On the finish of August 2023, the live-action adaptation of One Piece arrived to Netflix subscription holders, and it didn’t take lengthy for the collection to grow to be an enormous hit for the most effective streaming companies. Sadly, One Piece’s premiere occurred as each the writers and actors strikes had been nonetheless going, that means that the actors couldn’t do press or attend particular occasions tied to the present. So as an alternative, Taz Skylar, who performs Sanji, organized a unique approach he and his 4 predominant co-stars may rejoice One Piece changing into accessible to the plenty: touring to Japan, the franchise’s birthplace.
Skylar mentioned this subject whereas being interviewed by Movieweb about his new film, Cleaner, which opened on the 2025 launch schedule this previous weekend and co-stars Daisy Ridley and Clive Owen. Whereas he understandably couldn’t share any particular particulars about what’s forward in One Piece Season 2, he did have this to say when he was requested if he was stunned by Season 1’s success on the time:
That was a tough [situation], as a result of it was in the course of the strikes as properly… Primarily, as a result of the strikes cancelled all the totally different premieres that we had been going to do in several nations, I keep in mind sitting there and pondering, ‘Nicely, I’ve two methods to go about this. I can both go to a 3rd world nation someplace good with palm timber and coconut water, and I can simply swap my telephone off and overlook about all the things, after which test in in a month to see if we survived or we died. Or we may fly into the guts of the storm and face it with our head held excessive and with delight over what we’d spent basically the final yr and a half of our life doing.
One Piece definitely didn’t want any press or premieres to drum up curiosity, rating as the most effective exhibits to binge watch on Netflix in a matter of days. However, Taz Skylar was confronted with two choices about what to do within the absence of not having the ability to promote the present, and he selected the one that allow him reunite with Iñaki Godoy (Monkey D. Luffy), Mackenyu (Roronoa Zoro), Emily Rudd (Nami) and Jacob Romero Gibson (Usopp) on their phrases. He continued:
And I keep in mind I pitched it in our WhatsApp group. I used to be like, ‘Hey guys, why don’t all of us go to Japan collectively regardless and simply spend the day that it comes out collectively as a household. As a result of I actually don’t need to run from it and I actually don’t need any of us to be alone if this doesn’t grow to be a hit. And I’d actually love for us to be collectively if it does grow to be a hit.’ So all of us did precisely that. All of us flew to Japan from totally different corners of the world, and we frolicked for 5 days. After which on the fifth day, we watched the present collectively.
So Taz Skylar acquired along with the opposite actors who comprise this iteration of the Straw Hat Pirates and considered One Piece Season 1 to cap off their trip in Japan. In addition they saved a detailed eye on how the present was being critically obtained, with Skylar recalling:
We sat there trying on the Rotten Tomatoes rating as we had been going via the present and being like, ‘Okay, we’re good! We’re good! I believe we’re gonna make it! We’re gonna make it!’ After which any person else could be like, ‘No, however wait! As a result of [in] 24 hours, all the things may change.’ So it’s like trying on the inventory market. Fortunately it simply saved going up and up and up and up and up, after which after a number of weeks, we had been like, ‘Okay, I believe we’ve accomplished it.’ And I believe it was solely like two weeks later that we acquired to go once more for Season 2.
Sure, One Piece was renewed fairly rapidly, a pointy distinction from Netflix’s final main live-action anime adaptation, Cowboy Bebop, being cancelled after only one season in roughly the identical period of time. Season 2 started filming in South Africa in June 2024, and it was introduced earlier this month that manufacturing had concluded. Among the many new characters Sanji and his cohorts will meet embrace Joe Manganiello’s Crocodile, Katey Sagal’s Dr. Kureha, Lera Abova’s Mr. 0 and David Dastmalchian’s Mr. 3, amongst many others.
Whereas not official, it’s trying more and more unlikely that One Piece Season 2 will probably be among the many choices on the 2025 TV schedule. A 2026 drop is trying extra believable, although hopefully properly if Season 3 is a go earlier than this yr is over.