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    Now reading: Season 2 of Netflix’s One Piece has already been written

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    Season 2 of Netflix’s One Piece has already been written

    The adaptation from the creators of beloved manga 'Cowboy Bebop' is breaking streaming records, but is yet to be renewed.

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    If you haven’t yet seen Netflix’s adaptation of the beloved fantasy Pirate anime One Piece, then you’ve probably heard of it by now: within a day of release the show was trending at number one on the streamer in 84 countries, beating the records previously set by Wednesday and Stranger Things. Surely, with such colossal streaming numbers, as well as strong critical reception, One Piece is set to be renewed for a second season. The producers — Tomorrow Studios, who were also behind Cowboy Bebop — are one step ahead, and have already got scripts for season two finished, ready to start filming once the SAG-AFTRA strikes have been resolved.

    So, what is this new Netflix hit anime about? Who’s in it? Who’s behind it? And when can we watch the next season? Here’s everything we know.

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    What is One Piece about?

    Set in a fantasy world of dwarves, fairies, giants, mammoth sea creatures, mer-folk and other half-human, half-fish hybrids, the series follows the young, peppy Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates who is both cursed and gifted with extreme elasticity (drop the skincare routine girly!). Him and his collective of sea-dwellers are on a search for the titular one piece, a mythologised item that will make whoever owns it king of all pirates. They’re not the only ones in search of this omnipotent object however, with the marines and other pirate ships also on their tail. 

    The Netflix adaptation is said to stay faithful to the source material, an ongoing manga series that was started in 1997 by Eiichiro Oda and has gone on to be the best-selling manga of all time and the best-selling comic series in book form ever. It has since been adapted into many animated TV shows, movies and video games, but Netflix’s offering is the first live-action version of the story. 

    Who stars in it?

    Twenty-year-old actor Iñaki Godoy takes on the lead role alongside Emily Rudd (Fear Street) as his apathetic thief turned sea navigator with a dark past who wants to see and map out the world. Joining them are fellow young actors Mackenyu, Jacob Romero Gibson, Taz Skylar and Morgan Davies as part of their crew and allies, while Vincent Regan plays the Vice Admiral of the Marines and Luffy’s grandfather, and Jeff Ward (of the MCU) plays the creepy, supernatural clown captain of another pirate ship. 

    Who is behind the camera?

    One Piece’s showrunners are Steven Maeda, who used to be a writer on the X-Files and Lost, and Matt Owens, who wrote some of the MCU spin-off series. Creator of the original manga, Eiichiro, serves as an executive producer, while producers Tomorrow Studios, who recently put to bed Cowboy Bebop after one season to much heart-ache from fans, hope to find more success with this anime adaptation. 

    What are critics saying?

    With 85% of critics reviews and 95% of over 10,000 audience reviews of the show positive, according to Rotten Tomatoes, it makes the show one of Netflix’s highest-rated new series (Heartstopper and Warrior Nun both have higher scores but not nearly as many reviews, which makes it easier to retain a high score). A summary of the critical reception is that the show is if Pirates of the Caribbean met Stranger Things and that it has a “major Saturday morning cartoon vibe” that appeals to both tweens, nostalgic adults and the superfans of the OG story. You can read more reviews here

    When can we watch season 2 of One Piece?

    CEO of Tomorrow Studios Marty Alderstein has said that scripts have been written for the next season already and they’re ready to start filming as soon as the SAG-AFTRA strikes have ended and once Netflix have given them the greenlight. “They keep it, as you know, close to the vest until post-launch,” Tomorrow Studios president Becky Clements said to Variety about the latter. “But with Netflix’s support of the title, we expected it to be number one and we sensed their research and algorithms probably saw the possibility for that. But in our subsequent calls post-launch, we have been told that we have exceeded expectations, which is also fantastic.” 

    So when can we see it? Becky hopes that it could be within 2024: “Realistically, hopefully, a year away, if we move very quickly, and that is a possibility… Somewhere between a year and 18 months, we could be ready for air.”

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