Netflix’s live-action One Piece: Cast, plot & more

The One Piece live-action Netflix series is almost here – so, here’s everything we know so far, including cast, plot, any release date updates, and more.

Get ready to sail the four seas, because Netflix’s One Piece is almost here!

For those who don’t know what One Piece is, One Piece was originally a manga – the highest-selling manga of all time, in fact – written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It was adapted into an anime by Toei Animation in 1999, which is still going strong 1,000 episodes later, with an anime film – One Piece Film: Red – having come out last year.

But the One Piece train – or boat in this case – isn’t stopping, because a live-action series has been in the works for a few years now. Ever since Netflix announced a One Piece live-action adaptation in 2020, fans have been waiting excitedly to hear any information about the show. So here’s everything we know so far.

One Piece live-action release date – When is the show coming to Netflix?

The One Piece live-action series will officially drop on Netflix on August 31, 2023.

The release year was recently announced by Netflix in a Twitter post, after filming officially wrapped on the show’s first season. The exact date was then revealed by a trailer release post from the same account.

Fans may be glad to hear that the upcoming series won’t be affected by the recent WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, as reported by Variety.

It had been expected for the series to drop in Summer time, as the series is very aesthetically tropical. And there’s not long to wait now!

One Piece live-action cast: Who’s in it?

The cast is large for the One Piece live-action series, as the anime has one of the biggest casts out of any show. Here is the cast list so far:

• Iñaki Godoy – Monkey D. Luffy
• Mackenyu – Roronoa Zoro
• Jacob Gibson – Usopp
• Emily Rudd – Nami
• Taz Skylar – Sanji
• Morgan Davies – Koby
• Ilia Isorelýs Paulino – Alvida
• Aidan Scott – Helmeppo
• Jeff Ward – Buggy
• McKinley Belcher III – Arlong
• Vincent Regan – Garp
• Peter Gadiot – Shanks
• Sven Ruygrok – Cabaji
• Len-Barry Simons – Chu
• Richard Wright-Firth – Officer Ukkari
• Jean Henry – Fullbody
• Colton Osorio – Young Luffy
• Langley Kirkwood – Captain Morgan
• Celeste Loots – Kaya
• Alexander Maniatis – Klahadore
• Craig Fairbrass – Chef Zeff
• Steven Ward – Mihawk
• Chioma Umeala – Nojiko
• Ian McShane – The Narrator

If you’re wanting to read more about these actors, and who their characters are, click here.

The President of South Africa – where the series is being filmed – released a press statement about the show, which had this to say about the casting:

“One Piece, which is set in Cape Town, involves more than 50 South African cast members; more than 1 000 crew member jobs (consisting of 67% previously disadvantaged individuals and 46% youth employees), as well an Academy of Creative Excellence (ACE) mentorship programme for more than 30 young creatives and technicians in collaboration with the SA Film Academy during 2022.”

The live-action series is being produced by Tomorrow Studios, the company behind Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop adaptation. Steven Madea and Matt Owens, of X-Files and Agents of Shield fame respectively, are the live-action showrunners. Original series creator Eiichiro Oda has been heavily involved in the production as well.

In a video that aired during Anime Expo 2023, The Japanese voice actress for Luffy in the original anime Mayumi Tanaka confirmed that many Japanese cast members would return to voice their live-action counterparts in the Japanese dub.

The voice actors reprising their roles include:

• Mayumi Tanaka – Monkey D. Luffy
• Kazuya Nakai – Roronoa Zoro
• Kappei Yamaguchi – Usopp
• Akemi Okamura – Nami
• Hiroaki Hirata – Sanji

The current information available suggests that only VAs for the Straw Hat crew are returning, but we’ll be sure to update this list if more info comes to light.

Is there a One Piece live-action trailer?

Yes, there is a fun, action-packed trailer, which you can check out below:

Another trailer was released the month after, which you can also watch below:

Furthermore, during Netflix’s 2022 Geeked Week, fans were shown that production of the series was well underway, as clips of the anime’s many wonderful boats being built in excruciating detail were shown during a sneak peek video:

The clip is introduced by showrunners Madea and Owens, alongside actor Iñaki Godoy, who plays – and matches the energy of – Luffy.

On August 21, Netflix revealed more footage of the live-action One Piece series on Twitter. Additionally, the video features behind-the-scenes clips of the cast discussing their roles – like Inaki Godoy, Taz Skylar, and Emily Rudd.

The final trailer was released on August 30, 2023 and provides a closer look at all the action and how it’s translated to the live action format.

One Piece live-action plot: What is it about?

So far there is no official Netflix plot synopsis for the show, but we can expect the series to follow the manga and anime’s plot. The streaming service confirmed that there will be eight episodes.

In an alternate Earth where Pirates are a dime a dozen, the series will focus on Monkey D. Luffy, a teenage boy who gains a rubber body after eating Devil Fruit. The story follows him while inspired by his childhood idol the Red-Haired Shanks, he sails across the seas to find the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates.

While it isn’t fully clear which specific anime arcs the live-action show will be covering, we can guess they will be early arcs, and judging by certain characters that have been cast, it seems that the Baratie Arc, the Orange Town Arc, the Arlong Park Arc, the Syrup Village Arc, the Romance Dawn Arc, and the Loguetown Arc will be included.

The Romance Dawn Arc especially seems confirmed, as in 2021 Netflix unveiled the script for the first episode, which is titled “Romance Dawn.”

We will update this article when we learn more.

The One Piece anime can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll. In the meantime, check out our other anime hubs below:

Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 3 | Bleach Thousand Year Blood War Part 2 | Chainsaw Man Season 2 | BRZRKR movie | Jigokuraku Hell’s Paradise | Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2