Popverse's top stories

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival dead at Hulu, revealed a day before director Chloé Zhao heads to the Oscars
• DC's Rogues creators reunite to reboot Universal Monsters' Wolf Man for Skybound with intergenerational trauma and buckets of blood
• Evangelion is 30, but its themes never get old

Netflix has set sail on the Grand Line in One Piece Season 2, which takes the nearly impossible job of translating the silly, weird, but intensely emotional moments from Eiichiro Oda’s manga into live-action. Netflix took a risk by splitting the Alabasta Arc up into two seasons, but, according to the showrunner, that was all in an effort to make sure that they didn’t lose what makes One Piece feel like One Piece.

During a recent interview, One Piece showrunner Joe Tracz, who took over duties when one of the original showrunners stepped back after Season 1, explained that there was a point where the Straw Hats got all the way to Alabasta in Season 2. However, it would have meant cutting too much content.

“The big decision going into season two was how much of the Alabasta saga or the Baroque Works saga would be covered. Do you try to fit that into eight episodes? You certainly could, but you’d have to leave out a lot of stuff. You could do the speed run version of it, but if you did, there are things you’d miss — the moments of the crew just being goofy with each other, which is such an important part of why we love them as a family, and the fights that challenge them in unique ways. We have the Unluckies this season, which I feel many fans probably expected us to cut. You could have had Sanji (Taz Skylar) in Little Garden not fighting an otter and a vulture with a machine gun, but if you cut that — if you lose the things that make One Piece special — is this still One Piece?”

By splitting this arc up into two seasons was obviously a bit of a risk (there is so much One Piece to get through, after all) but, by letting the characters have their goofy moments and allowing the Grand Line to be a place of near-infinite weirdness, the payoff has been that One Piece remains a live-action adaptation that works for both new and long-time fans alike. It is different, for sure, but it still feels undeniably like One Piece, and that is what matters.

THE ONE PIECE IS REAL...ly important to Popverse! That's why we've put together the key articles to keep your fandom of the manga-turned-anime-turned-live-action-show alive:

• How to watch One Piece One Piece in chronological and release order (All 1,100+ episodes plus the movies!)
• When the next episode of One Piece is coming
• Netflix almost missed casting Superman star Mikaela Hoover as Tony Tony Chopper because the audition materials were too vague
• Netflix enlists a Bridgerton star to show off the first big set piece of One Piece season 2, with a Loguetown that is full of easter eggs from the manga
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect hero for the dark times ahead
• Every difference between the live-action One Piece and the original manga
• One Piece Gear 5 Form: Everything we know about Luffy's latest transformation
• Ranking the One Piece anime's arcs, from best to worst
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• The English cast of One Piece explain what they love about Eiichiro Oda's storytelling - "He's a genius!"