One Piece’s Best Chapter of 2025 Is Official (And It Confirms the Series’ Strongest Element)

The year 2025 was once again a great one, unsurprisingly, for the juggernaut of the manga world, One Piece. This year felt especially significant as the manga finally dove deep into the Elbaph arc, a storyline promised to fans more than two decades ago. From the early confirmation that Shanks has a twin brother to the story delving further into Elbaph’s course of action, with the Gods’ Knights declaring doom for the giants’ nation, the arc was elevated even further by one of the biggest flashbacks in One Piece. This flashback also explored the God Valley incident, something fans had long wanted to see. As a result, almost every chapter of the manga this year was remarkable.

Because of this, determining the single best chapter among so many standouts is no easy task. While everyone naturally has their own favorite, Shueisha’s Manga Plus highlights for 2025 helped determine which One Piece chapter stood out the most. Manga Plus Highlights is an annual event that reveals notable achievements from the year, and in the “Most Read Chapters of the Year” category, One Piece Chapter 1161 secured the third spot. This chapter has therefore emerged as the best One Piece chapter of 2025, and when looking at why it stood out, it seems that “romance” may be the element that elevated it above the rest.

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One Piece’s Best Chapter of 2025 Was Surprisingly Romantic

One Piece’s most-read chapter on the Manga Plus platform, Chapter 1161, titled “A Song of Love Bound Under a Hail of Sorrows,” stands out for many reasons, with its surprisingly romantic adventure being the most striking. The chapter stunned fans by revealing that the true reason behind the God Valley Incident was Shakky herself, listed as one of the “treasures” by the World Government. This designation drove pirates to the island in an attempt to claim her, as she was considered the most beautiful woman and was treated as a treasure by pirates. The chapter elevates this element to its peak by depicting Shakky’s rescue by Silvers Rayleigh.

The chapter builds up Shakky’s rescue in a classic, old-fashioned manner, with the hero entering the enemy’s den to save his romantic interest. The action elements add further tension to this narrative, while the Roger Pirates, even Gol D. Roger himself, act as allies who help pave the way for Rayleigh to rescue his partner. It concludes like a timeless romantic tale, with Rayleigh arriving just in time to claim Shakky as Sommers is about to kill her. In doing so, the chapter proves that although One Piece rarely focuses on romance, when it does, it can become one of the series’s strongest elements, perhaps because fans find this grounded romantic moment especially appealing amid the series’ many fantastical elements.

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