This weekend marked the 25th anniversary of the One Piece anime and naturally, Netflix, which recently released a live-action adaptation, was here to celebrate.
The streaming service shared a short video celebrating protagonist Monkey D. Luffy's birthday. And in doing so, they may have dropped the first teaser for what we can expect in Season 2.
The video features star Iñaki Godoy, who portrays Monkey D. Luffy in the live-action series, as he showers the character with thanks and celebrates with a cake. The cake appears to resemble a candle and at the top was an actual candle shaped like the number three.
Now anyone familiar with the anime series knows this is a major hint that Season 2 will probably follow Arabasta arc, featuring the Baroque Works criminal syndicate. Like Season 1, which followed the East Blue manga and featured plenty of intriguing baddies, the Arabasta arc has no shortage of interesting characters with bizarre abilities.
One of these characters is Galdino, perhaps better known as Mr. 3. After eating the Wax Wax Fruit, Mr. 3 gains the ability to create and control candle wax. The cake — especially with the number three-shaped wick at the top — appears to be a clear reference to the character.
Many fans have speculated that Season 2 of the live-action series would follow the Arabasta arc, and this seems to confirm it. Baroque Works was actually mentioned early on in a Season 1 scene when Zoro killed a red-haired Mr. 7. This could suggest that Netflix will showcase Mr. 1 to Mr. 7, along with their holiday-themed partners and the mysterious leader, Mr. 0, in the upcoming season.
Netflix's live-action One Piece adaptation premiered its first season on August 31, 2023. While live-action adaptations of popular animes — especially ones as long as One Piece — are often a miss, Netflix knocked it out of the park with its series. The eight-episode first season was met with rave reviews by critics and fans alike and sits at a 85% on Rotten Tomatoes with an even more impressive 95% Audience Score.
"One Piece captures the essence of its beloved source material with a charmingly big-hearted adaptation that should entertain longtime fans as well as patient newcomers," the Critics' Consensus reads.
Netflix renewed the series for a second season in September 2023, just a few weeks after the series debuted. However, we still don't have a release date for the sophomore season. Netflix is reportedly targeting a 2025 premiere date with filming expected to begin in June 2024.