While 2025 has been a strong year for anime globally, one familiar debate has once again split the internet. Fans of One Piece and Naruto fans are clashing over who truly deserves the title of anime’s #1 hero. With One Piece nearing three decades of serialization, its protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is often hailed as Shōnen Jump’s greatest protagonist. But does that automatically make him anime’s greatest hero?

Although Monkey D. Luffy is undeniably popular, there is reason to believe that he is not even the most popular protagonist among the Big Three. This is because, while One Piece boasts a massive fanbase globally, its cultural reach is nowhere near that of Naruto. Does popularity determine which protagonist is better? No. However, it is a solid indicator of which of the two is a much bigger series, inadvertently featuring anime’s #1 hero.

Ice Spice Sparked the Most Recent One Piece vs. Naruto Debate

As surprising as it may sound, the most recent One Piece vs. Naruto debate was sparked by a short video clipped from an Ice Spice Twitch stream. The American rapper and songwriter was outside a closed Shōnen Jump Shop when she saw a Monkey D. Luffy life-size statue inside and mistakenly called it “One Punch.”

The rapper quickly realized that she had made a mistake identifying Luffy. However, moments later, when she saw a Naruto statue, she instantly identified the protagonist from the Masashi Kishimoto series.

Although this is not a huge deal, it sparked a discourse online. Naruto fans took the opportunity to describe how big their favorite series was in comparison to One Piece. According to them, only people who watch anime regularly know who Luffy is, while Naruto’s popularity exceeds just being an anime, making him an actual icon.

Not to mention, even VIZ Media noticed the discourse and tried to chime in. However, their involvement only pointed out how, despite Netflix doing a live-action series for One Piece and marketing the franchise heavily in the west, the Eiichiro Oda series still hasn’t gotten close to the motion carried by Naruto and Dragon Ball naturally.

Naruto’s Online Popularity Has Been Outshining One Piece for Years

While One Piece’s Egghead Arc has been going great, its most recent “peak” moment was from the Wano Arc when Luffy activated his Gear 5 transformation for the very first time. One Piece fans assumed that the moment would “break the internet” like Dragon Ball Super did when Goku activated his Ultra Instinct for the very first time.

Unfortunately, while there was a lot of hype on the internet, the moment did not come close to that of Dragon Ball Super. What made it worse was how it did not even surpass some of Naruto’s big moments at the time as well.

Before One Piece aired Luffy’s “Gear 5 episode,” Toei Animation released a special teaser. Hours later, Naruto announced its special four-episode anime to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Surprisingly, despite Luffy’s Gear 5 being one of One Piece’s biggest moments, the teaser received far less attention than the Naruto announcement.

Even after the Gear 5 episode released, Toei Animation’s video for the same on YouTube only received about one-third of the viewership of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations video of Baryon Mode: Naruto vs. Isshiki Otsutsuki. While the fight was indeed good, the moment should have been nowhere close to One Piece’s “peak.” Nevertheless, Naruto’s online popularity outshined the Eiichiro Oda series.

Naruto’s Streaming Numbers Make One Piece’s Look Small

As fans must remember, Naruto Shippuden ended back in 2017. So, realistically, the anime’s streaming numbers should have dropped over the years. However, to everyone’s surprise, the Naruto franchise was the most watched anime franchise on Netflix between January and June 2025 with over 40 million views.

In comparison, while One Piece made the list, it was only the fourth most watched anime on Netflix behind the Studio Ghibli and Detective Conan franchises with over 28 million views. While One Piece’s views aren’t low, they are nowhere close to those of Naruto.

Similarly, while One Piece wasn’t made available everywhere when it first started streaming on Crunchyroll, Naruto dominated the streaming platform’s numbers globally.

According to a report published by Crunchyroll, Naruto Shippuden was the most watched anime globally between 2010 and 2019. The anime was number 1 in North and Central America, The Middle East, and Asia. In the meantime, Dragon Ball Super, Black Clover, My Hero Academia, and Hunter x Hunter dominated the other regions.

Although the Eiichiro Oda series now has more viewership than Naruto on Crunchyroll, it is to be considered that the Masashi Kishimoto anime is no longer airing new episodes. Hence, Naruto’s streaming numbers were bound to drop, something that surprisingly did not happen on Netflix.

Naruto Has a Bigger Claim Over Luffy as “Anime’s #1 Hero”

Monkey D. Luffy is undeniably one of anime’s greatest protagonists and One Piece’s achievement in long-form storytelling is unmatched. However, when the discussion shifts from narrative quality to cultural impact, Naruto Uzumaki holds a stronger claim to the title of anime’s #1 hero.

The fact that Naruto Shippuden ended in 2017 and is still culturally dominant is what separates it from One Piece. While One Piece is currently thriving and will indeed close the gap soon, as it stands, Naruto Uzumaki is a much bigger protagonist than Monkey D. Luffy.

First Film

Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

Latest Film

Boruto: Naruto the Movie

First TV Show

Naruto

Latest TV Show

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

First Episode Air Date

October 3, 2002

Cast

Junko Takeuchi, Maile Flanagan, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Nana Mizuki, Hideo Ishikawa, Yûko Sanpei

Naruto is a franchise spawned from the manga series penned by Masashi Kishimoto that began in 1999. Generating several tv series, games, movies, and more, Naruto follows the exploits of a young outcast ninja harboring the spirit of a demon fox who seeks to become the Hokage, the leader of his ninja village, to break the stigma against him. Upon the conclusion of the initial series, Naruto expanded into Boruto, following many series protagonists’ children and returning faces.

Created by

Eiichiro Oda

First Film

One Piece: The Movie

Cast

Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Ôtani, Yuriko Yamaguchi

Video Game(s)

One Piece: Unlimited World Red, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, One Piece: World Seeker, One Piece Odyssey

Character(s)

Monkey D. Luffy, Roronora Zoro, Nami (One Piece), Nico Robin, Usopp (One Piece), Vinsmoke Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Franky (One Piece), Jimbei (One Piece)