One Piece Day 2024 finally delivered our first look at Netflix's upcoming anime adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's beloved pirate saga. Announced in 2023, The One Piece is a reimagining of the East Blue Saga.
Remakes or reimaginings are often met with hesitance by fans as they sometimes tend to stray away from the source material. According to the creator of the original One Piece manga, that sort of creativity should be encouraged.
In the newly released behind-the-scenes video of The One Piece production, one of the staff members shared some advice that Eiichiro Oda offered to those working on the remake.
"I want you all to express, rather than copy and paste your work," read translated words of advice from Oda. Other translations went something along the lines of "Rather than faithfully reproducing the One Piece manga, the anime staff [of The One Piece] should take it in and remake it in their own style."
The point is, Eiichiro Oda wants The One Piece to differ from the original manga or 1999 anime series. He wants the staff to bring their own unique style to the story, which is refreshing to hear from the creator. With Oda giving his blessing for changes, it will be interesting to see what sort of changes WIT Studio makes to the source material.
In the video above, we get our first at some of the early concept art for The One Piece, including characters design sheets, pre-production sketches, and even 3D renderings. When firs announcing the series back in 2023, Netflix said: "The One Piece hopes to provide viewers with a fresh yet familiar experience, utilizing cutting-edge visual technology to reimagine Luffy’s adventures through the beloved East Blue Saga."
It's clear from these visuals that WIT Studio is maintaining the spirit of Eiichiro Oda's original work while adding their own unique flair to the animation and style. As we've only seen artwork, we don't know how, or if, the story itself will be updated. WIT Studio could make cuts to some of the earlier arcs that were deemed as filler or even update some of the portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters from early seasons that may be deemed offensive by today's standards.
The East Blue serves as the introductory saga of the manga and the 1999 anime series, and is where fans first meet Luffy. It's during this chapter where Luffy meets his pirate crew, dubbed the Straw Hats. The official synopsis for The One Piece reads:
Based on Eiichiro Oda’s bestselling manga series, THE ONE PIECE follows Monkey D. Luffy, an aspiring pirate who sets sail with his Straw Hats crew in search of the mysterious One Piece treasure. Luffy isn’t just like any pirate, however. With limbs that can stretch like rubber, his unique skills help him take on the dangerous villains and rivals that he and his gang encounter at sea.
The One Piece is currently in production with no release date announced yet.