Netflix’s live-action adaptation of One Piece proves how large the anime fandom is nowadays. If you’ve finished the first season, then you know that the source material it’s pulled is from an endless stream of anime episodes and manga chapters, being one of the longest-running series ever.
After its announcement in 2017, Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece showcased eight episodes to the streaming service. This isn’t a review by any means, but the first season delivered its promise of having epic fight scenes, iconic moments, grand quests, and memorable characters. Compared to Cowboy Bebop’s adaptation, One Piece looks like a breakout hit for Netflix. It has lived up to the high expectations of anime/manga fans while cultivating new fans. But whether or not we get a chance to see more of this success through a second season remains to be seen. Fans are hopeful that the live-action adaptation has broken the curse of Anime TV-shows.
Is There Hope for A One Piece Season 2 to Happen?
When making/streaming something with a big budget, some studios may cost-sink invest ahead of launch, like what Amazon did with Rings of Power. However, Netflix doesn’t do that; they’re notorious for squeezing upcoming seasons of a show dry.
The good news is that One Piece is starting out strong. It’s been reviewed well by critics and fans alike, and more importantly, it debuted by being #1 on Netflix. We’re essentially at the mercy of the ranking order of the chart, so this is the best we could hope for in gauging the show’s success.
It’ll be a while before we can set sail with the Straw Hats again. We’re in the middle of a dual strike from the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild, so any production on Season 2 is put on hold until those issues are resolved. Still, with each episode rumored to cost $18 million, One Piece is a hefty investment to walk away from. It’s easily Netflix’s most expensive production, with most sets being practical, like the Luffy’s ship.
Is There A One Piece Season 2 Release Date?
There’s no release date set for One Piece Season 2 yet. Some shows on Netflix get renewals ahead of time, so it’s possible that some scripts for Season 2 were already in the works before the dual strike happened. Still, even if that’s true, it’s unfinished, so we’ll need to wait until the writing is complete before production can happen.
Since Season 1 took around nine months to film and about a year in post-production, we’ll most likely have to wait for two years (at least) before seeing the Straw Hats crew again.
What Will Season 2 Be All About?
There won’t be any problems regarding the source material for One Piece’s live-action. If they wanted to, Netflix could make hundreds or thousands of episodes of the show. It’s more of splicing which content should and shouldn’t be filmed.
Season 1’s finale offered an insight into what viewers will see in the next season (provided there will be one). As the crew sets off for the Grand Line, Alvida and Buggy will join forces to pursue Luffy. The biggest tease that there would be more episodes was during the post-credits scene, where the show introduced a new foe.
The backside of the white-haired, cigar-smoking character is none other than Smoker. First appearing as a captain in Loguetown, Smoker makes it a mission to capture Luffy by being his recurring adversary. We won’t be surprised to see Luffy and his crew cross paths with Smoker multiple times in the next season. There’s an indication that they’ll head for Loguetown since Zoro needs to replace his two damaged swords after his fight with Mihawk. Loguetown is where Zoro got Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri, his new swords, in the manga and anime.
The first season covered the manga’s first four arcs, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Netflix followed the same formula for Season 2, where we’ll likely enter the Arabasta Saga.
One Step At A Time
When Variety interviewed One Piece’s co-showrunners, Matt Owens and Steven Maeda, they stated that they’d be “taking things one step at a time,” in reference to the decades worth of material Eiichiro Oda had given them to work with. With the amount of chapters out right now, there are so many possibilities on how the live-action can evolve.
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