According to a reddit thread detailing spoilers for chapter #1065 of best-selling pirate fantasy manga series, One Piece, it has been revealed that the setting is not an alternate fantasy world.

It's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world. That's one way for sci-fi to beat fantasy.

And not the first time we've seen this move.

We won't spoil the books in case you haven't but will read them, but other fantasy works have seemingly begun in a fantastical setting but later revealed that it's actually a post-apocalyptic Earth.

Though not twenty-five years on. That's how long this manga series has been running.

It isn't clear whether this is Earth but by our standards this reveal would still drag it across the line into sci-fi territory.

Manga is beyond our purview but the One Piece franchise includes multiple games, an anime series and a live-action Netflix series in development.

We'll hold off on revisiting its classification until these details are public and official but a major fantasy franchise changing genre is not something you see every day.

To give you an idea of how big, in the list of highest grossing franchises, One Piece is just ahead of James Bond.

[ Main Image: One Piece. Credit: Toei Animation via IMDb.com. ]

Cacciatore, Francesco (November 4, 2022). One Piece Reveals It Was Always A Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Manga. Screen Rant.

Wikipedia. List of highest-grossing media franchises. (viewed November 5, 2022)

Wikipedia. One Piece. (viewed November 5, 2022)

Wikipedia. One Piece (upcoming TV series). (viewed November 5, 2022)