then there’s the business side. TV Tokyo’s financial report for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2026 (April 1 – September 30, 2025) put Naruto at No. 1 in anime licensing sales by title. The rest of the top five: Boruto, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, and Bleach. If you follow the money, Naruto still travels.

And if you look at various popularity surveys and polls over the years, the trend holds: nostalgia, a giant global fanbase, loud character loyalty, and the kind of emotional arcs that hit just as hard on a rewatch. Fans keep showing up.

Perspective check for the pirate crew

One Piece is not fading. Far from it. The anime is surging with new episodes, and in Japan’s manga market, One Piece has been the long-standing sales king. Naruto never passed it in print, and that gap has stayed steady.

Ratings snapshot if you like scoreboards: on MyAnimeList, Naruto sits around 8.02 (Naruto) and 8.28 (Shippuden), while One Piece hovers near 8.73. IMDb has Naruto at roughly 8.4/8.7 (Naruto/Shippuden) and One Piece at 9.0. Rotten Tomatoes? Naruto around 81%/86% vs One Piece at about 92%. So yeah, the Straw Hats are still beloved.

So, how much does this Netflix win matter?

It’s a real feather in the headband for Naruto fans. The Netflix library caveat for One Piece is a big one, but a win is a win, and it says a lot about Naruto’s staying power that it can still run the table against the current crop.

Bottom line: the legacy isn’t just intact; it’s loud. If you want to revisit the saga, all previously released Naruto episodes are streaming on Crunchyroll. Enjoy the victory lap.