While not much news has come out from either Tomorrow Studios, Netflix, or Eiichiro Oda about the live-action One Piece adaptation, Oda and Netflix have released a short update. Today, in celebration of Monkey D. Luffy’s birthday, Oda posted the letter on his Twitter, assuring fans that all was well and that work was still being done to bring the production to life.
In the note accompanied by doodles of the manga’s main characters, Oda says to the fans that he and the team have been “hard at work” ever since the collaboration announcement was made. He also mentions that there have been some difficulties between his vision and Netflix’s vision, likely owing to cultural gaps and differences in storytelling tastes.
While no dates have been officially set, Oda and Netflix are still hopeful that the series will be ready later this year. However, Oda mentions in the letter that if he’s not totally and completely happy with the episodes, they will be delayed until he is satisfied with the result.
One Piece is set to release on Netflix sometime in 2023.