Netflix's 2026 Fantasy Series Repeats The Platform's Mistake From 15 Months Ago

Netflix's One Piece has repeated a streaming service mistake from 15 months ago. Despite this, the reviews for One Piece season 2 have been majorly positive. Critics and audiences alike welcomed the new season, with One Piece season 2's ending only whetting appetites for the next part of the story.

Thankfully, One Piece season 3's production is underway, meaning a release date could be set for as early as 2027. Nonetheless, the structure of the overall Netflix story is somewhat of a One Piece manga change. One Piece season 1 adapted the entirety of the East Blue Saga from the source material, with the exception of the Loguetown Arc.

Loguetown was moved to the start of One Piece season 2, with episode 2 of that installment beginning the Arabasta Saga. However, unlike season 1, the ending of One Piece season 2 left things slightly unfinished as the Arabasta Arc of the eponymous saga is yet to be adapted.

This is being left for One Piece season 3, repeating a minor mistake Netflix made over a year ago.

Just Like Squid Game, One Piece Seasons 2 & 3 Are Effectively A Single Season Split In Two

Given that the Arabasta Arc of One Piece's manga was left for season 3 of the Netflix show, season 2's story feels almost unfinished. Although the Drum Kingdom Arc did serve as a fitting finale for One Piece season 2, there's no denying that the overarching narrative established via Vivi's character was left without a conclusion.

As a result, many could see One Piece seasons 2 and 3 as a single story split in half. Netflix is no stranger to this kind of storytelling format, with many previous shows utilizing split seasons. Admittedly, One Piece is doing things differently by having two individual seasons, rather than having "Season X - Part X" as the likes of Stranger Things or Cobra Kai have in the past.

Still, there has been one case of this before with another of Netflix's most popular shows: Squid Game. Squid Game seasons 2 and 3 consisted of only seven and six episodes, respectively, as they were initially conceived as one story. However, the show's creator decided to split that story, resulting in two very interconnected seasons.

One Piece seasons 2 and 3 will essentially be the same thing, despite the creators' efforts to make each one feel like a contained story. The story of the Arabasta Saga proves as much, as it began in season 2 yet won't conclude until the final episode of season 3.

One Piece Season 2's Final Fight Is Nowhere Near As Dramatic As Season 1's

Again, as alluded to several times, this didn't impact the overall quality of One Piece season 2 that much; The show is still much more successful than the pre-split seasons of Stranger Things, Cobra Kai, or Wednesday, and the interconnected multiple seasons of Squid Game. That said, one aspect of One Piece season 2 was slightly underwhelming as a result.

The aspect in question was the final fight between Luffy and King Wapol. The fight was suitably enjoyable and exciting, but it did feel somewhat lacking compared to the massive showdown between the Straw Hats and the Fishmen at Arlong Park in season 1.

It is worth noting, though, that this makes sense with context. After all, Luffy vs. Wapol was never meant to be on the scale of a Saga-ending fight like Arlong Park. Instead, Wapol was only the villain of an individual Arc, akin to the Baroque Works agents of One Piece season 2.

Due to the narrative structure of the live-action show, Wapol became a bigger villain than he arguably should have been, based on the manga and anime. Therefore, the big fight of One Piece season 2's finale was underwhelming compared to season 1, with the major fights of the Arabasta Saga still to come in season 3.