The story of our rubber boy, Monkey D. Luffy, has been ongoing since 1999, and it appears that it will continue for some time. One Piece has become a worldwide phenomenon with fans from all over the world since its debut. Surprisingly, One Piece is even more exciting today than it was over two decades ago.
On Netflix, you can join Luffy on his quest to find the world’s greatest treasure, One Piece, and become the Pirate King. Yes, including new episodes, before you ask. Unfortunately, copyright and licensing agreements prevent us from lying back and enjoying the series. Because, while One Piece is available on Netflix, it is only valid in a limited number of countries. Furthermore, the only country where you can watch new episodes of One Piece on Netflix is Japan.
Without further ado, let me get to the point. You can watch One Piece on Netflix Japan from anywhere in the world. All you need is a dependable VPN service to do so. I’ll also show you how to add subtitles to the episodes in any language.
Analysis: One Piece is without a doubt one of the greatest anime series of all time. If you want to watch previous seasons of One Piece as well as new episodes every week, you can use your Netflix subscription to do so. Unfortunately, this is only applicable to Netflix Japan due to licensing and copyright agreements. Furthermore, Netflix Japan only offers Japanese dubbing and subtitles. In other words, in addition to the geographical restriction, you will have to overcome the language barrier.
Solution: A Japanese IP address is required to watch Netflix Japan. Using a VPN service is the simplest and most dependable way to obtain a new IP address. When we connect to a VPN server, our online traffic is encrypted, our local IP address is masked, and a new IP address is assigned to us based on the VPN server’s location. In short, we can watch One Piece on Netflix from anywhere in the world by connecting to a VPN server in Japanese data centers. In addition, we will use a browser extension to watch One Piece with subtitles in the language of our choice.
A quick guide to streaming One Piece on Netflix via VPN:
- Go to Surfshark VPN. It has servers in Tokyo, Japan.
- To select a plan, click the “Get SurfShark” button in the upper right corner.
- Enter your email address and select a payment method to complete the transaction. (Surfshark will send you an email with your login information.)
- Sign in to your SurfShark account, and then download and install the VPN application for your device.
- Use the same credentials to log in to the SurfShark app.
- Go to the “Locations” menu, enter “Japan” in the search bar, and then connect to an available server.
You can now access Netflix Japan and watch all One Piece episodes from anywhere in the world. You must, of course, be fluent in Japanese. If you are not, you will need to take some additional steps. In this guide, I used Subsital, a third-party extension, and Chrome as my web browser. You can use different browsers or extensions if you prefer.
- Search for Substital on the “Chrome Web Store” and click “Add to Chrome” to install the extension.
- Play the One Piece episode you wish to watch.
- Open Substital by clicking the puzzle-piece icon to the right of the search bar.
- Find the proper subtitles and enjoy the episode.
Here’s a screenshot from the most recent episode of One Piece. As previously stated, the subtitles you see are not the originals from Netflix but have been manually added. If you’re familiar with VPNs, this quick guide should get you started watching One Piece on Netflix. But, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of this, I’ll go into detail in the sections that follow about why we can’t just lie back and watch One Piece on Netflix, how a VPN service can allow us to do that, which VPN service we should use, and how to manually add subtitles to Netflix.
Understanding Netflix geo-restriction
As an anime fan, I understand how difficult it is to find a platform where you can watch all episodes of your favorite anime in high quality. Furthermore, if the anime in question has more than a thousand episodes, such as One Piece, the situation can devolve into complete torture. Fortunately, you can watch One Piece on Netflix without paying for additional subscriptions. However, due to licensing and copyright agreements, this opportunity is only available in one country (Japan).
Because of the aforementioned agreements, Netflix provides its users with different catalogs based on their IP addresses. In terms of One Piece, Japan is the only country where all of the episodes are available on Netflix. Here’s an example of what you’ll see if you search for “One Piece” in most countries:
Unfortunately, One Piece is not available in my Netflix library. At this point, I’ve gone over Netflix’s Terms of Service and Help Center in the hopes of finding a solution.
- The statement: “You may access the Netflix content primarily within the country in which you have established your account and only in geographic locations where we offer your subscription plan and have licensed such content. The content that may be available will vary by geographic location and will change from time to time.”
