Netflix’s One Piece adaptation has been a massive success. The show managed to translate Eiichiro Oda’s iconic manga, with its incredibly cartoonish world and characters, to live-action without losing what made the original so compelling and popular. The show even made some fascinating adaptation choices that improve on the source material by remixing the order of events in the story. Now, while we wait for the arrival of season 3, The Battle of Alabasta, Netflix is making the wait a bit easier with a new animated special that retells the events of the previous two seasons. The twist is that the special is made in collaboration with LEGO. Not only that, but the story is being told by Usopp, who regales Chopper with the Straw Hats’ exploits thus far, in a very Usopp way.
The LEGO One Piece animated special is a two-episode special that recaps the entire story of the live-action adaptation so far, showing audiences the big fights, the emotional character moments, the cartoonish villains, and more. Hearing the live-action cast reprise their roles while amping up the comedy for the LEGO format is fun, particularly Jacob Romero’s performance as Usopp, which brings a manic energy to the special. Especially fun is hearing the other Straw Hats interrupt Usopp whenever he changes the story of what happened — which happens often.
Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Missed Creative Potential
It’s a cute way of recapping the show ahead of season 3, and a cool tie-in to the LEGO One Piece collection — with all the big sets and characters being advertised here and readily available in stores. But there’s not much else to the special. LEGO retellings of popular stories can be hugely creative — just look at all the LEGO video games that find unique and fun twists on iconic scenes and characters that feel familiar yet fresh and new. Likewise, the character of Usopp is tailor-made for a LEGO project, as he is known to embellish stories in over-the-top ways. When the special begins, it teases a retelling that doesn’t just recap the story so far, but does so in a unique way that even people who have already seen the live-action show several times will find something new in.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Tom Hyndman, who wrote several episodes of the live-action show, serves as writer and showrunner of the LEGO animated special, and he understands the characters and what makes them memorable and likable. But Hyndman sticks too close to the live-action story, and doesn’t fully explore the potential of a wacky LEGO adventure. Most of the changes feel like administrative decisions to save time rather than creative choices. The moments when the special deviates the most from the original — like Chopper using Usopp as a weapon to save the day in Drum Island — the special shines, bursting with creativity that imagines these characters in different scenarios than what we’ve seen before. Sadly, there’s not a lot of that here.
Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Marrying the Worlds of LEGO and One Piece
Visually, Atomic Cartoons (Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends) does a serviceable job of marrying the worlds of LEGO and One Piece, with dynamic action scenes and impressive set pieces. The special is at its best when it actually takes advantage of the LEGO fun, not only in, say, disassembling Buggy when he’s using his Chop-Chop Devil Fruit powers, but things like having a montage be told through the pages of a LEGO building manual.
LEGO One Piece is a fun way to introduce this franchise to young audiences, or to refresh your memory ahead of next year’s season 3, with fun visual jokes and a great performance from Jacob Romero as the narrator. Just don’t expect this to offer much insight into the story or do much differently than what is already in the live-action adaptation.
