Warning: Mild spoilers for the One Piece live action, anime, and manga.
After a two-and-a-half-year wait, season two of the live-action One Piece adaptation went live on Netflix this past Tuesday. And while I’ve only watched the first episode, I’m already ready to call it: Not only is this the best anime adaptation ever made, bar none, but I think I like it more than the actual source material.
Let Me Cook, Mosshead…
Officially titled One Piece: Into the Grand Line, the latest season picks up right where the excellent One Piece Season 1 left off. Having gathered his initial ragtag crew and defeated the menacing Arlong Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hats make preparations to leave the East Blue and enter the Grand Line so they can begin their hunt for the One Piece.
The first episode of One Piece Season 2, fittingly titled “The Beginning and the End,” adapts the Loguetown arc of the anime and manga. Those familiar with the source material understand the town’s significance all too well: Not only was it the public execution site of legendary pirate Gold Roger, but it’s where he declared to all that he’d hidden the One Piece for daring adventurers hungry enough to seize it. With his death, the “Great Pirate Era” officially began.
Season one of the latest adaptation teased Loguetown, but in S2E1, we get to finally visit that piece of One Piece history. At a hefty 1h6m runtime, the episode is a relatively detailed and faithful adaptation, introducing fan-favorite characters like Smoker, Tashigi, and a certain hooded figure (who you’ll learn about in due time). Most importantly, though, it gives us more of the classic Straw Hat banter that has endeared millions to the One Piece IP over the past 30 years.
All of the antics are here, from Usopp telling lies and Nami pinching pennies to Zoro getting woefully lost. But what makes One Piece Season 2 stand out — even just one episode in for me — is its seemingly effortless ability to not just adapt its characters, but enrich them.
The Perils of Greatness
As much as I adore Eiichiro Oda’s magnum opus, there’s no denying its flaws. The pacing is glacial, especially in the anime. Characters rarely die, which cheapens the stakes in the story’s biggest battles. But my biggest gripe, since the very beginning, has been Oda’s tendency to create caricatures rather than characters.
Over its 1,000+ chapters, One Piece has introduced an equal if not greater number of characters, each with their own design, clothes, powers (if they’re a Devil Fruit user), and backstories. Oda is famous for dedicating time — and often many a tragic flashback — to fleshing out these characters, who range from Marine captains and pirate lieutenants to fishmen and even tiny pixie fairies. Unfortunately, the sheer size of this cast means that certain characters inevitably get sidelined and underserved.
Ironically, it’s often the actual Straw Hat Pirates who bear the brunt of Oda’s unwieldy focus. While the early arcs of One Piece focused on just the core gang (and thus made room for subtle nuances, witty callbacks, and inside jokes), the later arcs reduced the core cast to their most basic stereotypes. Usopp’s the scaredycat who always runs away, Sanji’s a pervert whose biggest weakness is a nosebleed, and Nami’s the hardass with massive breasts. The more the world of One Piece grew, the more the humans at the heart of its story seemed to fade.
Coloring in Between the Lines
Fortunately, the live-action series does not suffer the same problem. We’re still retreading those early arcs, but even based on the limited sample, I’m convinced that showrunners Joe Tracz (A Series of Unfortunate Events) and Ian Stokes (Luke Cage) understand the assignment.
Between its HBO-esque episode times and its confident pace (each episode adapts roughly 10 manga chapters, or five anime episodes), One Piece: Into the Grand Line is quite the rare feat. It moves fast without compromising on detail. It allows time for characters to breathe without ever feeling like it’s pandering or plodding along. Add in the ever-charismatic real-life cast — Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Jacob Gibson, and Taz Skylar — and the Straw Hats finally feel like a tight-knit family once again.
It’s not just about rekindling old vibes, though. One Piece Season 2 seems intent to build on what made these characters great in the first place. Little touches, like Gibson’s naive yet swaggerful interpretation of Usopp, or Skylar’s Sanji being far more gentleman than playboy, make this version of the Straw Hats so much easier to relate to, and so much more satisfying to root for.
And Godoy… man, he’s just the perfect Luffy. Out of all the One Piece characters, Luffy is the one who I’d argue needed to change the least. From chapter one to 1,000 and counting, his ideals in the manga have never wavered. He’s a man who values freedom above all else and hates seeing his friends in chains (both figuratively and literally). Godoy’s portrayal only furthers that character, offering a sincerity and humility that at times seems too good to be true. No notes.
Oda’s Dream, Realized
When Netflix first announced the One Piece live-action, I thought it was doomed. After a confident first season, I was relieved but skeptical. Netflix clearly has grand ambitions for the show, but the sheer amount of content left to adapt has left many — myself included — wondering just how long Netflix can follow the source material without losing the magic (or the cast losing their youthful glow).
Based on early impressions of One Piece: Into the Grand Line, I’m content to sit back and find out. Realistically, no: The show will never catch up to the anime, let alone reach the mythical land of Raftel. But even if we get just these three seasons that have been promised, the One Piece adaptation, its actors, and Oda have much to celebrate.
In 1997, the first chapter of what would become Oda’s masterwork was published in Shonen Jump Weekly. Nearly 30 years later, who could have guessed that the series would not only still be running, but be better than ever? Much like Luffy himself, perhaps we all could benefit from a big dream, a little luck, and a lot of heart.
One Piece: Into the Grand Line, released on March 10, 2026, is currently streaming on Netflix.
David is the founder of The Punished Backlog. He has a problem finishing games he starts.
Just beat: Yakuza 0, Sleeping Dogs.
Working on: Ys VIII.
Can't wait for: GTA VI.
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