Netflix’s One Piece Anime Remake Still in Development, Progress Slow
Over a Year Since Announcement, Production Updates Remain Scarce
Despite the initial excitement surrounding Netflix’s One Piece anime remake, updates on the project have been sparse and progress appears to be moving at a slow pace. Nearly a year after its official announcement and over eight months since the last major reveal at One Piece Day 2024 , fans are still waiting for substantial news about the highly anticipated series.
According to recent comments from Kyoji Asano , character designer for The One Piece (the working title for the remake), development is ongoing — albeit behind the scenes. Asano confirmed he has recently been working on “some cuts” for the new series, as reported via Chinese social media platform Weibo (via @pewpiece on X). However, no official trailers, episode counts, or release windows have been shared publicly.
🎬The One Piece: What We Know So Far
On December 17, 2023 , Netflix made a surprising move by announcing a full-scale anime remake of One Piece , produced by WIT Studio — the acclaimed studio behind Spy x Family and Attack on Titan . This decision came as a surprise given that the original anime adaptation by Toei Animation remains active and continues to air new episodes weekly.
At the time of the announcement, only a single piece of concept art was released — featuring a young Monkey D. Luffy on Dawn Island , before his pirate journey began.
It wasn’t until One Piece Day 2024 (August 11) that more details were revealed:
Masashi Koizuka (Attack on Titan ) will direct
Hideaki Abe (Jujutsu Kaisen ) serves as assistant director
Taku Kishimoto (Haikyu!! ) handles series composition
Kyoji Asano (Spy x Family ) and Takatoshi Honda (The First Slam Dunk ) act as chief animation directors and character designers
New concept art was also unveiled, showcasing reimagined versions of iconic scenes such as the Baratie arc , with a more mature tone and increased action realism compared to the original anime.
A New Vision for One Piece
While the goal of The One Piece anime is to retell Eiichiro Oda’s legendary manga for newcomers, it won’t be a direct panel-for-panel adaptation. Director Masashi Koizuka emphasized this creative approach during the first production video:
“I remember Oda-sensei telling us through his comments, ‘I want you all to express rather than copy and paste the work.’ For example, it's creating your interpretation and expression instead of recreating a panel from the manga.”
This directive from Oda gives WIT Studio room to reinterpret key moments with their own artistic vision, while staying true to the spirit of the source material.
Delays and Fan Frustration
Despite high expectations, production updates remain minimal, and no formal release date has been announced yet. With Netflix’s live-action One Piece Season 2 set to debut in 2026, many fans had hoped for clearer milestones for the anime remake by now.
Meanwhile, Toei Animation’s current anime adaptation continues to roll out new arcs, including the ongoing and widely praised Egghead Island saga. Manga readers can follow along via the official apps Manga Plus and Viz Media , ensuring that the world of One Piece remains accessible and engaging across multiple platforms.
