‘The One Piece’ offers first look at anime reboot, key staff revealed

Netflix and WIT Studio have officially revealed the first concept images and the key staff behind their upcoming anime remake of the beloved One Piece series dubbed, The One Piece.

For newcomers wishing to immerse themselves in the series, starting the original series may be overly daunting, considering it’s currently going on 1,115 episodes, while Netflix’s live-action remake may not necessarily be for everyone. The upcoming remake fills that void, creating an approachable and contemporary spin on the One Piece story for a new generation of viewers to enjoy. The One Piece will be released in seasons, and much more concise with little to no fillers.

As arguably the most popular anime of all time, not just anyone can be allowed to touch the title. Thankfully, with the blessing of series creator Eiichiro Oda, organisers have assembled what many call the Avengers of anime to tackle the project. Oda tells the team he wishes for a new expression rather than just a “copy and paste” of his work. That being said, the new series will still follow the original story starting with the East Blue Saga.

If there’s a demand for it, the intention is to cover the entire series from start to finish. In preparation for the remake, the young team has gone to great lengths to study Oda’s storytelling and animation styles, even creating a 3D world map to scout out each location for potential angles and ideas.

Directing the remake is Masashi Koizuka, best known for his work in Seasons 1 to 3 of Attack on Titan, with Hideaki Abe (Jujutsu Kaisen) serving as assistant director. Takatoshi Honda (Doraemon the Movie, In/Spectre) and Kyoji Asano (Spy x Family, Ghost in the Shell 2) are in charge of character designs and animations. Meanwhile, former Studio Ghibli screenwriter Taku Kishimoto who’s also worked on Haikyu!! and Erased will be in charge of series composition. Yasuhiro Kajino (Bleach: Fade to Black) will be in charge of creature design and storyboarding, Tomonori Kuroda has been appointed art director, and Ryoma Kawamura is credited as the animation producer. Eri Taguchi is the chief prop designer, and Ken Imaizumi and Shuhei Fukuda are the action animators.

The series is still in its early production stages with a release date yet to be announced. Head below for Volume 1 of Production Notes from the staff members at WIT Studio and stay tuned for more details to emerge in the coming months.