One Piece is a live-action television series based on the manga of the same name, produced by Tomorrow Studios for the streaming service Netflix.[4][5] The first season was released on August 31, 2023.[2] On September 14, 2023, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season.[6]
Eiichiro Oda served as executive producer for the series alongside Tomorrow Studios' CEO Marty Adelstein and President Becky Clements.[4]Steven Maeda and Matt Owens were the showrunners for the first season, serving as writers and executive producers.[7] Other writers include Diego Gutierrez, Allison Weintraub, Ian Stokes, Lindsay Gelfand, Laura Jacqmin, Jason Cho, Damani Johnson, and Tom Hyndman.[8]
The series was first announced on July 21, 2017, by Weekly Shonen Jump editor-in-chief Hiroyuki Nakano to commemorate the manga's 20th anniversary .
With the series' announcement, Oda commented that "the first condition [he] presented is that the live-action [sic] will be faithful to the fans who have supported ‘One Piece’ for 20 years".[4] A few days later, Adelstein predicted that its budget "could set a new record for the highest production cost in television drama history" as "the work's worldwide fame merits this scale of production".[9] The series will reportedly begin with the East Blue Saga.[10] In May 2020, Tomorrow Studios had planned to begin filming the series in South Africa by the end the year.[11] However, in December Variety magazine reported that One Piece had not "set a start date" in an article about South Africa's lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions.[12]
In September 2020, Matt Owens discussed adapting the series on a YouTube live-stream hosted by fans of the franchise.[13] Owens explained that he hoped to introduce the franchise to new audiences through live-action version and that writers' ambition for each episode is to replicate the manga's ability to make readers "laugh," "cry" and "go 'holy shit!'"; however, the East Blue arc will be less episodic and the series' humor will be suited to contemporary Western sensibilities. Owens also recounted that he was given Oda's approval after explaining how significant the franchise had been in his life.[14]
In March 2021, a social media post by Maeda, which featured a photo of an office door labeled Project Roger, suggested that in-person work on the series had resumed. On February 1, 2022, Netflix confirmed that the series was in production.[15] The series was filming under the codename Project Panda.[16]
On June 17, 2023, an official teaser trailer for the series was released on YouTube.[2] A full-length trailer released on July 22, 2023,[17] with a final trailer released on August 30, 2023.[18]
Season 2[]
On September 14, 2023, two weeks after the first season released, an official video featuring Oda was released on Netflix's social media officially confirming that the series was renewed for a second season. With the video ending with Oda drawing a sketch of Tony Tony Chopper, teasing his debut in the upcoming season.[4] On August 20, 2024, Oda announced that the season would adapt the story from the Loguetown Arc to the Drum Island Arc.[19]
As of the 1st of July, Netflix has confirmed that production of season 2 has begun, with the season set to premiere in 2025.[20] The codename for season 2 is Project Renaissance.[21]
The Straw Hat Pirates on their ship the Going Merry.
Cast members were first revealed on November 9, 2021, starting with the actors for the first five Straw Hats being announced on the official series X.[26] Further cast members were announced on March 8 and June 6, 2022.[27][28] Additionally, Jean Henry and Len-Barry Simons reportedly announced their own casting on social media.[29]
On July 1, 2023, it was announced that the Straw Hats' (Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji) voice actors from the Toei anime would reprise their roles for the Japanese dub. Additionally, Godoy and Skylar voiced their own characters (Luffy and Sanji, respectively) for the Spanish dub.[38] While speaking at Otakuthon 2024, Toshio Furukawa, Portgas D. Ace's voice actor in the Toei anime, confirmed that he would similarly reprise his role in the second season's Japanese dub.[39]
Action figures of Luffy and Zoro in the live action series.
Bobble Figurines from the live action series.
Cosbabies Figurines from the live action series.
Custom One Piece Xbox Series X Console based on the live action series.
Trivia[]
On March 8, 2019, a listing for One Piece appeared on Netflix in the “American Programmes” category,[40] but was removed the next day.[41][42] It reappeared with the Netflix Original branding once the first season was announced in January 2020.[43]
According to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, this series is Netflix's largest production in the continent of Africa.[44]
The closing credits are shown over a map of the East Blue, and are expanded each episode. The map has several details and cameos:
The map is shown to be issued by Kong, and his face can be seen under the title.
The codename for the first season, "Project Panda", may be an allusion to the series' most prominent easter egg character, Pandaman.
The codename for the second season, "Project Renaissance", may be derived from the antagonist group Baroque Works, the Renaissance being the cultural movement preceding the Baroque.
