Since it launched in 1999, One Piece has become one of the longest running and most influential anime of all time. But beyond the enormous backlog of episodes based on Eiichiro Oda’s best-selling manga, it can be hard for viewers to get into the series because the early seasons were padded with filler episodes and had notoriously low production value.
Netflix previously expanded the audience for the adventures of Straw Hat Luffy with a live action remake, and now the streaming service is launching an animated reboot in 2027 – and we finally got to see just how much it’s improved with a teaser at the Annecy Festival.
The One Piece opens in the exact same way as the original series, with the legendary pirate Gold Roger about to be executed for his crimes and daring the world to claim his treasure, which is all in one piece. But while his execution is just shown in still images in the original, it’s now fully animated with spectacular detail showing a massive cheering crowd and the giant sword cutting off his head.
The numerous ships setting sail flying the Jolly Roger and kicking off the Great Pirate Era went from a cartoony fleet on flat blue waves to a showcase of just how much the art of animating water has gotten in the past 25 years. You can also see how much the lighting and water effects are improved in the show’s first piece of episodic art from the series premiere, “Romance Dawn,” which shows an exuberant Luffy standing on deck beneath the bright sun with waves misting around him.
In a taped presentation, director Masashi Koizuka (Attack on Titan, Moonrise) discussed his passion for the manga and how he wanted to give viewers the same awe he experienced reading it in high school. He also praised his animation team at Wit Studio (Spy x Family, Attack on Titan seasons 1-3) for their work bringing more depth to the world and characters of One Piece with their highly complex designs that really considered every item and bit of decoration in a scene.
Netflix will be releasing its first teaser trailer for The One Piece on June 24. The One Piece season 1 will launch in February 2027 and will span seven episodes with a total runtime of 300 minutes.