Picture: Funimation, Toei Animation, and Fuji Television
Netflix’s licensed anime library continues its incredible hot streak. Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned that Toei Animation’s beloved culinary action-adventure series Toriko is officially headed to Netflix in multiple regions this March. Best of all? A special crossover episode with One Piece is following shortly after in April, making it a timely watch alongside season 2 of the live-action series that’s just dropped, and in addition to the many seasons of the anime streaming.
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the Netflix anime roster lately, you’ll know that the streaming service has been making massive pushes to acquire the rights to classic shonen properties. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen massive drops for shows like Naruto, My Hero Academia, Black Clover, and, of course, One Piece.
Now, another Toei Animation heavyweight is joining the menu. We can confirm that Toriko will be touching down on Netflix in multiple regions beginning on March 15th.
As for regional availability, the licensing currently covers most major English-speaking territories. We can confirm that subscribers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada will all be receiving the series. (As always, keep an eye on your Netflix app, as regional availability for licensed anime can sometimes expand at the very last minute!). The series will continue to stream on other platforms including CrunchyRoll in most regions and Hulu in the US.
What is Toriko?
For those unfamiliar with the series, Toriko is a shonen anime based on the manga of the same name by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, which ran in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 2008 to 2016.
Set in the “Gourmet Age,” the world is completely obsessed with gastronomy. The taste and texture of food are paramount, and the world’s elite go to great lengths to acquire the most exotic, delicious ingredients imaginable. Enter the Gourmet Hunters—mercenaries hired to track down rare beasts and ingredients.
The story follows Toriko, a massively muscular Gourmet Hunter with an inhuman appetite and immense strength, and Komatsu, a timid but highly skilled chef. Together, they travel the world fighting incredibly dangerous (and delicious) beasts as Toriko seeks to complete his ultimate “Full Course Menu of Life.”
It’s essentially Dragon Ball Z meets MasterChef, and it is an absolute blast.
A Special One Piece Crossover arrives in April!
If a massive helping of Toriko episodes wasn’t enough to satiate your appetite, Netflix is serving up a very special dessert a few weeks later.
On April 1st (and no, this isn’t an April Fools’ joke), Netflix will be adding the highly requested Toriko x One Piece crossover special. That’ll join Netflix alongside the Dragon Ball x One Piece crossover, which began streaming a couple of years ago.
Given that Netflix has essentially positioned itself as the global streaming home for all things One Piece—housing the live-action series, the upcoming One Piece remake by WIT Studio (more news on that this year), and a massive chunk of the original Toei anime—adding this legendary crossover to the platform makes perfect sense. Seeing Luffy and Toriko team up over a massive feast is something anime fans won’t want to miss.
We don’t currently have confirmation on whether the series will be available with both English dub and Japanese sub options, but given Netflix’s track record with Toei licenses, we expect both audio options to be available upon release.
Are you excited to watch Toriko when it drops on Netflix this March? Will you be tuning in for the One Piece crossover? Let us know in the comments below!
