It’s hard to be a One Piece fan if you have FOMO. The franchise is the gift that keeps on giving, and there’s no shortage of ways to experience it. If Netflix’s live-action One Piece show is not enough, and you’ve already read the 1,100-plus chapters of the manga, then there’s a good chance you have been waiting anxiously for the remake of the anime, announced in December 2023. After more than two years, Wit Studio’s The One Piece has finally released a sneak peek at this modern retelling of the Straw Hats’ adventures.
Jointly produced by Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Wit Studio, and Netflix, The One Piece will be an adaptation of the East Blue Saga from the One Piece manga, created with cutting-edge technology and with an eye to modern viewers’ expectations. Until now, we have only seen a few stills from the anticipated show, but finally, Netflix has shared a sneak peek at the creation of the new anime, which you can see below.
Fans who were expecting a teaser of the actual show, perhaps with a few seconds of animation, might get disappointed. Instead, the video contains character design sheets and image boards, including the five original Straw Hats, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji, plus Shanks. The final message, “Get ready to set sail,” seems to tease an upcoming release date, but no information has been shared for now.
The original One Piece anime isn’t going anywhere either. In fact, the long-running show recently switched to a seasonal schedule to guarantee the quality seen in recent years. However, watching older episodes can be a chore, especially for younger viewers. The One Piece anime is, like many shows of its era, plagued by fillers and subpar animation quality, both the result of having to produce a new episode every week. Wit Studio’s The One Piece is meant to be a way to enjoy older parts of the story without pacing issues and with the beautiful visuals that the studio is known for.
The One Piece has managed to build a lot of anticipation but, at the same time, the long wait and the lack of substantial updates have also created discontent among fans. At the very least, every small glimpse that we get at the behind-the-scenes work teases that the art will be immaculate. Compared to the current One Piece anime, with its flashy colors and sharp lines, Wit Studio relies on soft, pastel tones and pencil cel-shading effects to deliver its own vision of the world created by Eiichiro Oda. Hopefully, we’ll also get more updates soon, but for now, you can enjoy the new season of One Piece, the original, which sees the Straw Hats finally landing on Elbaph.
