In adapting the manga & anime “One Piece” into a live-action series, the creators have to deal with the fact that they have enough material for at least 12-15 seasons.
So it becomes a question of how faithfully you adapt material and whether judicious cuts should be made to not just scenes, but whole story arcs.
The project hit such a question with the second season, which has chosen to adapt the next five story arcs from the manga/anime – forgoing the large Arabasta arc for a third season.
According to popular virtual YouTuber Nuxanor (via ComicBook.com), Netflix was reportedly keen to incorporate the Arabasta arc into the second season – but received pushback from both manga creator Eiichiro Oda and live-action series creator/co-showrunner Matt Owens.
They reportedly say that Owens dedicated himself to pacing out season two of the adaptation when executives at Netflix wanted to streamline or even cut arcs from season two to reach Arabasta faster – namely within the second season.
Owens pushed back on the notion, not wanting to skip “any important building blocks just to reach the Arabasta arc sooner”. In addition, Oda has final say on all aspects of the show and famously had the production team reshoot some big scenes because he was unhappy with the result.
The second season is currently in production in South Africa, with this past week seeing some key casting announcements made. However, quite a few key roles are yet to be revealed. One such character is Tony Tony Chopper, the talking reindeer who has several different forms in the series.
A new report suggests that stuntman and actor Gavin Gomes will take on the role of the Heavy Point form of Chopper. Fans found he had included his work as Chopper on his acting CV recently.
That listing has since been removed and so far Netflix has yet to comment on casting on the key roles left like Tony Tony Chopper, Crocodile, Nico Robin and Portgas D. Ace.
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