Current:Home > My'One Piece' on Netflix: What's next for popular pirate show? What we know about Season 2.-LoTradeCoin
'One Piece' on Netflix: What's next for popular pirate show? What we know about Season 2.
View Date:2024-12-23 22:37:43
Spoiler alert! This story discusses important plot points and the season finale of Netflix’s “One Piece,” so beware if you haven’t seen it yet.
A week after its streaming premiere, the live-action adaptation “One Piece” has been golden for Netflix, and executive producer Steven Maeda is glad the online fandom of the popular Japanese manga treasures the new pirate show.
“I was absolutely terrified, in a good way though,” Maeda says of his prerelease mindset. “I was well aware of the history of manga and anime adaptations. Anybody with a pulse knows that they haven't generally done well, and a lot of people are very vocal about it.”
But so far, it's been smooth sailing for the crew of the Going Merry: captain Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), swordsman Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu Arata), thief/cartographer Nami (Emily Rudd), slingshot honcho Usopp (Jacob Romero) and fighting cook Sanji (Taz Skylar). The series has hovered near the top of Netflix’s streaming charts the past week, and notched 18.5 million views in its first four days.
Maeda breaks down the early success of the show based on the long-running manga series (which debuted in 1997), and a potential “One Piece” second season.
Having an optimistic main character is the ‘One Piece’ secret sauce
Maeda says it was key to find the right balance by sticking “very close” to the manga while making a “very optimistic” and “hopeful” show for new fans. Another important factor: Luffy, “who is such a kind of shining light.”
Thanks to the Devil Fruit he ate as a kid, Godoy’s rookie pirate has super-stretchy abilities, though Maeda feels Luffy’s actual superpower is “his ability to pull people's dreams out of them and say, 'Hey, remember that thing that you always wanted to do that's in some way fallen by the wayside, because of life or circumstances? I'm going to do my thing. How about you come with me and you do your thing, too?’ And that is an amazing (reason) for a lot of the popularity of ‘One Piece’ over the years.”
Netflix series puts new emphasis on key manga supporting players
The first season's plot sticks very closely to the initial 100 chapters (of more than 1,000) in the manga series, except for one big change: Maeda moved up the pursuit of the heroes by Vice-Admiral Garp (Vincent Regan), leader of the pirate-hunting Marines (who’s also revealed to be Luffy’s grandpa), and Luffy’s Marine recruit friend Koby (Morgan Davies), which happens around Chapter 300.
It leads to an emotional fight between the “very tough father figure” Garp and Luffy in the season finale, and “a lot of discussion about how much of an antagonist to make Garp vs. how much of someone trying to teach a lesson,” Maeda says. It also puts Koby “more front and center” as his journey parallels Luffy's.
“Luffy wants to be the best pirate he can be. Kobe wants to be the best Marine he can be. They're on the same path in a way to achieve their dreams, but they're on completely different routes, and if both are successful, they will end up being enemies at some point across the ocean from each other.”
'One Piece' review:Live-action Netflix show is swashbuckling answer to 'Stranger Things'
But there’s no time for ship love on this pirate show's high seas
Maeda says it was important to maintain consistency between the manga and the TV series. Producers didn't want to create new pieces of Devil Fruit, which gives people powers depending on which one they eat, and they nixed any romance among the crew of the Going Merry. (Outside romances? Totally cool.)
“It’s a family, and they're really siblings,” Maeda says. “People have asked, ‘Hey, is there a thing going on between Nami and Zoro?’ If you want to read it that way, you absolutely can, but it’s not our intent at all.”
‘One Piece’ mid-credits scene teases a new villain
After Luffy’s Straw Hat crew defeats the dreaded fish pirate Arlong in the season finale, Garp takes aside Koby and fellow cadet Helmeppo (Aidan Scott) to train them for the fight ahead. The heroes sail on toward the Grand Line seeking the legendary One Piece, with Luffy excited about finally having his own wanted poster. But that same poster gets vandalized with a cigar in a mid-credits scene by a mystery man seen only from behind.
This formidable future foe is Smoker, a Marine officer from the manga known for his white hair and penchant for perpetual dual stogies. Maeda says he “definitely wanted to have a cliffhanger and something that the Straw Hats were heading to, and so that was one of the many we talked about.”
Now on fans’ minds: When’s Season 2 of ‘One Piece’ coming?
While another round seems to be a no-brainer, Maeda isn’t ready to start talking about all that yet. “This journey was four years of my life that a lot of people binge in a weekend, which I'm so happy about. But at the same time, it was such an undertaking,” he says. “There are many, many discussions and decisions to be made, and I'll leave it at that.”
Luffy captains a pretty sizable bunch at this point in the manga series, and if he gets another crack at “One Piece,” Maeda already has a top choice for newest crew member: “Tony Tony Chopper, a talking size-shifting reindeer who is also a doctor,” he says with a laugh. “A difficult character to get on screen, but definitely one of my favorites.”
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Diamond Sports Group can emerge out of bankruptcy after having reorganization plan approved
- Black leaders call out Trump’s criminal justice contradictions as he rails against guilty verdict
- No diploma: Colleges withhold degrees from students after pro-Palestinian protests
- Pulitzer Prize-winning AP photographer Ron Edmonds dies. His images of Reagan shooting are indelible
- As CFP rankings punish SEC teams, do we smell bias against this proud and mighty league?
- The Truth About Marilyn Monroe's Final Hours and More Devastating Details in The Unheard Tapes
- Columbus Crew hopes altitude training evens the odds in Concacaf Champions Cup final
- Boy Meets World's William Daniels Has a Mini Cast Reunion With His Favorite Students
- Special counsel Smith asks court to pause appeal seeking to revive Trump’s classified documents case
- Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer rips reporter who called his team 'lifeless' in Game 5 loss
Ranking
- 'Wheel of Fortune' contestant makes viral mistake: 'Treat yourself a round of sausage'
- Marian Robinson, mother of Michelle Obama, dies at 86
- California firefighters battle wind-driven wildfire east of San Francisco
- Kyra Sedgwick and the lighter side of disability in All of Me
- Bluesky has added 1 million users since the US election as people seek alternatives to X
- Trump’s attacks on US justice system after guilty verdict could be useful to autocrats like Putin
- Congressional leaders invite Israel's Netanyahu to address U.S. lawmakers
- Daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt files court petition to remove father’s last name
Recommendation
-
Over 1.4 million Honda, Acura vehicles subject of US probe over potential engine failure
-
Ex-U.S. official says Sen. Bob Menendez pressured him to quit interfering with my constituent
-
Trump may face travel restrictions in some countries after his New York conviction
-
California firefighters battle wind-driven wildfire east of San Francisco
-
Hurricane-stricken Tampa Bay Rays to play 2025 season at Yankees’ spring training field in Tampa
-
After a quarter century, Thailand’s LGBTQ Pride Parade is seen as a popular and political success
-
State work-release prisoner killed in blast while welding fuel tank
-
Nicki Minaj cancels Amsterdam concert after reported drug arrest there last weekend
Like
- Wicked Director Jon M. Chu Reveals Name of Baby Daughter After Missing Film's LA Premiere for Her Birth
- The ANC party that freed South Africa from apartheid loses its 30-year majority in landmark election
- Pato O’Ward looks to bounce back from Indy 500 heartbreaker with a winning run at Detroit Grand Prix