CrunchyrollNetflix only just dropped the first look at Season 2 of its One Piece live-action series, but another adaptation is already in the works: a One Piece Heroines anime, based on the female-fronted manga spinoff.
As one of the original Big Three alongside Naruto and Bleach, One Piece has been going on 1997, with Eiichiro Oda still pumping out stories centering on the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates.
It goes without saying that it’s gone through quite the evolution over the decades, and the same can be said for its anime, which launched two years after the manga and boasts over 1,100 episodes.
Then came Netflix’s live-action remake in 2023. Each adaptation has helped bring Oda’s sprawling pirate saga to new audiences, but while some fans are excited to see their heroines get the spotlight, others wish for a different story.
One Piece fans divided over Heroines adaptation
In response to the news that One Piece novel Heroines is being made into an anime show, a number of fans have shared spinoffs that they wish would get the adaptation treatment instead.
ShueishaTaking to Reddit, one wrote, “They should animate the Ace manga/novel. That would be so good with a proper studio behind it. And Boichi’s style translates well into shonen.”
“The Law novel too,” agreed another, while a third added, “They’ll adapt anything other than Shokugeki no Sanji.”
A fourth chimed in, “I hope more of the novels get adapted. Surprised it’s taken them this long really. You just know fans would eat up an adaptation of the Ace novel/manga.”
And a fifth stated, “I knew they would continue adapting the One Piece novels, I can’t wait for when they adapt Ace’s, Law’s, and Zoro’s novels.”
For the most part, however, fans are excited to see Heroines coming first, including this person who said, “Seeing the script’s written by the writer of Fan Letter, I’m really excited for this.”
“I read the first volume, the Perona chapter, was amazing, can’t wait,” wrote another, with a third commenting, “Nice, I just finished reading it last month.”
What will the One Piece Heroines anime be about?
While details are scarce at the time of writing, we know the Heroines anime will follow the manga, telling stories from the women of the One Piece world.
As per Crunchyroll, the news was announced at One Piece Day 2025 during the Egghead Saga Voice Actors Special Stage Event. The team also released the first visual, showing Nami and Robin in the anime’s art style.
Written by Jun Esaka and illustrated by Sayaka Suwa, the spinoff manga features short stories originally published in the One Piece Magazine before being collated in two light novels.
The first novel focuses on Nami, Robin, Vivi, and Perona, the second includes Hancock, Tashigi, Reiju, and Uta, and the final story is a conversation between Nami and Robin.
The outlet reports that Haruka Kamatani will serve as director of the new TV show, while Takashi Kojima is on character design and Momoka Toyoda is on script duties.
When one fan asked if the show will be canon, another replied, “Not necessarily but some of the stories like Robin’s (a few days before landing in Sabaody Archipelago after 3D2Y) are found ‘in-between’ the main events of the manga.
“From Oda: ‘Please enjoy the little One Piece that exists in the margins of the great adventure.’ Edit: it’ll be closer to a slice of life/day in the life stories (rather than serious battles/action) that occurred between events of the main story (aka off day, vacation, etc).”
While you wait for updates, check out our ranking of every One Piece saga, the best anime to watch when One Piece is on hiatus, and see what’s coming up with our 2025 TV show calendar.
