Summary
- Netflix’s live-action One Piece includes subtle easter eggs that hint at future storylines and characters from the original anime and manga.
- In episode 4, an easter egg foreshadows Luffy’s darkest arc and saddest defeat, which involves a brutal fight with Admiral Akainu.
- It may take around six seasons for the live-action adaptation to reach the Marinefold Arc of the Summit War Saga, but it’s uncertain if Netflix will adapt the complete manga or only cover important arcs.
Netflix’s live-action One Piece has a subtle easter egg that foreshadows Luffy’s biggest loss in the anime. From namedrops to future story references, Netflix’s One Piece features several intriguing easter eggs throughout its eight-episode runtime. For instance, every One Piece title card in the series serves as a reference to a main character. In another easter egg, the live-action adaptation hints at all the other new characters from the original anime and manga that may appear in series by featuring their wanted posters.
One Piece‘s live action also draws references to mangaka Eiichiro Oda’s early character drawings and even gives audiences a glimpse of some new locations, like the Island of Rare Animals, it could explore in its upcoming season. However, of all these One Piece references and easter eggs, the one that seemingly holds the most narrative significance appears in episode 4, where Luffy goes toe-to-toe with Captain Kuro. This easter egg is important to Luffy’s ovearching storyline because it foreshadows one of his darkest arcs and saddest defeats.
Luffy’s Chest Cut Foreshadows His Future Fight Against Admiral Akainu
In One Piece‘s episode 4, a slam-bang showdown ensues between Luffy and Captain Kuro. While Captain Kuro initially makes good use of his superhuman speed to gain an upper hand on Luffy, Luffy closes his eyes and allows sound to be his guide to overpower Kuro. As a result, Luffy hears Kuro’s boot as soon as the Black Cat Pirate takes one step towards him and smacks him in the face with a Gum Gum Whip. Luffy eventually wins by grabbing Kuro’s shoulders and headbutting him with a Gum Gum Bell, but before he overpowers the pirate, Kuro leaves a small X-shaped cut on Luffy’s chest with his hand blades.
This cut on Luffy’s chest in One Piece season 1 foreshadows one of the most brutal fights in his overarching storyline. In the original anime and manga, the Marinefold arc of the Summit War Saga introduces Admiral Akainu as one of the three main antagonists. During the arc, Akainu obsesses over murdering both Luffy and Ace. He even gets close to killing Luffy after getting Ace out of the way, but in the nick of time, Shanks intervenes and helps Luffy leave. Although Akainu fails to kill Luffy, he leaves a massive X-shaped mark across Luffy’s chest, symbolizing Luffy’s most brutal and heartbreaking defeat.
What Netflix Season Could One Piece’s Summit War Happen In Live-Action?
The Summit War Saga ensues from chapters 490-597 in the original One Piece manga. Given how Netflix’s One Piece live-action roughly adapts 90 chapters in the first season, it will take around six seasons to reach the Marinefold Arc of the Summit War Saga at its current pace. However, considering that Netflix rarely runs any show beyond the six-season mark, the One Piece live-action adaptation may never adapt the complete manga and even floss over several arcs to only cover the important ones like the Summit War Saga’s Marinefold Arc.