Netflix's live-action One Piece adaptation stands as the first truly great anime adaptation, breaking the "curse" of Netflix live-action adaptations in true style. A lot of work and thought went into Season 1, from the outstanding costume designs and improved pacing to gorgeous set pieces and backdrops. One Piece fans, new and veteran alike, are confident that Season 2 will keep the momentum going and deliver more of the same.
One Piece manga/anime fans know what's coming next: the Alabasta saga. It's one of One Piece's best sagas aside from the Water 7 saga and the Wano country saga, filled with wondrous new islands, wacky new characters, and intense battles. Plenty of iconic scenes from the source manga/anime promise to look incredible if Netflix can keep this up and bring One Piece's Alabasta saga to life in the way it deserves.
10 Climbing Reverse Mountain
The overall Alabasta saga was split into five arcs in the One Piece manga, starting with the short Reverse Mountain arc. This short but intriguing arc showed the Straw Hat crew struggling just to enter the Grand Line, a place that will test any sailor's skills to the limit.
This sequence had strong "man vs nature" themes, and that should prove far more terrifying and exciting in live-action. Netflix's One Piece can show exactly what a realistic Red Line looks like and depict Laboon the giant whale in a whole new light as the Going Merrynavigates some truly treacherous terrain.
9 Seeing Whiskey Peak
Luffy's crew survived their Reverse Mountain ordeal with Laboon's blessing, and then they trekked a little further into the Grand Line to arrive at a brand-new island, home to a town called Whiskey Peak. It will truly be a marvel to see this cactus-shaped island in live-action, complete with Whiskey Peak itself.
This island isn't just a visual novelty, though. It's the start of the Straw Hats' battle against the deadly Baroque Works crime gang, and Nefeltari Vivi will prove to the Straw Hats that she really is their ally and not a Baroque Works agent herself. This sequence at Whiskey Peak should also depict Roronoa Zoro fighting dozens of weaker foes in live-action.
8 Braving Wild Weather
The weather in the East Blue region was fairly tame and predictable, which made it easy for navigators like Nami to read the weather and catch the best winds on a sailing ship. All that changed once the Going Merry's crew arrived in the Grand Line, and the weather became downright hostile.
To Nami's shock, the air currents and weather in the Grand Line could shift abruptly and severely, and the Going Merry was almost lost in a sudden storm. It should prove exciting and dazzling to watch these out-of-nowhere sea storms rock the Going Merry and its live-action crew, from hail and rain to lightning and giant sea waves.
7 Mr. 3's Wax-Wax Powers
Season 1 of Netflix's One Piece only showed two Devil Fruits in action, those being Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit and Buggy the Clown's Chop-Chop Fruit. All One Piece fans are looking forward to seeing more and cooler fruits in action, and they'll likely get their wish in Season 2 when the Little Garden arc begins.
Mr. 3 is a Baroque Works agent with the Wax-Wax Fruit's powers, allowing him to rapidly create and shape huge quantities of wax. He can use it to make painted models of himself to confuse his enemies, create blocky suits of armor, and even coat his enemies in wax to turn them into living statues.
6 The Giants Brogy & Dorry Fighting
The island Little Garden got its name from the two giants who have spent many decades fighting there. In their eyes, everything on the island is little, friend and foe alike. These two giants, Brogy and Dorry, are still fighting when Luffy's crew arrives, and fans can't wait to see that in live-action.
Brogy and Dorry are the series' first taste of giants from Elbaf, and optimally, they'll be portrayed by live-action actors and edited to look massive compared to Luffy's crew. New fans will discover for themselves whether these feuding titans are friend or foe in the ongoing fight against Baroque Works.
5 The Scenery Of Drum Island
After visiting the primordial jungle of Little Garden, Luffy and his friends will next visit Drum Island, a Grand Line island coated in snow. This island got its name from the Drum Rockies, an unusual mountain range with flattened tops, resembling drums. It's always cold and snowy here.
All this should look gorgeous and oddly menacing in live-action, since this snowy island will feel hostile at first with Wapol and the giant rabbits around. By the arc's end, though, fans of Netflix's One Piece should be treated to the sight of pink, blossom-like snow scattering everywhere to herald a new, better age for Drum Island.
4 Meeting Portgas D. Ace
Plenty of iconic One Piece characters will make their debut in the upcoming Alabasta saga, including Luffy's foster brother, Portgas D. Ace. Even if Ace won't do much fighting in this saga, longtime One Piece fans still have every reason to look forward to his live-action debut.
Ace will meet his foster brother at the port in Alabasta, and give him a vivre card, an essential plot item that will play a role later. For the time being, fans of the live-action One Piece can enjoy seeing Luffy interacting so positively with family and see how Luffy and Ace compare and contrast with one another.
3 Seeing Sir Crocodile & His Sand-Sand Powers
While Arlong cast a long shadow over Season 1 of Netflix's One Piece, Sir Crocodile/Mr. 0 will cast an even longer shadow over the Alabasta saga. Crocodile is more of what made Arlong great, but cranked up a few notches in terms of menace, villainous schemes, and ferocious combat powers. Longtime One Piece fans can't wait to see everything about Crocodile, from his costume design and his acting to his visually dazzling Sand-Sand Powers.
He will likely be the first Logia-type Devil Fruit user seen in the live-action series, and new fans must prepare for how powerful this fruit type can be. Some fans already believe they've gotten a glimpse of Crocodile during Gol D. Roger's execution scene – there's an actor wearing his colors and signature chains. If this is true, then Crocodile's character underwent a significant and exciting change in the live-action that hints at his mysterious past.
2 The Banana Gator Trap
Partway through the Alabasta story arc, Luffy and several of his friends and enemies got trapped in Rainbase, locked inside a large cage that negated all Devil Fruit powers. Then, Sir Crocodile slowly exposed his captives to his pet banana gators, a slow, stylish death like in a James Bond movie.
Seeing live-action Luffy and his friends struggle to escape the threat of the bananagators in a flooding room should be terrifying and exciting, almost like a horror movie. Fans can't wait to see more realistic banana gators, and if Captain Smoker is present too, fans would love to see what he looks like.
1 The Civil War For Alabasta's Fate
The Alabasta saga ended with a much bigger bang than the East Blue saga did, and anyone who felt a tad underwhelmed by the live-action Season 1's ending should get a real treat in Season 2. Not only will the Straw Hats fight top Baroque Works agents to save the day, there'll be an entire civil war taking place.
Even if it's just background noise, the civil war for Alabasta should be a thrill to watch, with thousands of soldiers on all sides clashing in Alubarna, the capital. That should add some serious stakes to the final fight, especially when fans see not just cartoony anime characters, but real people getting cut down in a tragic, needless war.
