Netflix’s live-actionOne Pieceadaptation has proven to be a huge success for the streaming service, and the second season already has a release window. However, it may be a longer wait than most audiences were anticipating.One Pieceseason 1came out in the summer of 2023, and viewers have been waiting for season 2’s release date confirmation ever since. While that wait is normal for big-budget streaming shows, this scenario isn’t ideal for such an epic and long-running franchise asOne Piece, which has plenty of material to cover.
Thankfully,One Piece’s creator Eiichiro Oda is invested in the showquite strongly, sothe long wait may be a result of trying to get everything perfect. It’s always going to be difficult to translate such a cartoonish show into a live-action format, but the first season did an excellent job of making the anime’s visuals mesh perfectly with a more realistic style. This will hopefully also be the case forOne Pieceseason 2, as the show needs to introduce several new characters and locations before it can even come close to catching up with the manga and anime.
One Piece Season 2 Will Arrive More Than 2 Years After Season 1
It’s A Long Gap Between Seasons That Has Become Common For Streaming
It was recently confirmed thatOne Pieceseason 2 will arrive in late 2025, which is over two years since the first season was released. Thankfully, there’s a silver lining to the news; while it’s disappointing that audiences will have to wait another eight or nine months before jumping back intoOne Piece, it’s encouraging that a firm release window has finally been confirmed.This means the show is well on track to being completedand is likely already in post-production.
The One Piece, anOne Pieceanime remake from Wit Studio, is currently in development at Netflix.
Admittedly, two years isn’t too long to wait between seasons of a TV show - particularly for Netflix shows, which aren’t always guaranteed renewal in the first place. The only problem is thatOne Piece’s first season felt like a set-up for what’s to comein the future, and without knowing exactly what that is, it’s hard for audiences not familiar with the material to fully engage with this show yet. There’s no doubt that later seasons ofOne Piecewill only get better as this universe expands, but this wait between seasons risks deterring new audiences from coming back.
One Piece Taking So Long Between Seasons Makes It Even More Difficult For It To Cover The Anime
The Show Will Struggle To Get Through The Whole Story
The main problem withOne Piece’s two-year wait between seasons is the fact that Netflix’s show simply hassomuch material to cover. There are currently over 1,100 episodes of theOne Pieceanime, soit’s hard to imagine that Netflix’s adaptation will even come close to navigating the whole storyif a two-year wait can be expected between each season. This is obviously a result of live-action filmmaking being more complicated and requiring more time to carry out, but it’s still a disappointment.
61-63
64-67
70-77
78-91
Arabasta
92-130
Additionally, theOne Pieceanime is still running - which means Netflix will be lagging for the foreseeable future. It might even be difficult for long-time fans of the anime will get too invested in the live-action adaptation when the original show is still on air, as there’s a constant stream of new material to keep them entertained. WithOne Pieceonly covering Arabasta in season 3,the show might need to condense several storylines into shorter, more bite-size narratives that fit within a single season in the future.
Don’t Worry, One Piece Season 3 Might Not That Take Long To Premiere
The Gap Between Seasons 2 And 3 May Be Shorter
Coincidentally,Netflix may be planning a coordinated release strategy forOne Piece’s second and third seasons, as they’ve been doing with other popular shows recently.Squid Gameis a prime example - the show’s second and third seasons were both renewed at the same time, and the filming process for both seasons was somewhat intertwined. This meant that the gap between seasons was much shorter, withSquid Gameseason 3 releasing in 2025. Netflix could be planning a similar release strategy withOne Piece.
One Piece Season 2 Can Give Us The Nico Robin Scene That Should’ve Happened In The Anime 24 Years Ago
Netflix’s One Piece season 2 has a golden opportunity to add a Nico Robin scene that didn’t happen in the original anime and manga series.
This theory looks increasingly likely when considering the actual content ofOne Pieceseason 2, and how easily it could tie into the next collection of episodes. It’s already been confirmed thatOne Pieceseason 2 will end shortly before the Arabasta arc, so it may lead directly into season 3 - just asSquid Gamedid. This would be a brilliant way of tying the two seasons together, but it only works if the wait for season 3 is not as long.
The best solution to overcome these inherent obstacles for Netflix’sOne Pieceis to view the show as totally separate from both the manga and the anime.
If this is the case,One Piececould definitely become one of Netflix’s biggest properties in the future. This release strategy has proven incredibly successful for the streaming service, as it allows shows to connect their narrative arcs more clearly - and it’s less of a strain on audiences’ memories between seasons.Stranger Thingsis another great example of this, as the show’s fourth season was split into two parts which were released a few months apart. This made thewait forStranger Thingsseason 5much more bearable.
Netflix’s One Piece Has A Virtually Impossible Mission In Covering The Entire Manga
Netflix’s Show Won’t Come Close To Covering The Whole Manga
Even if Netflix’sOne Piecemanages to condense the anime into bite-size pieces that prevent it from feeling too far behind, there’s virtually no way the show will be able to catch up with the original manga. It’s impossible to imagine thatOne Piecewill go on long enough to cover over 1,000 chapters of storytelling, many of which have plenty of new characters and locations. The decision to save Arabasta for season 3 is confirmation of this -the live-action show isn’t in a rush, and there’s an ocean of material ahead of it.
Ultimately, the best solution to overcome these inherent obstacles for Netflix’sOne Pieceis to view the show as totally separate from both the manga and the anime. It’s never going to cover the same ground, so expecting that is essentially just setting the show up for failure. Instead, it’s much easier to understand the live-action show as its own story that follows a more traditional release format (as opposed to the 1,000+ episodes of the anime) and takes creative liberties along the way.
