One Piece Season 1 TV Series
One Piece (stylized in all caps) is a fantasy adventure television series developed by Matt Owens and Steven Maeda for Netflix. The series is a live-action adaptation of the manga series of the same name by Eiichiro Oda, who served as a major creative consultant on the show. It is produced by Kaji Productions and Shueisha, who also publishes the manga. The series stars an ensemble cast including Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Jacob Romero Gibson, and Taz Skylar as the members of the Straw Hat Pirates, centered around (Godoy’s) Captain Monkey D. Luffy.
The series premiered on August 31, 2023, and it received positive reviews from both critics and fans who praised the performances, writing, visual effects, and general fidelity to the source material. Several outlets have called it one of the best live-action adaptations of a manga or anime series, considering it a major improvement over Netflix’s previous attempts such as the negatively received Death Note and Cowboy Bebop. Two weeks after its premiere, Netflix renewed the series for a second season, which is in active development.
One Piece Season 1 TV Series
STORY
Episodes 1
“Romance Dawn”
Following the execution of famed pirate captain Gold Roger, pirates take to the seas to search for his hidden treasure, the “One Piece.” Twenty-two years later, novice pirate Monkey D. Luffy is one of those still searching for the treasure. He winds up on the ship of the cruel pirate Alvida. Using his elasticity powers gained by unwittingly eating a Devil Fruit, he defeats Alvida and escapes with her mistreated cabin boy, Koby, who dreams of becoming a Marine. The pair head to a Marine base for a map to the Grand Line, a treacherous route believed to lead to the One Piece. Luffy frees notorious pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro, who was punished for fighting Helmeppo, son of corrupt Marine captain Morgan. Nami, a cat burglar who also wants the map, helps Luffy steal Morgan’s safe. Zoro helps them defeat Morgan and the trio escapes on a ship; Koby remains behind to enlist with the Marines.
Episodes 2
“The Man in the Straw Hat”
Luffy, Zoro, and Nami are captured by Buggy the Clown, a pirate who has imprisoned the people of Orange Town. Luffy manages to swallow the Grand Line map beforehand. He learns of Buggy’s ties to his childhood idol, Shanks, from whom Luffy received his treasured straw hat. Buggy uses his Chop-Chop Fruit powers, which allow him to split himself apart, to get the upper hand, and attempts to drown Luffy when he refuses to hand over the map. Luffy remembers a childhood incident when Shanks saved him from drowning and protected him from a sea creature using a mysterious power at the cost of his left arm; something Luffy blamed himself for. The trio defeats Buggy and frees the town. Garp has Morgan arrested for lying about the pirate attack, resulting in Helmeppo joining the Marines with Koby. Nami secretly contacts someone about having the map.
Episodes 3
“Tell No Tales”
In need of a new boat, the trio—now dubbed the Straw Hat Crew—stop at Syrup Village in the Gecko Islands for a larger ship. Luffy finds a suitable ship, but is informed by Usopp, a goofy dockworker, that the ship is not for sale. Usopp takes them to meet the shipyard owner and his best friend, Kaya, a rich, sickly orphan, to ask about the ship. Meanwhile, Garp takes Koby under his wing, knowing of his connection to Luffy and wanting to test his loyalty to the Marines. Luffy and Usopp bond over Luffy knowing the latter’s pirate father Yasopp, who was part of Shanks’ crew. Kaya’s butler, Klahadore, reveals himself as Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates. Planning to take over Kaya’s business, he kills her lawyer Merry, gets Zoro knocked out, and has their bodies dumped in a well. Usopp flees for help but no one believes him until Koby arrives with the Marines.
Episodes 4
“The Pirates Are Coming”
After several failed attempts to climb out of the well, Zoro remembers his childhood and the death of his friend Kuina, who inspired him to be a swordsman. The memory pushes him to successfully climb out. Usopp brings the Marines to the house, but Kuro dissuades them and hands over Luffy, unconscious after eating poisoned soup meant for Kaya. Usopp and Nami rush to Kaya’s aid when Kuro begins his attack. Zoro rescues Luffy from the Marines and battles Kuro’s subordinates back at the house, while Luffy takes on Kuro. They are victorious in saving Kaya and Kuro flees the island. Kaya rewards them with the ship the crew had wanted, which Luffy dubs the Going Merry in honor of Kaya’s lawyer, and Usopp accepts Luffy’s invitation to join the crew. The Marines are right on their tail as Garp attacks their ship at sea. Luffy sees him and reveals that Garp is his grandfather, to the crew’s shock.
