Let’s try to hypothesize how the One Piece manga will be adapted into live-action format in subsequent (and possible) seasons of serie Netflix (here is our review of the first season).
Saying that One Piece is an immense work wouldn’t be wrong on any front, but it would certainly make everyone agree on the length factor. The manga started in 1997 by Eiichiro Oda is still ongoing today, and even if the author has announced that he has started its final phase, no one is able to say when we will see the final word written in black and white.
Having exceeded 1090 chapters on paper, the Netflix adaptation certainly still has a long way to go, and assuming he is given the opportunity to do so, bringing all these incredible events to the screen in a live-action version will certainly not be child’s play. But the One Piece production-creative team has already shown that it knows how to act with foresight, and the minds behind the live-action have recently declared that, if things go right, in the space of 6 seasons we should be able to cover approximately half of the work, while the dream would be 12 seasons to complete the whole (we do not know, however, what exactly this whole includes).
View the success achieved by the first season of the Netflix series, the flame of hope burns within us all, and to quote someone opera fans know quite well… Men’s dreams will never die!
Let’s see, then, how they could proceed in adapting the various sagas and the numerous narrative arcs that compose them in live-action format. One Piece.
The first 6 seasons
Consider the modifications, cuts and condensations operated in the first season of One Piece, following the producers’ idea of trying to adapt approximately the first 100 chapters of the manga, we tried to create a map of how the series would be structured from the second season onwards (always taking into account that there will certainly be other factors that influence its progress, such as budget and implementation times).
If in the first season of One Piece we have seen almost all the events contained in what is called the East Sea Saga adapted, for its second go-around it’s easy to think we’ll be shown the missing pieces of the puzzle (from Loguetown to Laboon, and in this sense the post-credit scene of the first season has already given an answer) and then delving into the next phase of the story.
This could see a condensation of shorter narrative arcs such as Whiskey Peak and Little Garden, preferring instead a greater focus on the Drum saga, in which we remember, we will see the addition of another member of the Mugiwara, and then obviously on Alabasta, which will require of more space and time.
It is difficult to believe that the transposition of such an important saga will be fragmented instead of being completed by the end of the season, also considering the possible ways to conclude the narrative (and the fact that, unless a prior announcement arrives, we don’t even know how long the adaptation will continue). And, if you think about it, it would be very suggestive to let the last scene be a ship falling from the sky…
One Piece, time management in the Netflix series: the problem of the cast
Which would lead us to having Jaya and Skypiea in the third season, which wouldn’t even need to increase the number of episodes compared to the first (in the second, however, it is more likely that they will perhaps reach 10). Here you could choose to insert or not a passing saga like Long Ring Long Land (or modify it depending), and start thinking about what will be the fourth season, occupied, most likely, entirely by Water Seven and Enies Lobby.
Se with the sixth season we will cover half of the chaptersit is therefore possible that the fifth season will focus on Thriller Bark (probably in a shortened version), the first stop at Sabaody and Amazon Lily (here too they could shorten, or rather, condense, and also provide us with a quick overview of all the other locations of the Mugiwara), thus predicting from the beginning what will be the War for Supremacy.
The sixth season, at this point, would therefore be dedicated to the attempted rescue of Ace, starting from Impel Down, and then culminating in the Battle of Marineford. The Mugiwara’s decision to meet again after two years would represent the perfect conclusion to the first part of the storythus giving way to the seventh season to start from the post-timeskip and start the new adventures of the Straw Hat Crew.
One Piece, an increasingly certain second season: how far will the new episodes go?
Mission 12 seasons
If he live-action di One Piece should he be lucky enough to continue beyond season six, and even manage to adapt the entire manga, with all the relevant variables, the starting point of the seventh season would in all likelihood be the Mugiwara reunion in Sabaody. Having left the archipelago for the deepest marine caves, in the seventh season we would go to explore Fishman Island, to instead head to Punk Hazard in the remaining episodes.
It is important to note how, from the eighth season onwards, we would necessarily witness longer narrativeshowever reduced and modified to fit within the timing and methods required by the medium, so there could be entire seasons dedicated solely to a macro-saga like Dressrosa, which could occupy the eighth season on its own.
Which would lead us to see Zou and Whole Cake Island adapted in the ninth season, in such a way as to leave room for Wano and possibly the Reverie in the tenth, up to the current events of the manga (i.e. Egghead and side dish) transposed into a possible eleventh season.
One Piece, what works and what doesn’t in the Netflix live-action series
The twelfth, at this point – and if everything goes according to plan even outside the serie Netflix – would be the one that would lead us to the Final War, as is widely imaginable, and above all, to discovery of the One Piece.
Whether this will ever happen, we cannot (yet) know. We can certainly hope that the serialization of the story in live-action format will continue (and that Netflix won’t think of “resolving it” with feature films, as has already happened with other titles).
Recap
In summary, this could be apossible division into seasons of One Piece live-action:
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First season: Romance Dawn, Orange Town, Syrup Village, Baratie, Arlong Park (8 episodi)
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Second season: Loguetown, Lovoon, Whisky Peak, Little Garden, Drum, Alabasta (10+ episodi?)
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Third Season: Jaya, Skypiea (8 episodes?)
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Fourth Season: Water Seven, Enies Lobby (10 episodi?)
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Fifth Season: Thriller Bark, Sabaody, Amazon Lily (10 episodi?)
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Sixth Season: Impel Down, Marineford (8-10 episodes?)
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Seventh season: Sabaody 2.0, Fishman Island, Punk Hazard (8 episodi?)
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Eighth season: Dressrosa (8-10 episodes?)
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Ninth season: Zou, Whole Cake Island (8-10 episodi?)
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Tenth Season: Wano, Reverie (10+ episodes?)
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Eleventh season: Egghead, …
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Twelfth Season: Fine?
There are therefore still many unknowns that dot the future of One Piece, and we can only imagine what it will be. But one thing is certain: the adventure (for now) doesn’t end here.