Netflix’s One Piece was a massive hit, and it’s not going away anytime soon. Not only is season 2 already set for a 2026 release window, but season 3 has already all but been confirmed, and if they’re as good as season 1 was, then the live-action series is bound to become another major pillar of One Piece’s success as a franchise.

Netflix’s One Piece isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but there’s still a lot it needs to do to be truly great. One of the biggest strengths of season 1 was how it cut out or fixed some of the manga’s worst bits while remaining faithful to the source material, and with how well it worked in season 1, Netflix’s One Piece needs to keep cutting out some of the worst bits from the manga if it wants to keep having success. A few bad plot points especially stand out, and hopefully, the live-action series will see fit to ignore them.

7 Netflix’s One Piece Needs To Keep Toning Down Sanji’s Pervertedness

How Netflix's One Piece Can Fix Sanji

Few characters in One Piece’s main cast are more divisive than Sanji; while Sanji has plenty of great fights and character development, Sanji’s obsession with women is largely disliked for how extreme it gets and for how often it makes him look creepy and weird, with his constant nosebleeds in the Fishman Island arc being one of the worst examples of such. It’s only ever a detriment to his character, so Netflix’s One Piece should try not to go as far with Sanji’s womanizing as the anime and manga do.

Fortunately, the live-action series has already laid the groundwork for improving Sanji’s character. Sanji, as depicted in One Piece season 1, is more of a flirt and a would-be Casanova than anything, a far more natural take on his original character that’s been met with high praise. All Netflix’s One Piece needs to do is keep Sanji as he currently is, and the story will be all the better for it.

6 Netflix’s One Piece Needs To Cut Brook’s Most Iconic Gag

Brook's Biggest Gag Might Not Have A Place In Live-Action

As much as Sanji is known for being a womanizing pervert, he isn’t the only Straw Hat to fit that description. When Brook was first introduced, one of the first things he did was ask to see Nami’s underwear, and for almost 20 years now, Brook constantly asking to see a girl’s underwear has been one of One Piece’s biggest running gags.

Brook’s pervertedness is nowhere near as bad as Sanji’s or other characters, but that doesn’t make it any less awkward a gag, and it’s the kind of thing that wouldn’t work outside of an anime. With that in mind, Netflix’s One Piece should cut out the joke of Brook asking to see someone’s underwear, not unlike how the series toned down Sanji’s pervertedness to great effect. Brook is already a great character for his loyal nature and penchant for cheesy jokes, so even without that gag, he would be great to watch in live-action.

5 Netflix’s One Piece Shouldn’t Have Zoro Beat Hody Jones

One Piece's Worst Villain Needs To Have Some Dignity

The main antagonist of One Piece’s Fishman Island arc is Hody Jones, the leader of the New Fishman Pirates, who was looking to continue Arlong’s war with humanity to an even greater extreme. Naturally, the Straw Hat Pirates had to stop Hody during their time on Fishman Island, but in a surprise twist, Hody was so weak that Zoro defeated him when they fought early in the arc, with Hody then needing Energy Steroids to gain the advantage in a second wind.

Hody Jones and the New Fishman Pirates are some of One Piece’s least popular antagonists for how weak they are compared to the Straw Hat Pirates, and Zoro defeating Hody is the biggest point of contention, especially since it happened when they were fighting underwater, where Hody should have had the advantage. It will take years for the live-action series to get to the Fishman Island arc, but if that does happen, then Netflix’s One Piece shouldn’t have Zoro defeat Hody Jones in their fight to better sell him as a serious threat.

4 One Piece Season 3 Needs To Get Rid Of Alabasta’s Most Pointless Characters

One Piece's Most Pointless Characters Explained

In the climax of the Alabasta arc, after Crocodile and Baroque Works took over Alubarna, Crocodile was confronted by the Kicking Claw Force, Alabasta’s most elite guards after Pell and Chaka. The Kicking Claw Force tried to defeat Crocodile using the Fatal Elixir, a special drug that boosts a person’s strength at the cost of their life, but Crocodile’s Sand-Sand Fruit made him impervious to their attacks, and they died without accomplishing anything.

Not only did the Kicking Claw Force come out of nowhere and die without accomplishing anything, but they’re never mentioned again after their deaths, which makes it feel like they were introduced for no reason other than to pad out the story and to further showcase how powerful Crocodile was. Everything with them is one of the most pointless bits in all of One Piece, so Netflix’s One Piece would be better off by completely ignoring the Kicking Claw Force.

3 Netflix’s One Piece Doesn’t Need To Include The Davy Back Fight

The Davy Back Fight Has No Place In Live-Action

The Long Ring Long Land arc, better known as the Davy Back Fight arc, is one of the shorter arcs of One Piece. After returning to the blue sea following their adventure in Skypiea, the Straw Hat Pirates made their way to Long Ring Long Land where they ran afoul of the Foxy Pirates and, thanks to Luffy’s impulsiveness, had to play them in the Davy Back Fight, a series of games where pirate crews bet their crewmates against each other.

While One Piece’s Davy Back Fight arc is the franchise’s most contentious arc for how much the anime padded it out with pointless filler, the manga’s take on things was far better and kept it as a short, inoffensive, and all-around fun arc, and that’s what a live-action version would be like. Even so, the live-action series only has so much time and money for what it adapts, so rather than do so for its perceived weaknesses as a story, Netflix’s One Piece should cut out the Davy Back Fight arc to maintain the adaptation’s pacing.

2 Netflix’s One Piece Can’t Make Luffy And Zoro Fight At Whiskey Peak

Luffy And Zoro Have Never Had A Good Reason To Fight

One of the most infamous moments in early One Piece is when Luffy picks a fight with Zoro over him beating up the citizens of Whiskey Peak, with Luffy unaware that they were Baroque Works assassins trying to kill them. Not long before that, however, Luffy was the one who most adamantly refused to believe that Nami betrayed them for Arlong, even with all the evidence for it, so Luffy immediately believing strangers over Zoro felt completely out of character for him.

Luffy and Zoro’s fight at Whiskey Peak is a terrible moment for Luffy’s character, so once the series gets to Whiskey Peak, Netflix’s One Piece can avoid Luffy and Zoro’s fight by having Luffy believe there was a good reason for Zoro to attack everyone, which would be far more consistent with Luffy’s character and make the arc easier to sit through. Luffy and Zoro’s fight has always been contentious with fans, so it would only be to the live-action series’ benefit to get rid of it.

Luffy and Zoro’s fight at Whiskey Peak is a terrible moment for Luffy’s character.

1 Netflix’s One Piece Needs To Have A Better Handling Of Pell’s Fakeout Death

One Piece's Most Egregious Fakeout Death Explained

One Piece has a reputation for never killing characters outside of flashbacks, and the most infamous example of that is Pell from the Alabasta arc. When it was discovered that Crocodile planned to destroy the city of Alubarna with a powerful bomb, Pell, possessing a Devil Fruit that let him turn into a falcon, carried the bomb away from Alubarna moments before it went off, seemingly sacrificing himself to save everyone, but the end of the arc revealed that he had somehow survived with no explanation as to how he survived.

Pell’s fakeout death in One Piece has been a source of mockery for decades, so when it comes time to adapt the Alabasta arc for One Piece season 3, Netflix’s One Piece should either not trick the audience into thinking Pell dies or actually kill him, not unlike how Merry was killed in season 1. There’s no telling how the Alabasta arc will be handled in Netflix’s One Piece, but handling Pell’s fakeout death in any way that’s different from the anime would be a blessing, and it would be the best thing the series could cut out, by far.