‘You’d better start watching ‘One Piece’: Could ongoing strikes cause anime to explode in popularity?

In 2007, the entertainment industry was hit with the harshest and most defining strike American television had ever faced. Today, we face a similar fate ahead with the current ongoing strikes, and perhaps, it is time to find a new hyper-fixation. Namely, One Piece.

The idea came from the user @neuro_d_teacher1, who expertly pointed out that most television series are receiving immeasurable delays resulting from the strikes by the Writers Guild of America, which was recently joined by the Screen Actors’ Guild. The 2007 strike, which went on for over 100 days in total, lasted about long enough for anyone to watch the entirety of One Piece. Honestly, if you have yet to jump on the greatest adventure in the world, the timing could not be better.

All jokes aside, and as much as I want to spread the word about One Piece, the ongoing and absolutely necessary strikes will once again pose a ginormous change in the world of entertainment — for better and for worse. On one hand, our favorite television series will likely head in two future directions: they will either be delayed or ultimately, if they opt to continue, the quality will surely drop to unprecedented lows. As the TikTok user wisely said, we should all get used to watching reruns and old shows.

At the same time, it may just give an unlikely business the chance to see a surge in the West, and that’s none other than anime. With most anime series hailing from Japan, the country naturally does not face the same fate as most American television shows, meaning that in the end, it may not be a bad idea to consider getting into One Piece once and for all. After all, if you start now, you only have 1068 episodes to go.

Of course, this isn’t to say that the Japanese workforce doesn’t have its own flaws. Animators are often overworked and underpaid; the country is facing another surge in COVID-19 cases, and of course, there is still a very obvious gap when it comes to voice actors’ wages. Generally, this business is a fickle mountain to climb, and ultimately, it may also suffer the consequences of ongoing inequality in the workforce.

At the end of the day, anime will likely see a surge as more and more people seek quality content that isn’t being placed in jeopardy by anything that is currently happening in the United States. So buckle up, grab a few buckets of popcorn, and try your best to get caught up in the biggest anime in the world.