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One Piece's Netflix Live-Action Series: All You Need to Know!


One Piece live-action release date news Nami
Credit: Netflix

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One Piece fans, get excited! The live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Odaā€™s beloved manga is finally here! With the One Piece Netflix live-action series' release date now passed, here's everything new fans and old can expect before setting sail.

Related: Is the One Piece Live-Action Series Worth Watching?

A Brief History of One Piece: Why the Netflix Series Was So Hyped

Since One Piece made its debut on July 22, 1997, in Weekly Shounen Jump, over 1,000 chapters of the manga have been published in over 100 volumes.

The hit series follows Monkey D. Luffy and his trusty pirate crew on their mission to find the ultimate treasure and earn Luffy the title of Pirate King.

With over 25 years of material, One Piece has become one of the best-selling comics in world history, outselling other iconic titles like Naruto and Dragon Ball.

One Piece is also one of the highest-grossing fictional franchises of all time, generating billions with its manga, movies, video games, and merchandise.

Just last year, One Piece Film: Red, the latest movie in the franchise, was Japan's highest-grossing film for 2022.

Interest in One Piece remains sky-high, hence why there was a lot of hype around a live-action adaptation!

Discover: Will There Be a One Piece Live-Action Season 2?

One Piece Netflix Release Date: When Did the Live-Action Premiere?

One Piece Live Action Release Date Straw Hat Crew
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Credit: Netflix

Netflix's One Piece live-action series arrived worldwide on August 31, 2023. With the adaptation first announced in July 2017, to say fans had to wait a while is an understatement!

Earlier rumours hinted that the One Piece series would arrive in August. However, an update in May 2023 by Eiichiro Oda in which he said the series won't premiere "until I'm satisfied" led to speculation that the series may be delayed.

Thankfully, the series is now with us ā€“ the wait is finally over!

One Piece Live-Action Release Date Countdown

Netflix One Piece Live-Action Countdown

The above countdown was set for 12:00 AM Pacific Time on Thursday, August 31st. Netflix states that its original productions are usually released globally at this time on their release date.

What Does Netflix's One Piece Cover from the Manga?

Netflix One Piece Plot Zoro
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Credit: Netflix

Season 1 of Netflix's live-action adaptation follows the events of One Piece's East Blue Saga, the story's first arc which unites the Straw Hat Pirates for the first time.

It was widely reported that Netflix's One Piece won't be a perfect adaptation of the source material. Some moments in the series are skipped or shortened, as you might expect from a live-action adaptation.

More Details: What Does the One Piece Live-Action Cover?

One Piece's Netflix Live-Action Episode Count & Runtimes

One Piece live-action Luffy
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Credit: Netflix

As confirmed in May 2023, the Netflix One Piece live-action series has a total of eight episodes.

When the One Piece adaptation was initially announced, it was reported that the series would have 10 episodes. However, a shorter 8-episode series was later confirmed.

The One Piece series' episode runtimes were also as expected, with each episode coming in at around one hour:

  1. Episode 1 ā€“ 1:04
  2. Episode 2 ā€“ 0:55
  3. Episode 3 ā€“ 0:58
  4. Episode 4 ā€“ 1:02
  5. Episode 5 ā€“ 0:51
  6. Episode 6 ā€“ 0:54
  7. Episode 7 ā€“ 0:58
  8. Episode 8 ā€“ 0:49

Each episode was always likely to be longer than the standard anime episode runtime given the series' budget and production.

As a comparison, Netflix's ill-fated adaptation of Cowboy Bebop had episodes with runtimes between 45 and 60 minutes.

One Piece Netflix Live-Action Cast: Which Characters Appear?

