One Piece: WIT Studio Exec Explains Why a Remake Was Even Ordered

The One Piece was announced by Netflix as a new take on the classic story of the Straw Hat Pirates from Eiichiro Oda. Joining forces with Wit Studio , the streaming service is hoping that new animation will help in bringing more anime fans to the Grand Line than ever before. While neither the platform nor the anime studio have revealed when we can expect the reboot to arrive, a recent interview from an executive at Wit clarifies why the time seemed right to re-introduce One Piece to fans. The series currently has over one thousand one hundred episodes under its belt, so starting from the beginning makes sense.

In a recent interview, Wit Studio Executive Takeshi Wada broke down why now seemed like the appropriate time to slap a fresh coat of paint on the Going Merry, "As you say, for young people who are used to watching modern anime thanks to technological innovation, the footage from 25 years ago when the anime broadcast of "ONE PIECE" started may be difficult to watch because it was in a different format. Toei Animation also told us, "Please do your best, and we will continue to do our best with the latest episodes." The image is that the three elements of manga, anime, and live-action will overlap and move forward to spread "ONE PIECE."

Wit: The Meaning of One Piece

Wada also discussed just what makes Eiichiro Oda's story so popular to the world today, "Eiichiro Oda has a strong desire to spread Japanese manga to more people around the world, and for that reason, he also took on the challenge of making a live-action version of "ONE PIECE". In order to spread Japanese anime further around the world, it is necessary to reach people who have never been exposed to it before. For example, our production "Haikyu!!" is now a big hit in Japan, and new fans who have never been exposed to anime before are coming in. Both Oda and we have a desire to spread anime to people who don't know about it, and to the world, and "THE ONE PIECE" was planned as an entry point."

Want to see if the One Piece reboot can hit the same heights as the original anime adaptation? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on the world of the Grand Line.

Via Real Sound Japan