One Piece fans are going to have to prepare for a somewhat disappointing March, as Netflix will be removing another of its One Piece anime titles from its catalog.

Via What's on Netflix, One Piece Film: Strong World will be removed from the service on March 15, unfortunately leaving U.S. viewers without easy access to watch the movie. Strong World is a notable entry to the franchise for several reasons, including being one of the few One Piece films that had Eiichiro Oda himself as the writer. As with many of the franchise's movies, Strong World was well-received, opening with over one billion yen over its domestic opening weekend. It also opened on 188 screens and sold out 103 of those showings throughout the weekend. This led to the film's per-screen average being the record for a nationwide release in Japan at the time, with an average of 5.52 million yen.

Strong World premiered in 2009 in Japan, in the middle of the manga's release of the "Marineford Arc." However, the movie was set several arcs earlier, roughly between the "Thriller Bark Arc" and the "Sabaody Archipelago Arc," with a few plot conveniences to allow the movie to be an enjoyable watch. Notably, Brook is a member of the Straw Hats during the movie, but Zoro does not appear to be dealing with his injuries sustained at the end of "Thriller Bark," which he nonetheless carries through the next several story arcs.

While One Piece Film: Strong World is an older title, it still has many notable firsts for the series when it comes to the movie side of the franchise. As noted above, Strong World was the first One Piece film to be written by Oda, but his involvement in the release of this film did not stop there. Most notably, in preparation for the movie, Oda wrote Strong World Volume 0, which contained a chapter of manga focusing on the characters seen in the movie, as well as events that happened roughly 20 years before the start of Luffy's adventure. The volume also contained art pieces and other such extras. The events of Chapter 0 were later adapted for the anime series as well, titled Episode 0, which was released as an OVA in 2010 and later used as a celebration in the lead-up to the release of One Piece Film: Red.

Strong World is also notable among fans for the glimpse it offers into the past lore of the series, which -- especially at the point it was released -- was still mostly shrouded in mystery. While plenty of information regarding the history of One Piece's world has come to light since, stories revolving around Gol D. Roger and the time period he sailed in were rare. This insight into the past was a treat for fans, and Oda had planned for the movie and its surrounding media to be released as a celebration for the 10th anniversary of the series. Even now, more than 10 years after its release, Strong World remains a special part of the One Piece franchise.

Despite the upcoming removal of the Strong World film, the majority of the main series will still be available on Netflix. In addition, fans can look forward to the streamer teaming up with Wit Studio (Attack on Titan Seasons 1-3, Spy x Family) for the re-adaptation of the whole series, titled The One Piece, which was announced in 2024. The second season of the live-action Netflix series is also expected to be released some time in 2025, although a specific release date has yet to be announced.

Source: What's on Netflix