May 5 is the official birthday of Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates in One Piece. Iñaki Godoy, the actor who plays Luffy on the live-action One Piece show, celebrated the character’s birthday while teasing Season 2 of the Netflix series.
On the official Japanese One Piece account on X, Godoy wished Luffy a happy birthday and explained why so many fans worldwide have fallen in love with the would-be King of the Pirates. In Luffy’s honor, Godoy blew out the birthday candle on a suspiciously tall birthday cake he brought with him early in the video. Before coming to an end, the video zooms in on the birthday candle to reveal it’s shaped like the number “3.” The “3” is exactly in the style of "Loan Shark" Galdino’s hairstyle, better known to the world as Mr. 3 of Baroque Works.
The candle isn’t the only reference to Mr. 3 in the birthday video. The suspiciously tall birthday cake resembles the giant wax candle structure that Mr. 3 creates with his Wax-Wax Fruit powers to trap Nami, Nefertari Vivi and Roronoa Zoro in the “Little Garden” story arc. The playful tease at the end of the birthday video not only indicates Mr. 3 will appear in One Piece Season 2, but that the “Little Garden” storyline will be adapted from the manga as well. Currently, there’s been no new official casting announcement following the confirmation of Season 2.
The Little Golden Story Arc Explained
The “Little Garden” story arc follows the Straw Hat Pirates – who are now joined by Arabasta princess Vivi – as they explore a prehistoric island known as Little Garden, where two colossal giants have been engaging in combat for the past century. Things heat up when agents of Baroque Works track Luffy and his friends down. Although the storyline does feature important moments like Nami being infected with the Five-Day Disease that leads into the “Drum Island” story arc (and the introduction of Tony Tony Chopper), most fans believed this story would be too difficult to adapt for the live-action series, based on its large scale and budget needed to make it come to life. Infamously, this is also one of the storylines cut from the now-defunct 4kids dub of One Piece, proving that it is possible to do away with the story without any major repercussions.
However, Godoy’s birthday video to Luffy seems to indicate that the live-action One Piece staff are planning to represent the “Little Garden” storyline, one way or another. Although the Netflix series stayed true to Eiichiro Oda’s vision, Season 1 did take some liberties with fan-favorite storylines to condense it for TV, such as restructuring the “Syrup Village” arc to take place inside Kaya’s mansion. Recently, it was announced that Joe Tracz is joining One Piece as the series’ new co-showrunner. Matt Owens will continue his role as co-showrunner from Season 1.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
