Popverse's top stories of the day

• Inside Anson Mount's long journey to be Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Captain Pike, and how he got the blessing of the family of original Pike actor Jeffrey Hunter
• MEMBERS ONLY: Watch the 20th anniversary Serenity reunion panel from Seattle's ECCC 2025 with Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, and Sean Maher
• ECCC '25 Recap: Greetings from Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con... Sincerely, Popverse

If you had asked us a few years ago what the most impossible feats in anime were, we would have said creating a faithful adaptation of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki and seeing the One Piece English dub catch up to the Japanese broadcast before the show ended. Turns out we were (mostly) right about the first one but, thanks to a long hiatus and a final push from the localization team, we’re prepared to admit we were wrong about the second. Before the One Piece anime returns on April 6, the English dub will have finally caught up to the Japanese broadcast.

Unlike seasonal anime, One Piece dubbed episodes typically drop in batches. The next batch will be released on March 18, 2025 with episodes 1109-1122 of One Piece. This represents the first time that every episode of One Piece has had an official English dub, making it more accessible to fans in the US than ever before. The voice director for the English dub of One Piece, Emily Fajardo, called it an accomplishment “18 years in the making” and thanked the cast and crew of over 1500 people over the years for making it possible. In her words, this represents “the largest English dubbing effort in anime history.”

And you know what? She is right. This is a massive accomplishment for the team behind the One Piece dub. In all my years covering One Piece, I never thought I would see the day. Sure, it took the anime going on its longest hiatus ever, but it is still wild that the series will, for a few weeks, be completely dubbed in English. Because of the unique release schedule of the One Piece anime, it felt like we would have to wait until they finally stopped making the show for the dub to catch up. 

The bad news is that this victory is likely to be short-lived. When new episodes return on April 6, 2025, there is no indication from Toei or Crunchyroll that they will be dubbed immediately. Most likely, they will wait until there is another batch of episodes to record to bring the actors back in, during which time even more episodes of One Piece will be released in Japan. However, we’re willing to let them all savor this moment for now. They’ve earned it.

THE ONE PIECE IS REAL...ly important to Popverse! That's why we've put together the key articles to keep your fandom of the manga-turned-anime-turned-live-action-show alive:

• How to watch One Piece One Piece in chronological and release order (All 1,100+ episodes plus the movies!)
• When the next episode of One Piece is coming
• The One Piece English cast shared the life lessons they've learned playing the Straw Hats for nearly 20 years
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect hero for the dark times ahead
• Every difference between the live-action One Piece and the original manga
• One Piece Gear 5 Form: Everything we know about Luffy's latest transformation
• Wondering what ethnicity and nationality the One Piece pirates are? Here is what Oda himself has to say
• Ranking the One Piece anime's arcs, from best to worst
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• The English cast of One Piece explain what they love about Eiichiro Oda's storytelling - "He's a genius!"