Episodes 5
“Eat at Baratie!”
Luffy remembers how his grandfather had wanted him to join the Marines when he was a child. In the present, Garp appears pleased when Luffy deters the Marines and escapes with his crew. They end up at Baratie, a floating restaurant where Luffy befriends talented chef Sanji. Garp hires a Warlord, Dracule Mihawk, to bring Luffy in alive. Helmeppo informs Koby about the Seven Warlords of the Sea, powerful pirates turned privateers for the World Government, who realized it was more beneficial to have the pirates as allies. When Mihawk, known as the world’s greatest swordsman, arrives, Zoro, who has idolized him since childhood, challenges him to a duel to win Mihawk’s title and fulfill his dream. It is clear that Zoro is no match for Mihawk, as he viciously loses. Mihawk, who comes to respect Zoro and Luffy’s resolve and determination, lets them go free, though Zoro is severely wounded and falls unconscious.
Episodes 6
“The Chef and the Chore Boy”
Zeff, the owner of Baratie, treats Zoro but is unsure if he will survive. Sanji tells Luffy and Usopp his history with Zeff, and his dream to find the All Blue, an area where all four seas meet, a cook’s paradise containing rare spices and fish. Koby learns of Garp and Luffy’s true relationship. Feared pirate and fish-man Arlong arrives in search of the Grand Line map, having taken Buggy’s head hostage to find him. As he is about kill Luffy, Nami hands over the map, revealing that she is a member of Arlong’s crew. Arlong throws Luffy into the sea and leaves with Nami; Sanji rescues him from drowning. In disbelief, Luffy believes he has failed as a captain until Zoro awakens and swears to stand by Luffy as his first mate. Sanji joins the Straw Hats as their cook. His confidence renewed, Luffy decides to go after Nami. He reveals to the crew that he stole Buggy’s head, who cheerfully greets them.
Episodes 7
“The Girl with the Sawfish Tattoo”
Under Buggy’s direction, the Straw Hats arrive at Conomi Island, where Coco Village, Nami’s home, is under Arlong’s rule. They meet Nojiko, Nami’s adoptive sister, who reveals that as children, Arlong killed their adoptive mother. Garp questions Zeff about Luffy’s whereabouts, revealing that he does not want his grandson to end up executed like Gold Roger. It is revealed that Nami has been working for Arlong since her mother’s death to buy back her village’s freedom by paying him 100 million berry as per their deal. When she informs him that she finally has the money, Arlong betrays her by getting Marine Captain Nezumi to confiscate it. With all her efforts having gone in vain, Nami breaks down and stabs her arm to remove the Arlong Pirate tattoo. When she is stopped by Luffy, she begs for his help. As the Straw Hats rally together, they see that Arlong has attacked Coco Village.
Episodes 8
“Worst in the East”
The Straw Hats face off against Arlong’s crew. Realizing that Arlong’s tower contains years of Nami’s mapwork—vital to Arlong in his goal to take over the four seas—Luffy destroys the tower and brings it down on the fishman, defeating him and freeing Nami and her village. Garp arrives but Koby and Helmeppo refuse his orders to arrest the Straw Hats, knowing they are innocent. Luffy unwillingly fights his grandfather. Though Garp easily has the upper hand, Luffy stands firm, which convinces Garp to relent. He reveals that he had simply been testing Luffy to make sure this was what he really wanted. As revenge for his humiliation, Captain Nezumi puts out a wanted poster of Luffy, fulfilling his childhood dream of having one. Garp, impressed with Koby and Helmeppo’s will to stand by what is right, decides to personally train them. As the Straw Hats embark on their journey to the Grand Line as a proper crew for the first time, a Marine smoking two cigars burns Luffy’s bounty poster.
