Those in the know have been aware Season 3 of Netflix’s One Piece has been filming the entire time Season 2 has been promoted, so it’s not a surprise that it was announced today for a debut as soon as next year. What IS a curveball is the fact that before then, the first two seasons will apparently be re-enacted with Lego bricks.
First, the obvious. After being teased throughout Season 2, Luffy and the Straw Hats will finally reach the desert kingdom of Alabasta, where they’ll try to help Princess Vivi take back her authority and stop Baroque Works from tearing the nation apart. In contrast to the island hopping they did previously, it’s expected they will spend the entire season here, as nothing that happens after it is being teased, and it’s in this season’s subtitle…
The unanswered question about the whole series is just how much of this story they’ll be able to adapt, as it is immense and it technically isn’t even over yet. It’d have to get more seasons than any Netflix show has ever been given and go for, by my calculations, at least fifteen years. Barring that, will it just end abruptly or will they have to invent an ending like Game of Thrones did? These are questions for another, distant time. Right now we’re still waiting for a confirmation on a Season 4.
Season 3 will premiere sometime in 2027, but before then, we’re getting…believe it or not…Lego One Piece. A two-part special produced in partnership with the LEGO Group, Shueisha and Atomic, it will retell the events of the first two seasons from what is suggested to be Usopp’s perspective. Voices have not been announced, but he sounds like Usopp’s live-action actor to my ears.
Finally, some new info was put out there regarding The One Piece, an upcoming redo of the anime to make the length of it less daunting. “Currently in production [from WIT Studio] in collaboration with Shueisha, Toei Animation and Fuji Television Network, this reimagining of the iconic East Blue saga provides a fresh yet familiar lens on Oda’s rich world-building. The series utilizes cutting-edge visual technology to bring the legendary start of Luffy’s quest to a new generation.”
No release window for The One Piece has been revealed yet, but here’s what everybody’s backs will look like.
UPDATE: Mere minutes after this post went live, a new teaser for One Piece Heroines was released by Toei. The special, focused on the world’s female characters like Nami and Robin, will be broadcast July 5.
