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 Punk Hazard arc. 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?
So far, we have confirmation that The One Piece will adapt the entirety of the East Blue saga. We previously reported that the episode count would be 25; however, this has not been confirmed yet. Some fans online have speculated even further, predicting the episode count of each arc.
Suppose East Blue was reduced to 25 episodes, even without filler. In that case, this cuts the episode count from the original TOEI anime adaptation by over half, reducing the number of episodes from 53 to 25.
This means we would see the adaptation of the Romance Dawn arc up to the end of the Loguetown Arc.
However, fans will be happy to learn that in a recent interview with the staff of The One Piece, director Masashi Koizuka had the following to say about the remake;
“I’m facing this as a long series. If people like what we’ve created we know we would be creating this in the long run. And if it does it means this work is loved by many. I want to continue for a long period and create this forever.
Ultimately, it isn’t up to the director whether or not The One Piece will go beyond 25 episodes. However, if the remake proves to be as popular as we expect, then it is a no-brainer for Netflix, Shueisha, and WIT Studio to continue working on it.
What is the episode count of the original anime?
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.
Each episode of One Piece has an estimated runtime of 24 minutes. So, if you are to remove 28 episodes from the East Blue Saga, you’re reducing the runtime by approximately 672 minutes, or 11.2 hours!
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 of the One Piece anime is the pacing. Those wanting to watch the anime but opting out due to the overwhelming episode count often cite this.
The pacing issue even led to a fan-made edit project named One Pace, which aimed to dramatically reduce the runtime and filler of One Piece. 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.
What has WIT Studio worked on so far?
On August 11th, 2024, Netflix released its first interview with the staff of The One Piece. In the video, we’ve got fantastic insight from the key staff, their excitement for the adaptation, key art, storyboarding, and more!
The video’s title, “Production Notes VOL:1 Staff Interview,” suggests we’ll see more from the WIT Studio team soon.
What is incredibly exciting is to see the level of talent working on The One Piece. In the interview, we learned that the following are working on the anime:
- Masahashi Koizuka – Director.
- Kyoji Asano – Chief Animation Director / Character Design.
- Ryōma Kawamura – Animation Producer.
- Tetsuya Nakatake – Board Member of WIT Studio.
Fans of the beloved anime Attack on Titan will be familiar with the talents of WIT Studio, as the animation studio worked on the first three seasons of the anime.
The interview gave us our first look at some of WIT Studio’s work. The image board, in particular, should have fans of manga and anime incredibly excited.
Here is some more art from the image board.
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- Picture: Captain Buggy of the Buggy Pirates
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- Picture: Nami, Luffy, and Zoro.
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- Zoro, Nami, Pilman, and Ninjin in Syrup Village
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- Picture: Kuina and Zoro
We also got to see some of the character designs for the remake.
The level of detail going into the anime remake is astonishing. Set design, props, and more, WIT Studio is going over everything in beloved painstaking detail.
Picture: The bathroom of the Going Merry – WIT Studio.
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.
In an interview with Real Sound, Production I.G. and WIT Studio CEO Takeshi Wadahad the following to say about spreading the influence of anime, and his studios involvement in the One Piece anime;
“I’m currently the CEO of IG and WIT, so I’ll talk about both studios. One of the symbolic projects that involved both companies is “THE ONE PIECE”. Eiichiro Oda has a strong desire to spread Japanese manga to more people around the world, and for that reason he also took on the challenge of making a live-action version of “ONE PIECE”. In order to spread Japanese anime further around the world, it is necessary to reach people who have never been exposed to it before. For example, our production “Haikyu!!” is now a big hit in Japan, and new fans who have never been exposed to anime before are coming in. Both Oda and we have a desire to spread anime to people who don’t know about it, and to the world, and “THE ONE PIECE” was planned as an entry point.”
He also acknowledged that Toei Animation had asked WIT Studio to “please, do your best” in the upcoming remake:
“As you say, for young people who are used to watching modern anime thanks to technological innovation, the footage from 25 years ago when the anime broadcast of “ONE PIECE” started may be difficult to watch because it was in a different format. Toei Animation also told us, “Please do your best, and we will continue to do our best with the latest episodes.” The image is that the three aspects of manga, anime, and live-action will overlap and move forward to spread “ONE PIECE.”
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 return to reprise their roles.
We expect to learn more closer to the release date.
When is The One Piece remake be released on Netflix?
There’s still no confirmation when The One Piece is coming to Netflix.
We currently expect the anime to be released on Netflix sometime in 2025.
Are you excited about the release of the One Piece anime remake? Let us know in the comments below!
Netflix Synopsis: "With his straw hat and ragtag crew, young pirate Monkey D. Luffy goes on an epic voyage for treasure in this live-action adaptation of the popular manga."