One Piece Netflix Live-Action Cast
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The main cast of the Netflix live-action One Piece series is as follows:

  • Monkey D. Luffy: IƱaki Godoy
  • Roronoa Zoro: Mackenyu
  • Nami: Emily Rudd
  • Usopp: Jacob Romero Gibson
  • Sanji: Taz Skylar

You can watch Godoy and the rest of the main cast introduce themselves in this video from the official One Piece YouTube channel:

Throughout 2022, more supporting actors for the One Piece live-action series were announced:

  • Shanks: Peter Gadiot
  • Koby: Morgan Davies
  • Alvida: Ilia IsorelĆ½s Paulino
  • Helmeppo: Aidan Scott
  • Buggy: Jeff Ward
  • Arlong: McKinley Belcher III
  • Garp: Vincent Regan
  • Klahadore: Alexander Maniatis
  • Mihawk: Steven Ward
  • Chef Zeff: Craig Fairbass
  • Captain Morgan: Langley Kirkwood
  • Kaya: Celeste Loots
  • Nojiko: Chioma Umeala

For the canonically-vital role of Shanks, Peter Gadiot portrays the head of the Red-Haired Pirates as a younger man when Luffy reflects on his childhood.

Learn More: One Piece Live-Action Cast: Meet the Actors Starring in the Netflix Series

One Piece Live-Action Staff: Who Created the Netflix Series?

One Piece Netflix Live-Action Usopp
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Credit: Netflix

According to IMDB, Steven Maeda is credited as a showrunner and creator of the One Piece live-action series, alongside Matt Owens.

Owens, also credited as a writer, has written for some of Marvel's TV series, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Luke Cage.

Netflix's One Piece live-action series has multiple episode directors, including:

  • Marc Jobst (Episodes 1 & 2)
  • Emma Sullivan (Episodes 3 & 4)
  • Tim Southam (Episodes 5 & 6)
  • Josef Wladyka (Episodes 7 & 8)

Jobst is an experienced TV director with many big-budget series, including episodes for Marvel properties such as Daredevil and Luke Cage, the latter working alongside creator Matt Owens.

There are also multiple writers attached to the project, helping to bring Oda's characters and world to life.

Eiichiro Oda's Involvement in the One Piece Live-Action Series

One Piece live-action Eiichiro Oda
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Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, was actively involved in the production of Netflix's live-action series.

Ahead of filming, Eiichiro Oda posted a message highlighting how he had been involved in some capacity from the very start.

After filming was completed, Netflix executive Ted Biaselli also spoke about Oda's involvement in the live-action series. It appears that the One Piece creator had a sizeable role, which is great news for fans!

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Behind the Scenes with Netflix's One Piece Cast & Crew

Netflix One Piece Production Behind the Scenes
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Credit: Netflix

The production of Netflix's One Piece series has been a long process, and much of it has been catalogued through staff and crew's social media posts!

The series was mainly filmed during the spring and summer of 2022 in South Africa, particularly around Cape Town Studios.

Production for Netflix's One Piece was originally set to kick off in Summer 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2022, Production Weekly reported that the live-action One Piece will begin filming in the spring/summer of that year.

At the end of that month, showrunner Steven Maeda shared a photo, teasing the beginning of the show's production:

One day later, Netflix Geeked announced that production for the live-action One Piece series had officially begun.

Netflix shared two photos of the cast, confirming the beginning of the show's production in South Africa.

Three months later, episode director and executive producer Marc Jobst finished his work on the One Piece Netflix series.

During the summer of last year, Netflix released a behind-the-scenes video of the One Piece sets in South Africa, introduced by IƱaki Godoy:

Just a week before the series aired, Netflix also released a behind-the-scenes video showing interviews with all the key cast and crew, alongside some snippets of scenes being filmed:

One Piece Live-Action: All Trailers and Clips

Here is a collection of all the official trailers and teasers released by Netflix!

After what felt like a lifetime of teasing images and cast events, Netflix finally revealed the One Piece live-action series' first teaser trailer during their TUDUM event in June 2023.

That was followed in July by a longer official trailer below:

A Japanese dubbed version of the trailer has since been released, featuring the VAs from the original anime series!

Just before the series arrived, Netflix also released a Final Trailer:

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Read Next: The Ultimate One Piece Watch Order: No Filler & With Movies

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