I discovered the explanation in Article 4.3 of the Terms of Service. However, rather than providing a solution, Netflix simply states the obvious. But we are not going down without a fight. We can watch Netflix Japan from anywhere in the world. I’ll explain how to do this in the following section.
Watch One Piece on Netflix via VPN
As we discovered, Netflix provides us with different content based on our location. Despite the fact that I mention different catalogs such as Netflix Japan, Netflix India, Netflix France, and so on, they are not customizable, and I only use them as a shorthand to refer to the programs Netflix offers in those countries. When you access Netflix, the platform analyzes your local IP address and displays the catalog that corresponds to it.
In this case, all we need to do is replace our local IP address with a Japanese IP address to gain access to Netflix Japan. We will need to use a VPN service for this. VPNs are essentially online security and privacy tools. However, their methods of operation give us an advantage in streaming. When we connect to a VPN server, our online traffic is encrypted, and our local IP address is hidden. Based on the location of the VPN server, we are also assigned a new IP address. Did you connect the dots? We can get what we need by connecting to a VPN server in Japanese data centers.
Now that we know what to do, we must select the VPN service we will use. Let’s keep going.
Choosing the best VPN for One Piece
Throughout the article, you’ve come across the phrase “Japanese data centers.” If you’re wondering why this is so important, in order to obtain a Japanese IP address, the VPN server to which we connect must be located in Japanese data centers. So, when choosing a VPN service, the first thing we should look for is whether the company has Japanese servers.
We also cannot accept a base connection. The server to which we connect must be equipped with the technology to provide us with the necessary speed for a smooth streaming experience. Aside from that, subscription cost and device compatibility are other critical factors to consider.
With all of this in mind, SurfShark is my pick for streaming One Piece on Netflix Japan. To begin with, the company has dedicated servers in Japan. You can easily enjoy One Piece from anywhere in the world by connecting to SurfShark’s Tokyo server. If you prefer numbers to compare, my most recent speed test with SurfShark’s Japanese server provided me with a download speed of 94 Mbps.
To use this service, please follow the steps below:
- Visit the official website of SurfShark.
- Choose a plan and fill out the purchase form.
- Make your payment using the method of your choice.
Your login information will be emailed to you once your payment is successful. This step could take a few minutes.
VPN app installation
Now that we have a VPN subscription, we can install the app on our device.
- Return to the SurfShark homepage.
- In the upper left corner of the page, click the “Log in” button and enter your login information.
- Install the VPN app on your device after downloading it from the “Apps and Extensions” menu.
Note: In order to prevent future issues, it is advised that you give SurfShark every permission that it requests during the installation process.
Connecting to the Japan VPN server
This is the final step in obtaining access to Netflix Japan. Let us acquire a Japanese IP address.
- Start the SurfShark app.
- In the app’s interface, select the “Locations” menu.
- Search for “Japan” and connect to an available server.
Your SurfShark icon will turn green once the connection is established. That means you’re virtually in Japan.
Streaming One Piece on Netflix
We’ve worked hard, and it won’t be in vain. Let’s see how Netflix reacts to our new Japanese IP address.
- Check your connection to the SurfShark Japan server.
- Open the Netflix app or go to the official Netflix website at https://www.netflix.com/.
- Search for One Piece.
Run! Pirates have taken over Netflix.
You can watch One Piece on Netflix from anywhere in the world using the method provided. But don’t you think there’s something else missing? Check out the subtitles. Unfortunately, One Piece does not have a language option on Netflix Japan.
Important note: Before we get into how we can add subtitles to Netflix from outside sources, I have a suggestion for those who will watch the series from the beginning. The first 325 episodes (13 seasons) of One Piece are available on Netflix in Canada, Australia, and the United States, with English dubbing and subtitles. Fortunately, SurfShark works in these countries, and you can watch One Piece by connecting to SurfShark’s servers in Canada, Australia, or the United States.
Adding subtitles to One Piece on Netflix
It is unknown what will happen in the future, but for the time being, it is not possible to watch One Piece on Netflix with English subtitles. There are, however, some browser extensions that can assist you. I chose one of them (Substital) and tested it for you.
