One Piece seems a lot more “visible” now than it’s ever been in the States, and in this reporter’s opinion, it’s about time. After twenty years of false starts that failed to engage Americans (letting 4Kids create the first English dub was probably a bad idea), the Straw Hats have finally reached iconic status large enough to make a giant inflatable Luffy float through the Macy’s Parade.
We can thank Netflix for a big chunk of the increased awareness lately, and to think we were worried their live-action version of Oda’s world would crater its chances in the USA for good. But what were we supposed to think? Most of their anime translations had been stinkers up to that point. Thankfully they got one right, and it was an important one.
Season Two is being filmed right now, and as part of Netflix’s presentation week, actor Jeff Ward, who plays Buggy the Clown, took us on a tour of the sets in a behind-the-scenes video. He talks with showrunner Matt Owens, costume designer Kerry Barnard, prop designer Egbert Kruger and production designers Tom Hannam and Max Gottlieb.
Gottlieb shows Ward an entire street full of stocked shops that is already complete, which includes Ipponmatsu’s arms shop. We also get to see shots of the innards of the Twin Cape Lighthouse, where it’s mentioned that depicting a perpetual winter while filming in a region of the world where it never snows is a bit of a challenge.
While you do get to witness a fair amount of sets and props, there’s a lot the video CAN’T show yet, and thus Ward is often shown walking through a blurry fog. He can’t even say the year in which Season 2 is planned for release. Fortunately we already know Netflix is aiming to get all this done in 2025.
