Sterilized back in 1997, Eiichiro Oda's manga series One Piece has remained relevant for close to 30 years and has only grown in popularity. Following the unprecedented success of Netflix's live-action remake, One Piece's manga became the bestselling piece of literature written by a single person of all time, outselling JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Batman comics. Netflix's live-action One Piece is ready to set sail once again in 2026. Let's dive into what we know and what we don't for One Piece season 2.
Netflix's official YouTube shared a first look into One Piece's upcoming season 2. While OG manga fans and anime viewers will surely be able to piece together what season 2 will most likely cover, those that have only seen the live-action version will be in for a surprise. The trailer doesn't reveal too much about the plot to those who aren't familiar with One Piece's story, but it does give a surprising amount of character reveals. Three of the most popular character reveals to come out of the teaser trailer include Nico Robin, Smoker, and Vivi. We also get a sneak peek of Laboon, the giant island whale from the Reverse Island arc in the anime and manga.
The end of One Piece season 1 left the Straw Hats heading to the Grand Line, finally ready to pursue their dreams after assembling the perfect crew. With only eight episodes, season 1 managed to cover 90 chapters of Oda's manga, but it barely scratched the surface of the original story. With over 1,100 episodes and 1,000 manga chapters, the Shonen anime series has become one of the longest-running anime series of all time. It was estimated that it would take around 14 seasons of a live-action One Piece to fully recreate the manga series, but that might not be the goal for Netflix.
Fans will get to witness the Logtown, Reverse Mountain, Whiskey Peak, Little Island, and Drum Island arcs. These arcs will finally see the Straw Hats cross over to the Grand Line, where they meet a whole new cast of characters, including the infamous Baroque Works criminal organization. But as they gain notoriety, the Navy gets hot on their trail as Marine Captain Smoker and Naval Officer Tashigi attempt to track them down. The season is set to cover nearly 60 chapters of the manga, ending around chapter 154 and episode 91 of the anime.
The teaser trailer for One Piece season 2 gave us a surprising amount of new character reveals. To new fans, it may be hard to understand why fans are so excited about these characters, but OG fans know that Robin, Vivi, Smoker, and even 2020 Chopper were highly anticipated reveals. Back in June, before any sort of trailer was released, Netflix revealed the CGI live-action version of 2020 Chopper, the crew's on-ship doctor. While fans were nervous considering the notorious ugly Sonic CGI disaster was still fresh in their minds, 2020 Chopper's new look was met with overall positive reviews.
One Piece season 2 has been set for a season 3 renewal. However, there might just be another reason for the amount of faith and resources being poured into this anime live-action adaptation. Netflix needs a replacement for their biggest show yet. Stranger Things is slated to end after season 5, meaning one of its best series, if not the best, is coming to a close after almost a decade after its initial release. Could the early renewal for the One Piece live-action series mean that Netflix is trying to fill the absolutely massive gap that Stranger Things is sure to leave?