Written by Kianna Best on Sep 18, 2023. Posted in Production News

Netflix’s One Piece to return for season 2

After its successful release on 31 August, Netflix announced that One Piece will return to the streaming platform. Based on Japan’s highest-selling manga series, the live action series stars  Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp, and Taz Skylar as Sanji. Filming for the series took place in South Africa, the Canary Islands and Mexico.

Raking in 37.8 million views in the first two weeks of its release, One Piece rose to the top spot on Netflix, debuting at number 1 in 46 countries and reaching the top 10 in 93. Based on the manga written by Eiichiro Oda, who also served as illustrator for the original project and executive produces the adaptation, One Piece follows Monkey D Luffy, a young adventurer who embarks on a journey to find a fabled treasure.

For the ship bound, otherworldly adventures of Luffy and his crew, filming for One Piece look place in South Africa at Cape Town Studios for the majority of production. With a ship based set already built on site, the One Piece production had the benefit of working with local crews to assist the project in coming to fruition. Travelling to pristine beaches, shoots also took place in the Canary Islands as well as a bit of time spent in Mexico at Quintana Roo on the Yucatán Peninsula.

Alongside Oda, Matt Owens and Steven Maeda served as writers, executive producers and show runners for One Piece. Marty Adelstein and Beck Clements were also on the executive production front. Additional cast members include Vincent Regan (Vice Admiral Garp), Ilia Isorelýs Paulino (Alvida), Morgan Davies (Koby), Aidan Scott (Helmeppo), Langley Kirkwood (Captain Morgan), Jeff Ward (Buggy), Celeste Loots (Kaya), Alexander Maniatis (Klahadore), McKinley Belcher III (Arlong), Craig Fairbrass (Chef Zeff), Steven Ward (Mihawk), Chioma Umeala (Nojiko), and Michael Dorman (Gold Roger).

Images courtesy of Casey Crawford/ Netflix