Luffy and the Straw Hats will sail again! One Piece renewed!
It’s been two weeks since the first season of One Piece dropped on Netflix, and the good news has finally come through: Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates will be back for season 2!
“ONE PIECE, the cultural phenomenon embraced all over the world, will continue to sail into the high seas of adventure in search of treasure!” Netflix said in a press release. Episode count and story details will be shared at a later time.
Based on the long-running manga series by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a feel-good pirate adventure about friendship and following your dreams. The notoriously reclusive Oda announced the news that the show was being renewed with the help of a Transponder Snail, which is the kind of off-the-wall thing you see all the time on this show:
"To the Straw Hat Grand Fleet: What did you think of Season 1 of the live-action ONE PIECE? I spent a long time working on it with Netflix and Tomorrow Studios. It seems people around the world have been enjoying the show, which makes the hard work from the production team truly worth it.To everyone who’s been a fan of ONE PIECE for years, and to those who experienced ONE PIECE for the first time, thank you so much.Two weeks after the launch, I just received some great news. Netflix has decided to renew the show! The adventures of Iñaki [Godoy] and the live-action Straw Hats will continue onward!It’ll still take a while to get the scripts ready, so please be patient.From here on, it seems to me the Straw Hats will need a great doctor… We will see!"
Tony Tony Chopper joins the cast of One Piece in season 2
While past live-action anime adaptations have had a rough run of it at Netflix, One Piece is the rare hit that has pleased longtime fans, newcomers and critics. It’s great to hear that it’s coming back for more. The anime has been running for over a thousand episodes, so there’s plenty of material yet to adapt. The producers behind the series have a 12-season plan, so clearly they’re hoping to be in it for the long haul.
Oda ends his video announcement by drawing a sketch of the doctor who will be joining the Straw Hats in season 2, Tony Tony Chopper, who looks like a tiny reindeer person. Part of what makes One Piece such a joy to watch is how much it’s embraced the stylized spirit of the manga and anime, so I can’t wait to see how it’s going to bring a character like that to a live-action show.
As Oda noted, it’ll be a while before we see season 2. Hollywood writers and actors are still on strike, and until studios negotiate a deal with them, production on most new series is at a standstill.
At least there’s still plenty of time of time for a rewatch. And if you want to go even deeper into the world of One Piece, the first 15 seasons of the anime are available on Netflix.
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