In a moment well-deserved for the series that most would agree set a new standard for Western live-action anime adaptations, franchise creator Eiichiro Oda has confirmed that Netflix’s One Piece will officially be receiving a second season.
The esteemed mangaka broke the news to fans in a video shared to the live-action series’ official Twitter account on September 14th.
Engaging in his usual practice of hiding his identity, this time behind his Shonen Jump Author’s Corner avatar, Oda began his message to fans by picking up the receiver to a custom Snail Transponder prop and asking fans, “To the Straw Hat grand fleet: What did you think of Season 1 of the live-action One Piece?”
NAKAMA!!! 🏴☠️👑 It fills us with great joy to give you this message directly from Oda-Sensei. ⛵️ #OnePieceNetflix #OnePieceLiveAction pic.twitter.com/X8ZOLPkaXD
— ONE PIECE(ワンピース) Netflix (@onepiecenetflix) September 14, 2023
Offering his gratitude to fans both old and new for their support of the series, Oda then asserted, “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!” he added.
In light of this reception to the series, Oda then revealed that, much to the delight of many a viewer, “Two weeks after the launch, I just received some great news: Netflix has decided to renew the show!”
“The adventures of Iñaki and the live-action Straw Hats will continue onward!” he further exclaimed. “It’ll still take a while to get the scripts ready so please be patient.”
Drawing his message to a close, Oda ultimately teased, “From here on, it seems to me the straw hats will need a great doctor. We will see!” before sketching out a quick illustration of the Straw Hat’s resident medical expert, Tony Tony Chopper.
In a fun bit of trivia, it should be noted that Oda’s reference to Chopper’s inevitable Straw Hat membership is not the first time the human-deer hybrid has been mentioned in context of the live-action series.
Rather, Chopper’s existence was first ‘hinted’ at in the opening moments of the first season’s sixth episode, The Chef and the Chore Boy.
With Zoro having just been felled in battle by the legendary pirate swordsman Dracule Mihawk, the episode opens with Luffy, Usopp, and Nami scrambling to treat his freshly-received, gaping chest wound.
Realizing that neither her nor any of her fellow crew members have the appropriate medical training to help him, Nami turns to Luffy and orders him to go back to the Baratie ship, to which he, overwhelmed with shock at his friend’s current situation, replies, “Um, I’m not really hungry right now, Nami.”
“Not for food!” the cat burglar then shoots back. “Maybe one of the customers is a ship’s doctor!”
Snapping back to his senses, Luffy affirms to himself, “Right. A doctor. We need a doctor,” before making his way towards the floating restaurant.
The scene then cuts to a close-up of Sanji ‘chopping’ carrots in the Baratie kitchen, his elegant hand movements producing a very distinct ‘chop chop chop’ sound.
Unfortunately for pirate crews across the globe, despite Netflix giving the green light to a second season and Tomorrow Studios CEO Marty Adelstein’s previous confirmation that his team have already “got scripts ready”, there is still one major hurdle standing in the way of the Straw Hats’ live-action return.
That, of course, would be the fact that the Western film industry is currently at a standstill thanks to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which will forcefully keep production on One Piece Season Two at bay until the respective guilds finally reach an agreement with Hollywood studios.
In light of this fact, as of writing, there is no confirmed timetable for the return of Netflix’s One Piece.