By: Jesse Striewski

How does one really sum up One Piece, the Netflix adaptation of the famed anime series that first got its start in the late ’90s, to those unfamiliar with the material? Lord knows I had little-to-no knowledge of it myself prior to its first season as a live action series in 2023, but once again, my now-grown kid introduced me to something I knew next to nothing about that I ended up enjoying.

This season finds our heroes (or “pirates”) – Monkey D. Luffy (Inaki Godoy), Nami (Emily Rudd), Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), and Sanji (Taz Skylar) – traveling the seas to “The Grand Line” to finally find the “One Piece.” Along the way, they pick up a new member of the gang, Viv (Charithra Surya Chandran), an agent for the Baroque Works (a.k.a. “the bad guys) who actually turns out to be a Princess in her homeland, while encountering further dangers and/or allies with each island they set foot on, all the while still dodging evil agents hot on their trail.

There’s also a backstory that includes two doctors (played by Katay Sagal and Mark Harelik) and a talking reindeer (yep) named Chopper (voiced by Mikaela Hoover and destined to be on someone’s Christmas list this year) that eventually intertwine with our main characters.

Think Pirates of the Caribbean meets The Neverending Story; just a massive, imaginative adventure that takes viewers for a journey on a massive scale. Escapist entertainment (usually) at its finest for those willing to go in open-minded.

Rating: 4/5 Stars