When it comes to a comparison between the two big giants of the anime industry, Kishimoto’s Naruto and Oda’s One Piece, it is evident that one has an edge over the other. As one fan mentioned (on Reddit), it is officially confirmed that Naruto is the most searched anime of all time on Google, as per Google’s Year in Search 2023 report:
Levels above everything else 🐐 byu/chunchunmaru1129 inNaruto
While a debate can easily be sparked between the fandoms over the popularity of both the massive titles, the Naruto series will always possess a few consistent edges that Oda failed to achieve in the One Piece anime series.
Naruto Is the Most Searched Anime on Google, and for Good Reason
When it comes to Masashi Kishimoto‘s Naruto series, it is, in fact, officially the most searched anime on Google despite its conclusion in 2017. While many fans and readers of the manga may think that it is purely because of the creativity of the narrative, it’s not. Yes, the narrative did play a huge role in the success, but not entirely.
For starters, we might have to call Kishimoto for being a visionary with his title choice, implementing a loophole for gaining search history credits. Naming the anime series and the protagonist the same has essentially created a double boost in searches. Whenever a fan or individual searches for either the main protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, or the anime itself, both searches add to a single keyword – ‘Naruto’.
While that was the technical ingenuity, let’s return to the narrative. Even though Naruto is set in a fictional world of ninjas and magical phenomena, the character was created with expressions and narrative that are way more relatable than those of Luffy or any others. In his childhood, or even as he grew up, Naruto expressed loneliness, happiness, sadness, anger, resilience, determination, and friendship; all natural and realistic emotions.
These particular emotional displays of Naruto had nothing to do with the fictional part of the narrative – ninja or magic, at least not directly. While Luffy had shown the same expressions, there was always a fictional factor to it with either magical creatures or fictional aspects of the anime.
What Did Oda’s One Piece Lacked That Kishimoto Did Right?
Luffy from One Piece | Credits: Toei Animation
Despite One Piece being an ongoing series, both anime and manga-wise, and Naruto ending almost 9 years ago, why is Naruto still more popular than Eiichiro Oda‘s One Piece? Several points can be discussed that Oda’s series lacked, but let’s stick to a few of the obvious ones.
First of all, the separation of the main character from the title. While this is completely a personal choice of a mangaka, this created the entity separation in searches that Kishimoto never faced. As per the narrative, the One Piece is the end goal of the series, and it makes common sense that people will not search for it so frequently when the series is at its early and mid-stages of the narrative.
Now, one of the most glaring differences: Naruto is a complete series, One Piece is not. A complete series means that the fans have a climax and an ending to the story rather than the anticipation of what might happen next. Furthermore, frequent breaks and hiatuses were taken in the OP series that broke the flow several times.
TITLENaruto/Naruto: ShippudenOne PieceCREATORMasashi KishimotoEiichiro OdaSTUDIOStudio PierrotToei AnimationRELEASE DATEOctober 3, 2002 (Naruto)February 15, 2007 (Naruto: Shippuden)October 20, 1999IMDb RATING8.4/10 (Naruto)8.7/10 (Naruto: Shippuden)9/10MAL RATING8.02/10 (Naruto)8.29/10 (Naruto: Shippuden)8.73WHERE TO WATCHCrunchyroll, Netflix, HuluCrunchyroll, Netflix
What are your thoughts on Naruto, and not One Piece, being the most searched anime title on Google? Let us know your opinions in the comments below.
All episodes of Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden are available to watch on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu.
The One Piece anime series is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
