After stunning new developments in the source material, Skypiea is no longer an arc Netflix’s live-actionOne Piececan gloss over.One Piecequickly becameNetflix’s best live-action anime adaptationwhen it debuted in 2023, but the question of length has always cast a shadow over the show’s success. Comprising over 1000 chapters and counting, the prospect of Netflix allowingOne Pieceto cover the entirety of Eiichiro Oda’s manga has always looked out of reach. There is a very real possibility that live-actionOne Piecewill not get a proper ending.
Naturally, thoughts turn to which chunks of theOne Pieceanime and manga Netflix’s version could potentially skip, and Skypiea is one of the leading candidates. Taking place shortly afterOne Piece’s Arabasta arc, Skypiea, if it happened, would likely form the basis of Netflix’s season 4. It’s a largely standalone adventure with minimal bearing on the overarchingOne Pieceworld, but any notion of skipping Skypiea has been dashed by fresh revelations from theOne Piecemanga.
Recent One Piece Manga Reveals Make Netflix Skipping Skypiea Impossible
Skypiea Has Gone From Insignificant To Indispensable
As the name implies,One Piece’s Skypiea arctakes place on an island in the clouds. The Going Merry shoots into the sky, the Straw Hat Pirates enjoy a self-contained narrative in which they liberate the people of Skypiea from tyranny, then Luffy and the gang crash back to the ocean below. Skypiea’s main villain, Enel, is neither a marine nor a rival pirate, and Luffy does not gain any major power-ups. At face value, it is easy to see why Netflix would be tempted to omit Skypiea from its live-action schedule and dig straight into the meatier Water 7 saga.
Netflix’sOne Pieceseason 2will adapt up to the end of Drum Kingdom.
Hiding within the Skypiea chapters, however, are some ofOne Piece’s most spiritual and religious moments. One particular scene involves the people of Skypiea almost making a human sacrifice to the Gods. At this ceremonial altar,references are made to the Sun God, the God of the Forest, God of the Land, and God of the Rain.One Pieceneglected to mention these gods again for a very long time, and it seemed they were simply part of Skypiea’s local belief system, bearing no importance at all to the widerOne Pieceworld.
One Piece Season 2’s Timeline Gives Netflix An Arlong Replacement Headache
Arlong was the main villain throughout One Piece season 1 instead of only showing up at the end, but the Netflix show will struggle to repeat this.
Much later, during the Wano saga,Luffy’s Devil Fruitwas revealed to be secretly modeled on Nika the Sun God, immediately shining new light upon Skypiea’s sacrifice scene and hinting at a deeper layer of importance.One Piecechapter #1138 goes even further, however. On Elbaph, land of the giants, the Straw Hats discover a hidden tale about the world that also mentions “Earth God,” “Forest God,” “Sea God,” and “Sun God.” The details remain obscured, butthese four entities clearly played major roles in wars that took place long beforeLuffy’s voyage began- wars that likely shaped the very landscape ofOne Piece.
Watching Skypiea In One Piece Season 4 Will Be Much More Meaningful Now
It’s Finally Time To Appreciate Skypiea
Skypiea’s gods scene initially seemed like the meaningless ramblings of zealots misguided by Enel. Now, however, it is obvious thatSkypiea was laying the foundations for understanding the foundation ofOne Piece’s lore. The final villain Luffy comes up against, the mysteries of the void century, the identity of Imu, the history of Luffy’s Devil Fruit - everything important inOne Piecerevolves around the actions of these four gods in centuries past, and Skypiea is the only time these all-important characters are mentioned.
Authenticity was one of many reasons Netflix’sOne Pieceearned a level of critical acclaim most anime adaptations can only dream of.
For Netflix’s live-actionOne Piece, therefore, skipping Skypiea simply isn’t an option. Even if the adaptation never gets around to answering the mysteries of the world and showing the gods who once inhabited it, ignoring such a fundamental piece of lore-building would be deeply unfaithful to the story’s themes and meaning. Authenticity was one of many reasons Netflix’sOne Pieceearned a level of critical acclaim most anime adaptations can only dream of, and season 1 boldly teased plot threads that will likely never pay off, such asZoro’s rematch with Mihawkand Luffy becoming the Pirate King. Similarly, live-actionOne Piececannot drop Skypiea’s exposition on history’s four gods.
Skypiea Was Already Important To One Piece
There Are Many Reasons For Netflix To Adapt Skypiea
While introducingOne Piece’s Four Gods makes Skypiea unskippable in live-action, the arc’s value goes far deeper than a few simple lines of foreshadowing. The Skypiea story is fundamental in establishingNico Robin as a true member of the Straw Hat Pirates. The technology discovered on Skypiea leads to power-ups for both Usopp and Nami, whilethe island’s history teases whatOne Piece’s landscape looked like in the ancient past. Enel may have not yet returned in the manga, but the villain gives Luffy one of his standout fights regardless, and it’s a battle that would suit the live-action medium perfectly.
Description
Conqueror’s
The power of aura possessed by a select few from birth
The power to create a hard coating on the body
Observation
The power of perception, even seeing the future.
The Skypiea chapters are instrumental in introducing the concept of haki toOne Piece, although it goes by a different name. Haki becomes increasingly prominent as Oda’s story progresses, and Skypiea would provide the perfect launching-off point for haki in Netflix’s show. The Going Merry receives huge development in Skypiea too, with the ship being presented as a sentient crew member for the very first time. Not only is humanizing the Merry crucial to Usopp’s future, it ultimately leads to one ofOne Piece’s most emotionally devastating moments.
