TV & Movies

Live-action One Piece: What arcs does the Netflix series cover?

Lucy-Jo Finnighan
Mackenyu Arata as Roronoa Zoro, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Taz Skylar as Sanji in Season 1 of One PieceNetflix

With the One Piece live-action show now available on Netflix, fans might be wondering: what specific story arcs from the original manga and anime series does it include?

Get ready to sail the four seas, because Netflix’s One Piece is finally 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 then adapted into an anime by Toei Animation in 1999, and is still going strong 1,000 episodes later.

Now the series has landed on Netflix, though obviously not to the scope of the anime series, which has been going for over 20 years. There are only eight episodes in the live-action series, meaning only a certain section of the story can be covered. Or rather, a certain number of arcs.

For those who don’t know what arcs are, they are manga plot lines that anime episodes are then framed around; arcs are especially the way anime is structured, as an episode will likely end when an arc does. So which arcs are we talking about here? Read on to find out, but WARNING: ONE PIECE LIVE-ACTION SPOILERS AHEAD!

Which arcs appear in the One Piece live-action adaptation?

The first six arcs of One Piece are covered in the live-action series, that being the entirety of the East Blue Saga. The arcs are as follows:

The Romance Dawn Arc: Episodes 1 & 2

The first arc covered by the live-action One Piece is naturally the very first arc of the franchise. This arc sees seven-year-old Monkey D. Luffy befriending the Red Hair Pirates and swearing to their captain, Shanks, that he will become a great pirate. Ten years later, Luffy sets sail, meeting Koby and confronting the pirate Alvida. He then battles the tyrannical Marine Captain Morgan, alongside “Pirate Hunter” Roronoa Zoro, and the two become crewmates.

The Orange Town Arc/Organ Islands Arc: Episodes 1 & 2

This second arc begins with Luffy and Zoro aimlessly sailing to Orange Town, an island under siege by clown pirate Buggy. There, Luffy meets a pirate-targeting burglar, Nami, who he later recruits as his navigator.

The Syrup Village Arc/Gecko Islands Arc: Episodes 3 & 4

In this third One Piece arc, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami arrive at Syrup Village to look for a ship. Here they meet the local village liar (and coward) Usopp, along with his rich friend Kaya. However, there are evil pirates hidden in plain sight, and a dastardly plan set against Kaya.

The Baratie Arc/Sambas Region Arc: Episodes 5 & 6

The Straw Hat Pirates head to the restaurant ship Baratie, where they meet Chef Sanji, who Luffy later recruits as his crew’s cook. However, the restaurant soon comes under siege, and Zoro comes face-to-face with his ultimate swordsman rival, Dracule Mihawk. Meanwhile, Nami betrays the crew, sailing off and abandoning them.

The Arlong Park Arc/Cocoyasi Village Arc: Episodes 7 & 8

The Straw Hat Pirates track Nami to Cocoyasi Village, her hometown. It is ruled by the Arlong Pirates, a crew of Fish-Men of which Nami is surprisingly a member. Here, Nami’s past and true motives come to light, after which her old friends fight to free both her and her village from Arlong.

The Loguetown Arc/Polestar Islands Arc: Episode 8

This short arc – which isn’t explored much in the live-action One Piece – sees Luffy and Shanks celebrating him finally getting his own wanted poster, and the Straw Hats setting off to sail another sea, as other pirates vow to hunt them down.

One Piece live-action: What’s next?

Now, there are some changes to the arcs in the live-action One Piece, as is the case with most adaptations. For example, some plot specifics are swapped between arcs, some characters appear in arcs they previously weren’t in, and some arc-specific characters don’t show up at all.

With One Piece Season 2 now confirmed, it’s expected that the series will continue the action where it left on, meaning that the Arabasta Saga is next up to be adapted.

The One Piece live-action remake is now available to stream in full on Netflix. In the meantime, check out our other coverage below:

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