One Piece’s animated film Episode of Arabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates covered the Arabasta arc in 90 minutes, but the Netflix show will take a very different approach when adapting Luffy’s next adventure. After One Piece season 1 covered the anime’s first saga in eight episodes, many assumed that season 2 would do the same thing for Arabasta, the story’s second saga. However, it has since been confirmed that One Piece season 2 will only include Loguetown, Reverse Mountain, Whisky Peak, Little Garden, and Drum Island.
In other words, the actual battle for Arabasta will not happen in season 2 and is being saved for a potential season 3. While One Piece season 3 has not been confirmed yet, the Netflix live-action show has so far been very successful and even became the streamer’s most-viewed TV show in the second half of 2023. Assuming One Piece gets to continue after season 2, the live-action show has made the right decision by saving the Arabasta arc for season 3 – and the Arabasta abridged anime film proves it.
One Piece Saving Arabasta For Season 3 Avoids The Arabasta Movie’s Mistake
One Piece’s Episode Of Arabasta Movie Cut And Changed Way Too Many Things
It’s not uncommon for anime series to receive abridged retelling films – movies that compress entire arcs or sagas into a 90-minute story, usually with better animation and, of course, much faster pacing. As one of the most popular anime series of all time, One Piece has been a valuable property for decades and has spawned several movies and specials. Three of those movies are abridged versions of canon anime sagas, including Episode of Arabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates. The 2007 film recapped the Arabasta arc episodes, which are precisely the ones Netflix’s show is saving for season 3.
Of all the One Piece recap movies, Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in Winter, Miracle Sakura is the one with the most changes to the manga. It changes the order of the story and has Robin instead of Vivi as part of the crew before Luffy and the others even meet Chopper.
Given how many episodes One Piece has, the idea of catching up with one of the anime’s most important arcs in just 90 minutes sounds tempting. However, Episode of Arabasta makes dozens of changes to the source material and removes way too many moments that make the film a Frankenstein version of the story. For example, Ace does not appear at all in the Arabasta film, and neither does Smoker and Tashigi. Luffy and Crocodile have two encounters instead of three, and everything happens much faster than it’s supposed to. This is a problem that Netflix’s One Piece won’t have.
Arabasta In Season 3 Gives Netflix’s One Piece Show More Time To Tell The Story
Netflix’s One Piece Won’t Have To Rush Through The Arabasta Saga’s Arcs
Custom image by Simone Ashmoore With over 1000 manga chapters left to be covered and counting, it would be understandable if Netflix’s One Piece were to rush through the source material and include as many arcs per season as possible. However, the decision not to include Arabasta in season 2 means that the live-action show will take its time and prioritize the natural flow of the story over adapting one saga per season. While that means that Netflix’s One Piece will move slower than we thought, it also allows the live-action show to be more accurate to the manga.
Reverse Mountain | 61-63 |
Whiskey Peak | 64-67 |
Little Garden | 70-77 |
Drum Island | 78-91 |
Arabasta | 92-130 |
One Piece season 2 can be the setup for Arabasta and will have enough time to introduce major new players such as Princess Vivi, Nico Robin, and Chopper. The cast of One Piece season 2 should be significantly larger than that of the first season, at least in terms of important characters, and there is only so much an eight-episode series can do. Covering all 117 chapters of One Piece’s Arabasta saga in just one season would mean that some big moments and characters would risk being left out, just like what happened in the recap film.
Netflix’s Live-Action Show Has Offered A New Way To Get Into One Piece
Getting Into One Piece Can Be Difficult Given The Length Of The Series
Custom image by Yailin Chacon Before Netflix’s One Piece premiered, the quickest way to get into Luffy’s story other than reading the manga was watching Episode of East Blue: Luffy and His Four Crewmates' Great Adventure. The 90-minute special released in 2017 could technically replace the first 61 episodes of the anime and serve as a starting point for new fans who didn’t want to get through 22 hours of content just to catch up with One Piece’s first saga.
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Netflix Has A Big One Piece Problem To Solve That Will Only Get Worse As The Live-Action Show Goes On
One Piece season 1 was as accurate as possible to the manga, but the Netflix live-action show now has a difficult challenge for season 2 and beyond.
Netflix’s One Piece has now offered an alternate way of getting into the series if you don’t want to sit through the anime’s first 61 episodes. Interestingly, while season 1 had roughly eight hours to cover East Blue, it made a couple of significant changes to the source material that not even the abridged anime film did. It remains to be seen what changes and deviations from the manga will happen in season 2, but not rushing through Arabasta is good news for Netflix’s One Piece.
Based on the popular manga/anime series, One Piece is a live-action Netflix adaptation of the story from Eiichiro Oda. The show follows the exploits of a band of pirates, the Straw Hats, led by the energetic and adventure-loving Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is a young man cursed with strange powers after accidentally eating a mysterious fruit. With his friends Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji, Luffy will head across the vast ocean to find the legendary treasure, the One Piece.
Cast Iñaki Godoy , Mackenyu , Emily Rudd , Jacob Romero Gibson , Taz Skylar
Release Date August 31, 2023
Seasons 1
Showrunner Matt Owens
English (US) ·