Hoist your flag and fight like a pirate—the Straw Hats are back for another adventure as they enter the Grand Line!
It’s been three years since the first season of Netflix’s live action One Piece adaptation. After its initial success, the cast and crew are back for a second season with more fun arcs and characters to love!
One Piece: Into The Grand Line tackles the crucial arcs of Reverse Mountain, Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, and Drum Island, as the Straw Hats finally enter the highly treacherous and unpredictable ocean route while finding the One Piece. From whales to giants and talking animals, the Straw Hats make friends along the way while having to deal with Baroque Works—a rival faction who are after them for helping a princess.
We won’t spoil too much, but if you haven’t watched the first season, we highly suggest you do, or read our review here. Now, if you’re ready, we invite you to join us as we take a peek behind the Jolly Roger and set sail on the emotional ride that is One Piece: Into The Grand Line.
Immersive Production and Soundtrack
From Left to Right: Loguetown, Reverse Mountain, Whisky Peak, Little Garden, and Drum Island | Photos from Netflix
Netflix’s One Piece continues to be eye candy for long-time fans and artists who love the world of the source material. The set designs and visual effects feel like they were pulled out of the pages of the manga and anime, all of them made sure to fully immerse the audience into the fantastical world of One Piece.
This season’s original soundtrack is a themed masterpiece, with most of the memorable songs coming from episode 4, “Big Trouble in Little Garden” and episode 7, “Reindeer Shames.” The first one introduces the giants Broggy and Dorry, two of Elbaph’s strongest warriors who, from their speech, sound like vikings. Their song “Pray to the Sun God” especially embodies that epic strength, while “Am I Enough” adds an air of melancholy to Tony Tony Chopper’s backstory.
Staying True to the Source Material
Photos from Shounen Jump and Netflix
There will always be inconsistencies and creative liberties taken when adapting works from one medium into another. One Piece: Into The Grand Line pays homage to the manga and anime it’s based on, despite having scenes reshuffled and added earlier on in the narrative, like Gol D. Roger talking to Captain Garp in the cell, as well as the reason behind Sanji’s concern when Nami became ill. Admittedly, as a person who watched the incredibly long anime, I can say that the live-action adaptation managed to improve the pacing while keeping the story intact. These minor changes gave way to meaningful scenes being expanded on, like the small interactions between the crew that help establish how close knit they have become.
The Crew Everyone Loves
Photo from Netflix
From the main cast to the new additions, every actor on the series did a great job at portraying their respective One Piece characters. Compared to last season which focused more on introductions and surface level character establishment, season two shows the trust that the Straw Hats have built with each other. Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) continues to be charming and gets a little more goofy over time; while Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), Nami (Emily Rudd), Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson) and Sanji (Taz Skylar) start to gel as a crew and collaborate more. The banter between all of them seals the deal for this portrayal, showing a group of friends with different goals but coming together as one.
The new characters introduced this season like Crocus (Clive Russell), Captain Smoker (Callum Kerr), Tashigi (Julia Rehwald), Miss Wednesday (Charithra Chandran), Miss All-Sunday (Lera Abova), Mr. 3 (David Dastmalchian), Mr. 5 (Camrus Johnson), Miss Valentine (Jazzara Jaslyn), Mr. 9 (Daniel Lasker), Miss Goldenweek (Sophia Anne Caruso), Dr. Kureha (Katey Sagal), Tony Tony Chopper (Mikaela Hoover), Mr. 0 (Joe Manganiello), and Wapol (Rob Colletti) all added their own flair and interpretations, which makes the world feel more full and lived in.
Dr. Hiriluk in Wapol’s Castle | Photo from Netflix
We have to give a shoutout to Mark Harelik’s portrayal of Dr. Hiriluk, which was extremely on-point and had us bawling our eyes out into the night because of how beautifully he evoked his love for Chopper and the people of Drum Island.
A Successful Adaptation
Mr. 3 deceiving Luffy with wax figures of himself | Photo from Netflix
Toon logic can get too corny, especially outside the world of animation. One Piece: Into The Grand Line plays it well by dropping it sparsely and not relying too heavily on the cartoonishness of the premise, allowing viewers to continue suspending their disbelief. The series is staunch in its goal to translate the manga and anime into the real world.
A contributor to that was their costume design. Each attire looked realistic while being adapted from Oda’s lookbook and chapter covers, which makes each of the individual characters stand out while maintaining their own personalities.
The main centerpieces of the season were the action scenes, which were cleanly choreographed and translated well in live-action, making it more immersive and easy to follow. All in all, the team put so much thought into re-creating Oda’s world to fit “reality” while still keeping the whimsy intact.
Themes with Real-World Relevance
Photos from Netflix
Life lessons often follow the series of challenges that the Straw Hats face, and sometimes, the slowest and smallest of moments birth the most relatable and heartfelt themes about being human. From Usopp learning to be brave for his friends, to Chopper healing from the trauma that humans gave him, this second season is filled with inspirational messages that are highly relevant even outside of fiction.
There isn’t a dull moment in One Piece: Into the Grand Line. The story was brought to life with an eye for detail that managed to fix the pacing. And while some iconic parts were cut out from the story, it served the season as a whole and made for a strong adaptation. SEA Wave rates One Piece: Into the Grand Line 4 out of 5 waves.