CAST
- Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, an enthusiastic prospective pirate both cursed and gifted with powerful rubber-like abilities from accidentally eating a mysterious Devil Fruit, the Gum-Gum Fruit. His goal is to travel out of the East Blue with a crew of his own, to find the One Piece and to become the King of the Pirates.
- Colton Osorio as young Monkey D. Luffy
- Emily Rudd as Nami, an enigmatic thief who hides her past behind an aggressive indifference in search of a map to the Grand Line, where the One Piece is strongly rumored to be. She has taken it upon herself to navigate and map out the entire world.
- Lily Fisher as young Nami
- Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, an accomplished master swordsman and bounty hunter, who uses the art of “Three Swords Style”. He aims to become the world’s greatest swordsman.
- Maximilian Lee Piazza as young Roronoa Zoro
- Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, who is boisterous, yet loyal to a fault, to his friends and allies; Usopp specializes in marksmanship, cunning and invention. He intends to be a brave, famous warrior of the sea, recognized by his infamous pirate father, Yasopp.
- Kevin Saula as young Usopp
- Taz Skylar as Sanji, an abrasive, woman-loving, yet charming master chef who is a practitioner of martial arts primarily using his legs taught to him by his mentor and head chef Zeff. His purpose is to find the All Blue, a mythical sea that connects the four seas together and provides quality meals to all.
- Christian Convery as young Sanji
- Vincent Regan as Monkey D. Garp, a prolific Vice Admiral in the Marines and Luffy’s estranged grandfather, who becomes Koby’s mentor
- Jeff Ward as Buggy the Clown, the clown-themed captain of the Buggy Pirates whose Devil Fruit he ate, the Chop-Chop Fruit, gives him the ability to split his own body into pieces and control them as he sees fit
- Morgan Davies as Koby, a cabin boy of the Alvida Pirates who dreams of and eventually joins the Marines
PRODUCTION
Development
In July 2017, Weekly Shōnen Jump editor-in-chief Hiroyuki Nakano announced that Tomorrow Studios (a partnership between Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios) and Shueisha would commence production of an American live-action television adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga series as part of the series’ 20th anniversary celebrations. Oda would serve as executive producer for the series alongside Tomorrow Studios CEO Adelstein and Becky Clements. The series would reportedly begin with the East Blue saga. Adelstein also said the production cost could set new records.
In January 2020, Oda revealed that Netflix had ordered a first season initially consisting of ten episodes. In May 2020, producer Marty Adelstein revealed that the series was originally set to begin filming in Cape Town at Cape Town Film Studios sometime around August but had been delayed to around September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also revealed that, during the same interview, all ten scripts had been written for the series and they were set to begin casting sometime in June. However, executive producer and writer Matt Owens stated in September 2020 that casting had not yet commenced.
In March 2021, production started up again with showrunner Steven Maeda revealing that the series codename is Project Roger. In September 2021, the series revealed its first look at the logo for the series. That same month, it was reported that Marc Jobst will direct the pilot episode of the series; he was approached to direct the pilot by Netflix executives due to their positive relationship after Jobst helmed episodes for Netflix series such as Daredevil, Luke Cage, and The Witcher. Jobst agreed to work on One Piece due to the script’s optimistic tone. In February 2022, it was announced that Arisu Kashiwagi will be the creative director and designer for the show’s brand identity, where she will be creating and designing logo and title sequence etc. In March 2022, alongside the release of additional casting announcements, it was said that head writer and executive producer Matt Owens would serve as co-showrunner alongside Maeda. In June 2022, Emma Sullivan was revealed to have directed episodes of the series.
On September 7, 2023, Tomorrow Studios CEO Marty Adelstein revealed that the scripts for the second season are ready but filming could not begin until the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved. Tomorrow Studios president Becky Clements stated that once they can begin filming, they expect the season would premiere approximately 12–18 months later. Netflix did not formally announce that the series was renewed for a second season until September 14. Clements commented that they’ve had “thorough conversations” on the second season with Netflix, Shueisha and Oda and “less extensive conversations” on seasons three to six. Adelstein and Clements commented that with over 1,080 manga chapters, there is at least twelve seasons of material so just six seasons would only cover half the total manga chapters.
RELEASE
August 31, 2023
