We Finally Learned Netflix's One Piece Season 2 Release Window

Summary

• The success of the first season of One Piece ensured that the series was immediately renewed.
• One year later, the filming of Season 2 is well underway.
• However, considering the filming and post-production process, the new season will not be released in the near future.

One Piece has become a worldwide sensation, proving to be not only only a good adaptation of the manga, but also one of the most popular shows on Netflix. The series ranked number one in concurrent viewership on Netflix in 84 countries, shattering the previous record set by Wednesday and Stranger Things.

The popularity of One Piece led Netflix to announce a second season two weeks after the first one was released. And now we're all the more thrilled as news has emerged that filming is about to kick off. Let's take a look at what to expect from the upcoming events, when filming will begin, and when the second season will finally be released.

What Can We Expect From One Piece Season 2?

Given the pacing of Season 1, it's likely that the action will pick up the so-called Drum Island arc at some point in the upcoming season. In the story, Nami falls seriously ill and the Straw Hat Pirates set off in search of a doctor. On the way, they find a new companion, a raindeer named Tony Tony Chopper, who will serve as a physician on Merry Island. They also encounter Chopper's mentor, Dr. Kureha, apparently to be played by Jamie Lee Curtis.

What does that tell us? Well, at the very least, that there will be more high-octane events, intrigue, twists and action sequences in the new season. And of course, even more CGI (quite excellent, we must admit), because Chopper alone will require a lot of processing and maybe even the use of motion capture technology.

Filming Will Start This Summer

Fascinating details have finally begun to emerge about the upcoming Season 2, which was announced just two weeks after the colossally successful release of Season 1 and apparently went into pre-production almost immediately (well, or as soon as the WGA strike ended in 2023). Now, news of a start date for filming has begun to emerge.

Back in March 2024, ProductionWeekly stated that One Piece would start filming in June of that year, but no details were given. However, this fact has been confirmed by The Streamr, which states that this is when the active phase of production in South Africa will begin. In addition, it was recently announced that the new season is now codenamed 'Project Renaissance' and will be filmed, like the first season, for about seven months, starting in mid-June 2024.

When Will the New Season Be Released?

So, based on the production history of the last season of One Piece, we can draw more or less positive conclusions about when we can expect the continuation of the Straw Hat Pirates' saga.

If the filming will really take about seven months, we should expect it to be finished at the very end of Q4 2024 or even at the beginning of Q1 2025, i.e. in December-January. However, given the show's heavy reliance on CGI, the long post-production phase should be taken into account.

Last time around, Season 1 took a year to post-produce, as filming wrapped in August 2022 and the show launched on Netflix in August 2023. It's likely that the same amount of time will be needed for Season 2, meaning the release window extends to somewhere around December 2025 or even January 2026.

Of course, a less realistic but much more encouraging assumption is that post-production will be much faster, around 6-8 months, given the experience of the previous season and its possible assets. Still, One Piece Season 2 should not be expected before Q3 2025 in the most optimistic case.