Now that One Piece has been renewed for a live-action SeasonTwo and the writers’ strike is over, the big questions are coming up. Namely, how in the world will the live-action series plan to adapt the twenty-six-year-long run of the manga? There are likely going to be cuts, but based on how creator Eiichiro Oda is taking part, they’re going to get as much as possible into the series. Showrunners have said they have a six-season plan so far, but could go to twelve depending on how much longer the story goes, so how could that look?
Warning that this article will contain some light spoilers for the story of One Piece up until now. Things will be kept as unspecified as possible, but if you want to read the manga it is available online from Viz or MangaPlus. Again, we’ll go through this as spoiler-free as possible, but some vague plot points and events may be referenced.
Season/Arc Determination
Okay, so there are quite a few things that went into the determination of which seasons will cover which arcs. This includes pacing of the manga when converted into real-life time, as well as how long things take in-universe. One big issue of One Piece is that the events take place over a very, very short span of time. From East Blue to Arabasta is around a couple of weeks, meanwhile the Dressrosa arc takes place over one afternoon. There’s a wide variety of events that have to go into each arc so they’ll take varying time.
The other consideration is the budget for each season, as things are going to get a little wild. Anime fights are known for being incredibly destructive, and the fight at Arlong Park is nothing compared to something like Dressrosa or Wano.
Season Two: The Arabasta Saga
This is going to be a little different considering where season one left off. Arlong Park as the endpoint leaves Loguetown as the starting point for season two. It’s the last port that will launch the Straw Hats into the Grand Line. Season two will have lots of ground to cover since there’s still a ton to introduce in One Piece. Smoker will be the overarching Marine presence from the tease at the end of season one. He’s secondary though as the mysterious Baroque Works are already being built up.
There are a few arcs to go through after Loguetown, with the Straw Hats making their first stop at Reverse Mountain to meet Laboon and Crocus. Both are crucial characters in the series, and Laboon especially sets up Brook to join the crew later. After that comes Whiskey Peak, though that can be combined with Reverse Mountain since Vivi is introduced there as well. Then a stop through Little Garden to meet the Giant Pirates Co-Captains Dorry and Broggy, then into Drum Kingdom to recruit Tony Tony Chopper!
It’s definitely going to take a full season for everything that happens in this saga, but the next few arcs are going to be much easier to condense. Plus, ending the season on the ship falling from the sky, and setting up Skypiea, is a great hook into the next season.
S3: Jaya to Thriller Bark
This one might seem a little weird, but there’s a strategic way to go about it. The events of Jaya take about two days, and can easily be combined into the same episode as the entrance to Skypiea. The story of Noland the Liar is already present in the series, so there’s only the need to briefly revisit that, plus Bellamy and Blackbeard come into play there. Then Skypiea will need two to three episodes, considering it takes place over the span of two days. The damage to Going Merry, plus the fight with Enel, is crucial to the later developments of the story. Then of course there’s Long Ring Long Land, but that can be done in an incredibly shortened version.
The events of Water 7 and Enies Lobby are very closely connected and occur over two days or so. Water 7 can happen over the course of two episodes, with Enies Lobby taking the next two. That leaves Thriller Bark to finish out the season with a fun high-stakes arc and really get Robin settled into the crew. Plus they can introduce Brook while fighting Gecko Moria and set up the Straw Hats as being the powerful new crew making waves after Enies Lobby.
The finale can show the battle of Ace and Blackbeard, teasing the upcoming Summit War Saga for season 4.
S4: Sabaody Archipelago to Post-Marineford
Ending the last season on the downer note of Sabaody Archipelago just seems too cruel. For storytelling sake though, it would be great to start off the fourth season. Introduce the Sabaody Archipelago and go ahead through the Duval storyline as the season premiered. Then, kick everything off and have the Gum-Gum Pistol to Saint Charlos lead into a second episode. After that, the entire next episode could be the Sabaody Archipelago incident, where the Straw Hats are split up. It gives a great time to introduce Trafalgar Law too, since he’ll show up again by the end of the season.
From there Amazon Lily can take one to two episodes, but then will come Impel Down. That’s going to be a three-episode arc, with the Marineford War being around four, most likely. Of course, this won’t be just those arcs but also incorporate flashes to the other Straw Hats’ journeys after being separated. Along with the flashbacks to Ace, Luffy, and the introduction of Sabo, it’s going to have a lot to cover for the Marineford arc. Obviously, the best point to leave things, with massive hope after the darkest season yet, is the time skip. Leaving off on Luffy putting down the Straw Hat is the best choice.
S5: Return to Sabaody through Dressrosa
Of course, it’s best this season starts with the iconic shot of Luffy picking the straw hat back up. It’s going to be a massive return, and hyped to hell at this point. Even better, the end of the recent WGA strikes ensures Netflix can’t cancel One Piece ridiculously early. That’s much less likely to end the show on a cliffhanger! The Straw Hats all reuniting at the Archipelago before showing off their new powers would be awesome. The premiere ends with the voyage undersea, with everyone going to Fishman Island. Realistically, Fishman Island takes two episodes to cover.
Punk Hazard and Dressrosa can (and should) be blurred together through the next half of the season. Begin on Punk Hazard, introduce Law, and lead into the Punk Hazard incident, taking about two episodes. This all culminates, ending as the Straw Hats reach Dressrosa most likely. Then the remaining four (hopefully there will be ten-episode seasons at this point) will feature the Battle of Dressrosa, which spans one afternoon. These episodes will be heavily cut with the past flashbacks for Law and Doflamingo. Of course, there’s another character debut that will be a HUGE deal. Expect season five to end much like season one, with the Straw Hats making their exit. After tearing down a dictator, with things looking bright, they’ll sail to Zou.
S6: Zou through Wano
Of course, Zou arc will bring more tragedy, and this is where the show has to stretch the budget HARD. Zou is a massive elephant walking through the ocean, and that’s only where things are going to start getting expensive. The Minks that live there are all animal-humans, much like Chopper but without Devil Fruits. With how much the show relies on prosthetics, this season may get a little strange. Then comes the Whole Cake Island arc, a descent into Alice in Wonderland that meets Willy Wonka along the way. That’s going to be wild, and span probably four episodes.
If the entire Wano arc is told in the sixth season, personally, I’ll be amazed. In the best scenario it ends with plans set for the Raid on Onigashima. Possibly on the night before the raid. Then again, there’s also the possibility of extended seasons and supersized episodes like Stranger Things has received recently. Things like that, as well as a spaced-out release schedule, could probably benefit the pacing and storytelling greatly. Especially because with the Wano arc Artificial Devil Fruits enter the fold, which is ridiculous. There are a ton of huge historical flashbacks and set pieces to go through, which will make filming intense.
After that, seasons and arcs are anyone’s guess. This is only the six-season plan though, and if they renew for more that allow the arcs to breathe some, that would be awesome. The showrunners for One Piece live-action have said they want to make at least twelve seasons if Netflix would let them, ensuring they have time to do the story justice. After just how great One Piece has done on Netflix in the past month though, that may be more likely than not now!
