Right now’s a really good time to be a One Piece fan. Netflix announced on Sunday that it’s working with Wit Studio — the animation studio behind the early seasons of Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga — for a new anime adaptation of the long-running series. It’ll start fresh from the East Blue saga, or the beginning of Eiichiro Oda’s manga, which is now in its final saga and expected to wrap up in the next few years.
One Piece follows the adventures of the rubber-limbed pirate Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, known as the Straw Hats. Both the manga and the original anime series have been ongoing since the late ‘90s. And, just this summer, Netflix released a live-action One Piece adaptation that was surprisingly well received considering Hollywood’s track record with live-action anime remakes.
As many have been preparing for the inevitable void that will be left when the manga and original anime come to an end, the latest announcement couldn’t be better timed. There’s little information available about the new series at this stage beyond the fact that it will be called The One Piece and “will recreate the story of the original One Piece manga.” We don’t have a release date yet, but Netflix says it’s in production now.