One Piece on Netflix: Season 2 to start with Luffy’s execution

Good news, Nakamas! Finally, the One Piece live-action will not be without the Loguetown arc. Matt Owens, showrunner of the Netflix adaptation, has confirmed in a Q&A on Reddit that we can expect such a storyline in the future. Before the premiere of the first season, it was said that it would cover the entire East Blue Saga, but when we ran out of it (it is only the last of that part) we feared the worst, but it seems that its creators wanted to save it.

“Skip [Loguetown]? Never! It wasn’t included in season 1 because our episode number got reduced,” Owens explained in the Reddit AMA. “And to try to cram in would not have done service to it or the story it had to share space with. Loguetown is not ‘cut’ we just haven’t gotten there yet!”

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Why is Loguetown so important?

As we said, the Loguetown Arc is the last of the East Blue saga, and it is the first adventure with all the original crew already committed to their captain. It has a lot of memorable moments that also lay the groundwork for what is to come. Suffice it to say that Loguetown is the island where Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, was born and executed. This is where the previous Pirate King’s adventure ended and his successor’s begins.

In addition, some of the key characters in the story appear on this island. This is the case of Smoker, the Navy Captain in charge of guarding and protecting Loguetown. Possessing the powers of a devil fruit (he can turn into smoke), Smoker will stand in the way of the Straw Hats, and only the appearance of Dragon will save them. Who is Dragon? Well, none other than Luffy’s father.

In over a thousand chapters of the manga, Dragon has barely appeared, and the only demonstration of his power and abilities takes place in Loguetown, so the confrontation between Smoker and Dragon is essential. They can’t leave us without him.

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New key characters: Smoker, Dragon and Tashigi

It will also be interesting to see Smoker’s role in the series. In the live-action, Garp was given much more prominence than in the manga and anime (this was Eiichiro Oda’s least favorite part of the series), and in the original work, the role of the hunter after the Straw Hats is taken over by Smoker right after Loguetown.

Come on, Smoker should have been Luffy’s Garp. His grandfather went after Gol D. Roger relentlessly, just like Smoker goes after Luffy years later. It was a nice analogy, and we’ll have to see if it holds up after what we saw in the first season. Another chase might get tiresome.

Anyway, Smoker’s second-in-command is Tashigi, one of the most mysterious characters in the series. A swordswoman who is identical to Kuina, the friend Zoro lost during his childhood. Like two peas in a pod. This awakens new memories and feelings in our Marimo, who, by the way, is in Loguetown where he gets the swords that will accompany him for much of the story. And he does it with another iconic scene.

Luffy’s Execution

But the highlight of Loguetown is undoubtedly Luffy’s new confrontation with Alvida and Buggy the Clown, who once again grabs the Straw Hat and puts him on the ropes. To add to the mystique of the affair, Buggy sets out to execute Luffy on the very scaffold where Gol D. Roger spoke his last words, the place where the King of Pirates ushered in the new age of piracy. “My wealth and treasure? It can be yours if you want it! Search for it! I left everything in that one place.”

At one point, things look so bad for our protagonist that Luffy smiles at his friends from the top of the execution platform, apologizes, and says goodbye, accepting death with joy. It is then that one of the biggest cliffhangers of the series (how can we forget when we saw it for the first time as kids) and the so-called “The Unexpected Rescue” takes place. How will they recreate this scene in the live-action?