Eiichiro Oda reveals how One Piece Season 2 on Netflix will “shock audiences”

In a new interview about live-action One Piece on Netflix, Eiichiro Oda has teased “surprising elements” that will “shock audiences” in Season 2, and explained why sailing the Grand Line will be so challenging for Luffy.

The second season of One Piece is currently shooting in South Africa, and the man responsible for creating the manga – Eiichiro Oda – recently visited the Cape Town set.

While on that trip, he sat down with Luffy actor Iñaki Godoy to discuss what’s ahead for the young pirate.

And they conducted the interview in Japanese, as Godoy has been learning the language since January, and converses with Oda pretty fluently.

Eiichiro Oda reveals why sailing the Grand Line is tough in One Piece Season 2

First up, Iñaki Godoy asks Eiichiro Oda why he made sailing the Grand Line so tough, admitting that he found shooting those scenes exhausting.

“In that universe, the Grand Line is the harshest of the seas,” says Oda. “We need to shock audiences. That’s why there are giants, and of course, lots of bounty hunters. This needs to be a season full of new, surprising elements. That’s why it’s more challenging.”

Godoy also asks where the inspiration for Luffy came from, to which Oda responds: “Luffy is an ideal child for me. When you become an adult and join a company, you can’t always do what you want. Entering society often means losing freedom.

“Luffy has a child’s heart, so he does whatever he wants. That aspect is probably, for adults toiling in society, and to children about to enter society, what makes Luffy so appealing.”

One Piece should return to Netflix in 2025 with Iñaki Godoy back as Luffy, and the likes of Joe Manganiello, Katey Sagal, David Dastmalchian, Charithra Chandran, Lera Abova, Mark Harelik, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Brendan Sean Murray, Callum Kerr, Camrus Johnson, and Clive Russell joining the ensemble.

For more on the forthcoming series, here’s everything we know about One Piece Season 2. Alternatively, you can check out our guide to the One Piece treasure, or our list of strongest One Piece characters.