Luffy may not be King of the Pirates yet, but One Piece is certainly King of Speedy Renewals at Netflix! Yes, that’s right. The live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s hit manga has been renewed for a second season, just two weeks after its premiere.
As every fan of the source material knows, two seasons is nothing. The hit manga series contains over 100 volumes and the ongoing anime series has 20 seasons, 25 movies and 13 television specials – but we’re still going to take the time to celebrate.
Excitement aside, Oda is telling fans of the adaptation to “please be patient.” The One Piece creator and series executive producer shared the renewal news via Transponder Snail.
“It seems people around the world have been enjoying the show, which makes the hard work from the production team truly worth it,” Oda said in the video. “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 continued, “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!” However, he warned fans to have patience as “it’ll still take a while to get the scripts ready.”
Prior to the announcement, on September 7, the producers behind the Netflix series told Variety that the scripts for a potential Season 2 are “ready” and the next season could be “ready to air” in a year, setting the expected air date for One Piece Season 2 as August 2024.
Although Netflix didn’t give any indication towards a potential release date in the press release, the streaming giant stated that episode count and story details will be shared at a later date. But, as of now, production is unable to begin until the SAG-AFTRA strike against studios and streamers is resolved.
One Piece follows Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) as he leaves his village to search for treasure and become King of the Pirates. Along the way, he assembles a talented pirate crew, called the Straw Hats, to help him face off against several dangerous rivals, including other pirates, pirate hunters, and the Marines. The cast continues with Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Jacob Romero Gibson, and Taz Skylar. Matt Owens and Steven Maeda serve as showrunners.
Giving insight into what to expect in the next installment, Oda shared, “From here on, it seems to me the Straw Hats will need a great doctor. We will see!” and teased the arrival of Tony Tony Chopper.
Netflix states that One Piece is the #1 title globally on Netflix with 37.8 million views. The series reached Top 10 in 93 countries, and 84 countries in its first week – which marked a new record for the streaming giant, eclipsing Wednesday and Stranger Things Season 4.
At the time of the show’s premiere, Decider interviewed production designer Richard Bridgland and he teased entirely new sets for the upcoming season. “The thing about One Piece is that it’s such a big world. I don’t think I’ve seen such a huge world in a single TV show for a long time. It was a bit like designing four separate feature films,” Bridgland explained. “Every two episodes Luffy is in one part of this world, and then he moved to another, and it’s completely different. We never go back to those. It’s like a travel movie.”
Furthermore, the production designer suspects that Season 2 will be “a different world view all over again” as, in the finale, Luffy and his crew leaves East Blue in search of treasure. “The only sets we’d carry would be the ships. I’m sure you’ll see the Going Merry in Season 2. Whether you see Garp’s warship, I couldn’t say, but that would really be it. You’ll just leave the East Blue behind and move on [to] new and wonderful worlds.”
One Piece Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.