- Visit the homepage of Substital at https://substital.com/.
- Install the Subsital version that is compatible with your browser. (Substital is available in Chrome and Firefox.)
- Play the One Piece episode you want to watch.
- Launch Substital by clicking the puzzle icon next to the search bar.
Substital will now automatically detect the video you are watching.
When you click on the video’s title, Substital will open a search bar where you can look for the episode’s subtitles. However, in this search, I was unable to locate subtitles for One Piece episode 1043. So I went through a few subtitle websites and found what I needed at https://subscene.com/.
Here’s the end result! If there is a synchronization issue, you can shift the subtitles using the Subsital icon on the video screen.
Note: I’m not sure about other extensions, but Subsital only accepts .srt file format when adding subtitles. As a result, if the format of the subtitles file you downloaded differs, you must use a converter. Instead of downloading an app, I used https://gotranscript.com/subtitle-converter.
VPNs for streaming One Piece on Netflix (3 Alternatives)
We used SurfShark VPN to solve our main problem, geo-restriction. But we must remember that platforms and VPN services are like pirates and marines, constantly looking for new ways to bring each other down. As a result, a VPN service that works perfectly well today may not work tomorrow to unblock Netflix Japan. As a result, I decided to compile a list of alternative VPNs for streaming Netflix Japan.
CyberGhost
CyberGhost is one of the best VPN services for streaming currently available. CyberGhost includes a “For Streaming” menu that allows you to connect to dedicated servers for streaming platforms. With over 9000 servers in 91 countries, including Japan, this Panama-based VPN service provides worldwide coverage.
My latest speed test with CyberGhost’s Tokyo server yielded a download speed of 43 Mbps. This performance is more than enough to set sail with the Straw Hats on Netflix at the highest quality.
Finally, CyberGhost has a relatively low subscription fee. A single CyberGhost account can support up to 7 simultaneous connections, and the most basic plan costs just $2.29 per month.
ExpressVPN
What do you expect from a VPN service? Experience, worldwide coverage, and fast connection, correct? ExpressVPN offers all of these. The company operates thousands of servers in 94 countries. Japan is one of them, and you can get a Japanese IP address by connecting to ExpressVPN’s Shibuya, Yokohama, or Tokyo servers.
I recently tested ExpressVPN’s Tokyo server and received a download speed of 72 Mbps. As you may be aware, a download speed of 25 Mbps enables you to watch Netflix in 4K resolution without issue.
Finally, ExpressVPN is not among the most affordable services on the market. ExpressVPN’s basic plan costs $6.67 per month and allows for 5 simultaneous connections.
AtlasVPN
AtlasVPN is a newer company than the others on our list. However, NordVPN’s owner, NordSecurity, acquired the company in 2021, lending it credibility. AtlasVPN currently has 750 servers spread across 42 different locations. One of these countries is Japan, where AtlasVPN has dedicated servers.
The download speed from AtlasVPN’s Japan server was 34 Mbps. Yes, AtlasVPN lags behind our other choices in terms of speed, but it is more than adequate for a smooth streaming experience.
Finally, Atlas VPN follows a pricing policy that is competitive. A single AtlasVPN account supports an unlimited number of simultaneous connections and costs only $2.05 per month.
Summing up the One Piece on Netflix article
One Piece is one of the biggest and most popular anime series to date, and we’re still a long way from seeing the final episode, according to rumors. This adventure, which has a thousand episodes and dozens of seasons, is available on Netflix. Unfortunately, in order to watch One Piece on Netflix, we must first be able to bypass the geo-restrictions imposed by licensing agreements.
According to current agreements, Japan is the only country where we can watch all seasons of One Piece as well as new weekly episodes on Netflix. To watch Netflix Japan, we need a Japanese IP address, as we learned in the article. Using a reputable VPN service is the safest and simplest way to change our IP address.
Furthermore, One Piece is only available on Netflix Japan with Japanese dubbing and subtitles. If you don’t speak Japanese, like me, you can use Subsital or a similar browser extension to manually add subtitles in any language to Netflix.
I’ve been a translator for many years. During this time, geo-restriction has always been the most problematic issue in the many countries I’ve visited. I’m here to tell you about my experience.