5 Key Moments One Piece Season 2 Must Nail From the Anime

Season 2 of Netflix’s One Pieceis finally on the horizon. More of the principal cast is steadily being revealed on what feels like a monthly basis, and with rumors of a 2025 release window in full effect, people should have a good idea of when they can expect season 2 to launch to hopefully even more acclaim than season 1.

While the full scope of season 2’s plot hasn’t been revealed, it’s been confirmed that season 2 will go up to the Drum Island arc, with One Piece’s Alabasta arc being saved for a hypothetical season 3, and as such, there’s already an idea of what scenes will be adapted into One Piece season 2 as it goes from Loguetown to Drum Island. As with season 1, a few of those scenes will be essential for the show to get right if it wants to succeed as an adaptation, and each one, of course, is plenty worth highlighting.

5 Luffy Is Almost Executed By Buggy

Scene From One Piece Episode 52: "Buggy's Revenge! The Man Who Smiles On the Execution Platform!"

During the Loguetown arc, when Luffy is looking at Roger’s execution platform, he’s suddenly captured by Buggy, looking to exact his revenge by killing him in the same way Roger was killed. For his final words, Luffy declared to the entire town that he would become the Pirate King, and while the rest of the crew tried to save Luffy, Luffy accepted his impending doom with a smile, only for a sudden bolt of lightning to destroy the platform and set him free.

Luffy’s botched execution is an incredible scene for a variety of reasons. For starters, one of Luffy’s defining characteristics is his unnatural luck where things, more often than not, work out for him as if the universe is rooting for him to win, so Luffy being saved from death by a random bolt of lightning is vital because it’s the first true showing of his signature luck. It’s a scene that’s necessary for defining Luffy’s character, and as such, it must be maintained in live-action.

More important, of course, is what it says about Luffy’s personality. It’s one thing that the scene showcases Luffy’s determination to keep to his ideals in the face of danger, but the paradoxical way he gives up and accepts his death with a smile is equally important for showing that he’s the kind of person with the strength to go out with a smile. Luffy calmly accepting his death with a smile is one of the key moments that define his personality in One Piece, and it’s something that Inaki Godoy needs to be able to sell at all costs.

4 Smoker Vs. Luffy & The First Appearance Of Dragon

Scene From One Piece Episode 53: "The Legend Has Started! Head for the Grand Line!"

After narrowly escaping from Buggy, Luffy’s escape to the Going Merry is impeded by Smoker, the local Marine Captain of Loguetown who can turn his body into smoke with the power of the Plume-Plume Fruit. With no way to hurt Smoker, it seems like Luffy’s luck has finally run out, but at the last moment, a mysterious man named Dragon appears and helps Luffy escape, with Dragon wanting to see the beginning of Luffy’s journey into the Grand Line for reasons that wouldn’t be revealed for years.

The first reason why that entire scene is important is because of Smoker. Not only does Smoker introduce Logias, a subset of Devil Fruits that make the user virtually invincible, but with how easily Smoker defeated Luffy to the point that someone needed to bail him out, Smoker defeating Luffy is the first time One Piece truly establishes that Luffy needs to keep getting stronger to become the Pirate King. It’s a great moment after how relatively easily Luffy dealt with past opponents, and overall, it does a lot to set the pace for the rest of the story.

The scene is also important because of Dragon’s introduction. While it isn’t for years that Dragon’s character is fully explained, especially his connection to Luffy, his brief introduction still establishes both that he’s a major figure in the world and someone highly invested in Luffy’s journey, so Netflix’s One Piece needs to perfectly sell Dragon’s introduction so people buy him as both a major character and someone important to Luffy. With Rigo Sanchez as Dragon, there’s plenty of reason to think that Dragon’s depiction will be a great one, and hopefully, the series will fully lean into that.

3 Dorry & Brogy’s Tremendous Sendoff To The Straw Hats

Scene From One Piece Episode 77: "Farewell Giant Island! Head for Alabasta!"

