In the mid-1990s, manga (a term used for a range of Japanese comic books and graphic novels) was at its peak, with 1.34 billion manga collections sold in 1995. Popular titles of the time included Dragon Ball (about a martial artist on the search for magical orbs), Slam Dunk (about a basketball team) and Doraemon (about a time-travelling robotic cat). For Nakono, however, the One Piece comic series changed the industry. "Instead of relying on a haphazard, week-by-week method," he says, "it carefully built up characters, creating a story structure that leads to an emotional climax at the end." "There was a strong emphasis on cliffhangers in manga before One Piece," he continues.

The idea that "uncertainty" has returned to the stock market in 2018 is perhaps the understatement of the year. Protectionist trade policies are whipsawing the S&P 500 SPX, 0.35% based on the news cycle, and headlines can cause individual segments of the market to move even more dramatically. Just look at the slump for Harley-Davidson Inc. HOG, 0.69% in late June, and how automakers responded to discussions of targeted tariffs last week. There are plenty of investors who are a bit testy about this, since one tweet by Donald Trump or the latest tit-for-tat in tariffs can undercut their strategy. But there are still stocks that are very much on the upswing regardless of trade escalations.

The robotics industry is estimated to hit $135.4 billion in 2019 as per IDC. There was a time when a robotics revolution was considered mere science-fiction. The rise of robotics has been phenomenal in most disciplines. From building robotic arms for medical procedures to running autonomous self-driving vehicles, robotics is empowering all technological sectors. In October 2017, Sophia, a social human-like robot was offered citizenship of Saudi Arabia – the first robot to achieve this status.