Last year, Netflix scored a hit with One Piece, a wonderfully cartoony show about an irrepressibly optimistic wannabe pirate and his growing crew. On the one hand, that was no surprise; the One Piece manga by Eiichiro Oda is among the most popular manga in history, and the anime show among the most popular anime. But live-action adaptations of anime haven't traditionally fared very well, especially on Netflix; we haven't forgotten that Cowboy Bebop remake they tried to pull.
But One Piece worked! They managed to capture the off-the-wall energy of the manga, something a lot of anime-to-live-action projects fail to do. I'm earnestly looking forward to season 2, which just started production. Above, check out a video of Iñaki Godoy (Monkey D. Luffy), Mackenyu (Zoro), Emily Rudd (Nami), Jacob Romero (Usopp) and Taz Skylar (Sanji) coming together on the One Piece set in Cape Town, South Africa before they get to work.
That's the main quintet at the core of the show, but One Piece is lousy with characters. According to Deadline, other returning cast members from season 1 include Jeff Ward (Buggy the Clown), Alvida (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino) and Pirate King Gold Roger (Michael Dorman). Gold Roger was executed in the first scene of the show — the search for his hidden treasure the One Piece sets the plot into motion — so I'm guessing there will be a flashback or something.
As for new cast members, there's quite a lineup: Brendan Sean Murray as Brogy, Callum Kerr as Smoker, Camrus Johnson as Mr. 5, Clive Russell as Crocus, Daniel Lasker as Mr. 9, David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3, Jazzara Jaslyn as Miss Valentine, Julia Rehwald as Tashigi, Rob Colletti as Wapol, Ty Keogh as Dalton, and Werner Coetser as Dorry.
The One Piece manga and anime are famously huge; the manga has been running since 1997. The show will wrap up quicker than that, but we still hopefully have several good years ahead of us. One Piece season 2 is expected to drop on Netflix sometime in 2025. Yes, this is another modern tentpole show where we have to wait two years between new seasons. Now that Netflix knows it's a hit, maybe they'll step on the gas for season 3.
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