At the end of the Little Garden arc, Dorry and Brogy told the Straw Hats that no matter what happened, they needed to sail straight ahead. The Straw Hats kept doing so even as they were swallowed whole by the Island Eater, a giant goldfish said to be the main reason ships rarely leave Little Garden, but Dorry and Brogy saved them by combining their power into a giant blast of air pressure that tore a hole through the Island Eater and freed the Straw Hats while sending them flying.

The first great thing about that scene is the Island Eater. The Grand Line had been built up as a mysterious and dangerous place since the very beginning of One Piece, and with the sudden appearance of a giant goldfish that swallows the Straw Hats whole and can make island-sized poops, the appearance of the Island Eater is the perfect way of firmly establishing how dangerous the Grand Line is. Naturally, rendering something like that in full CG will be challenging, but hopefully, the series will find a way to pull it off.

Naturally, Dorry and Brogy are the biggest selling point. The sheer power of their combined attack is one thing, but after how much time Little Garden spent on establishing their code of honor and the friendship they built with the Straw Hats, Dorry and Brogy’s sendoff of the Straw Hats was the exact sort of dramatic turn the story needed to cap off their friendship and their character arcs. It’s the last moment from Dorry and Brogy before their return in the final saga, so there’s plenty of reason for them to go out on a high note.

2 Dr. Hiriluk’s Tearful Death

Scene From One Piece Episode 86: "Hiriluk's Cherry Blossoms and the Will that Gets Carried On!"

After eating a poisonous mushroom that Chopper mistook as medicinal, Dr. Hiriluk, with only an hour to live, went to Wapol’s castle to use his last moments tending to the ill Twenty Doctors of Drum Island. As it turned out, though, it was a trap of Wapol’s to kill Hiriluk, but not only was Hiriluk simply relieved that no one was sick, but he blew himself up so that neither Wapol nor Chopper would be responsible for his death, all while declaring that he had a great life and that a person only truly died when they were forgotten.

The biggest star of Dr. Hiriluk’s death scene, of course, is Dr. Hiriluk. Deaths in One Piece are almost always a tragedy, and sure enough, Dr. Hiriluk’s death in One Piece is one of the most iconic deaths in the series thanks to his iconic final words and the overall tragedy of his death. Mark Harelik has already been cast as Hiriluk, and with his years of experience, he’ll surely do a great job of bringing that moment to life.

Dr. Hiriluk’s death is also important for what it means to Chopper. Chopper’s failure to save Hiriluk is what makes it sink in that he needs to not only be a real doctor, but someone who can cure all diseases, so One Piece season 2 needs to perfectly adapt Dr. Hiriluk’s death for the sake of firmly establishing Chopper’s character arc. Chopper’s arc will probably be the final story of season 2, and with any luck, it will end things on a high note.

1 Chopper’s Farewell & The Realization Of Dr. Hiriluk’s Dream

Scene From One Piece Episode 91, "Goodbye Drum Island! I'm Going Out to Sea!"

After Wapol’s defeat, Chopper agreed to join the Straw Hat Pirates as their doctor, meaning he had to say goodbye to Drum Island and Dr. Kureha. Kureha objected and forced Chopper and everyone else to run off as she tried to force Chopper to stay, but not only was that just so Chopper wouldn’t see her cry, but it was also so she could surprise Chopper by using Hiriluk’s formula to turn the snow pink, thus realizing Hiriluk’s dream of bringing cherry blossoms to the island.

The first reason why this scene is so good is because of what it shows of Dr. Kureha. For most of the arc, Kureha had come off as a strict figure to Chopper and everyone else, but sure enough, Kureha’s final actions in the Drum Island arc perfectly showcase how kind a person she is and how much Chopper meant to her. Katey Segal is confirmed to be playing Kureha, and hopefully, she’ll do a great job capturing the emotional depth of the moment.

More than that, of course, is the sight of the pink snow. Everything in Chopper’s arc and the Drum Island arc, as a whole, revolved around Dr. Hiriluk’s dream of bringing cherry blossoms to Drum Island, so the Drum Island arc ending with the sky filled with pink snow is the perfect way of bringing Dr. Hiriluk’s story to a close and giving Chopper’s arc as emotional a payoff as possible. It’s one of the most heartwarming moments in all of One Piece, and above all else, it’s the biggest moment One Piece season 2 has to nail.