Picture: One Piece – TOEI Animation, Shueisha
At Jump Festa ’24 a huge announcement revealed that WIT Studio and Netflix are partnering to produce a new and improved version of the beloved One Piece anime series. The new adaptation will feature a condensed episode count and updated animation and will be exclusively released on Netflix globally. Here’s everything we know about the One Piece remake so far.
Since the summer of 2020, Netflix US has periodically added new seasons of the One Piece anime series. The latest addition to the collection is the Marineford Arc, which is highly regarded by fans. Along with several One Piece movies and the long-awaited arrival of the live-action adaptation, Netflix has become one of the best platforms for One Piece content.
In a surprising turn of events, a ground-breaking announcement revealed that a remake of the One Piece anime is in development. WIT Studio is the animation studio behind the project, with Netflix to distribute the anime to hundreds of millions of subscribers worldwide.
How much of the anime is being remade?
At the time of writing, we only have confirmation that the first season will cover the entirety of the East Blue Saga. This will consist of 25 episodes, dramatically reducing the episode count of the original TOEI Animation adaptation by over half.
If you exclude the Warship Island Filler arc from the anime, the East Blue Saga consists of 53 episodes. This takes you from the start of the Romance Dawn arc to the end of the Loguetown arc.
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新アニメシリーズ
『𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘』制作決定
⁰◆━━━━━━━━━━━━━◆WIT STUDIOにて『ONE PIECE』
〝東の海〟編から再びアニメ化！🏴☠️特報映像 https://t.co/kzHssytPQf
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣#ONEPIECE pic.twitter.com/zrpvtmS94O— ONE PIECE スタッフ【公式】/ Official (@Eiichiro_Staff) December 17, 2023
Each episode of One Piece has an estimated runtime of 24 minutes. So, by removing 28 episodes from the East Blue Saga, you’re reducing the runtime by approximately 672 minutes, or 11.2 hours!
It remains unclear if there are any plans to reanimate further sagas such as Alabasta and Sky Island. But as we expect the remake to succeed with audiences worldwide, there will be an appetite for more.
Anime Episode Count
Below is an episode count of the current One Piece anime with and without filler;
| Saga | Episode Count (with Filler) | Episode Count (without filler) |
|---|---|---|
| East Blue | 61 | 53 |
| Alabasta | 74 | 69 |
| Sky Island | 71 | 52 |
| Water 7 | 119 | 107 |
| Thriller Bark | 59 | 45 |
| Summit War | 132 | 125 |
| Total | 516 | 451 |
Before considering filler, the first five One Piece sagas consist of 451 episodes. This equates to 597 manga chapters.
One of the most significant criticisms against the One Piece anime is the pacing. This is often cited by those wanting to watch the anime but opting out due to the overwhelming episode count.
The pacing issue even led to a fan-made edit project named One Pace, which aimed to reduce the runtime and filler of One Piece dramatically. The episode count for the East Blue Saga in the One Pace edit is 37. This means the new adaptation will have fewer episodes than the fan-led edit.
| Saga | One Pace Edit Episode Count |
|---|---|
| East Blue | 37 |
| Alabasta | 39 |
| Sky Island | 32 |
| Water 7 | 56 |
| Thriller Bark | 22 |
| Summit War | 51 |
| Total | 237 |
It must be noted that despite having a smaller episode count, the One Pace fan-edit runtimes have varied, with some episodes as short as 17 minutes and others as long as an hour.
The new adaptation should finally solve any pacing issues.
Why isn’t TOEI Animation working on the remake?
TOEI Animation is still hard at work producing weekly episodes of the ongoing anime adaptation of One Piece, which is now entering its final saga.
Messages from The One Piece team and WIT Studio
The message on the left is from “The One Piece” production committee, roughly translated from Japanese to English;
“This is a project to redraw the anime of “One Piece” from the East Sea saga as a modern video. In a different line from the TV anime series, which is still moving forward at maximum power after 25 years. We want to explore the expressions that are only possible today and present Luffy’s adventure in a nostalgic yet new way. The release date is still a long way off, and it is a long project that will take even longer to complete, but with the help of our new partners WIT STUDIO and Netflix, we hope to bring “One Piece” to fans around the world and to the future. The “All One Piece” team will do our best to deliver this product to the generation who are exposed to it.”
The message on the right is from WIT Studio president Takeshi Wada, which has been roughly translated from Japanese to English;
“It has finally been announced! “The One Piece.” When I decided to take on this new adventure, after much thought and worry, I decided to discuss it with everyone on the challenge. “One Piece” is an anime with over 1000 episodes created by the weight of that history and the prospect of charting a new trajectory. We aim to electrify people all over the world by carefully depicting the challenges of pursuing dreams, friendship with friends, and hope for the future, as depicted by Eiichiro Oda. In order to deliver this work to every corner of the world, we still need the help of all creators. Would you like to participate in this project and engrave your name on the film? WIT Studio is looking forward to your participation!!”
Will the cast return to reprise their roles?
We await official confirmation that the original Japanese dub cast is returning to reprise their roles.
What about an English dub?
There is no confirmation regarding the English dub for the One Piece remake. It is also unclear whether the current English dub cast from FUNimation will be returning to reprise their roles.
We expect to learn more closer to the release date.
When is the One Piece remake coming to Netflix?
At the time of writing, there is no official release date for the new One Piece anime on Netflix.
Fans will be hopeful that the new One Piece anime will be released to celebrate its 25th anniversary in October 2024.
For now, we’re waiting for Netflix to make an official announcement.
Are you excited about the release of the One Piece anime remake? Let us know in the comments below!