It seems we really will get the pivotal ‘One Piece’ arc fans worried Netflix would skip over

One Piece’s live-action adaptation is continuing over on Netflix with the second series moving into the Arabasta Saga of Eiichiro Oda’s iconic manga. But before the Straw Hats move onto this saga, there would be one thing left for them to conquer: the Loguetown Arc.

Though much of the second season of Netflix’s One Piece adaptation will be taken from the Arabasta Saga, the second saga of the story, there is one arc from the first saga, the East Blue Saga, that still needs telling. At the end of season one, fans of Oda’s work were worried that the show would completely skip over the Loguetown Arc, otherwise known as “The Beginning and the End.” They shouldn’t have worried, though, because given that the title of season two’s first episode is “The Beginning and the End,” it looks very much as if the arc is being adapted.

The reasoning for this title is that Loguetown is where the pirate Gol D. Rogers was born and where he was executed, earning Loguetown the nickname “the town of the beginning and the end.” This arc was too important to skip, as it provides some background information for the infamous character and sets up an important location. Loguetown is a way station for pirates looking to enter the Grand Line, and starting off the second season here makes sense. Some of the opening aspects of the Loguetown Arc were covered right at the end of the first season, with Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) receiving his first bounty, which we also see Shanks receiving from Dracule Mihawk.

Set a course for Loguetown!

The crew of the Going Merry, which currently consists of Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp, is charting a course for Loguetown to stock up on supplies like new swords for Zoro, ingredients for Sanji, ammo for Usopp, and new clothes for Nami. Here, the crew runs into an old friend—or enemy—in the form of Buggy the Clown.

He appears to have teamed up with Alvida, a pirate who has eaten the Sube Sube no Mi devil fruit, which allows her to make her body smooth and slippery, allowing attacks to slip right off of her. This isn’t the first time Luffy has crossed paths with Alvida, though she looks drastically different having now eaten the devil fruit. Luffy is placed in shackles by the pirates, with Buggy announcing it’s his execution. Word gets back to the Marine Base, where Captain Smoker decides to let the execution go ahead before he intervenes.

Divine intervention

The Straw Hats split up, with Zoro and Sanji heading to save Luffy, while Nami and Usopp head to ready the ship before a storm lands on the island. It looks like Sanji and Zoro aren’t going to make it in time, but Luffy simply laughs as the sword descends, saying it looks like this is the end for him. Before Buggy can strike, a bolt of lightning hits his sword, causing him to drop it. Captain Smoker, who was watching the whole thing, is eerily reminded of Gol D. Rogers and how he laughed in the face of death, and Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro run to the Going Merry.

Smoker and the Marines capture Buggy and Alvida, but two of their accomplices are trying to burn the Going Merry. Nami and Usopp quickly take them down while Smoker catches up to Luffy and Sanji and manages to take them on. It’s not until a mysterious figure (who will turn out to be Monkey D. Dragon) comes to save them that they manage to run to the Going Merry, board, and sail away. Buggy and his crew, who also escaped in the fighting, give chase behind them, with all of them now heading for the Grand Line.

Hopefully, the live-action adaptation will also include some of the nuggets of information that we receive in the manga/anime. It will also be interesting to see if we can get a good look at the actor who will play Monkey D. Dragon, or will they leave his face hidden with all of us kept in the dark?