One Piece’s WIT Studio Era Must Dodge Vinland Saga and Attack on Titan’s Biggest Mistakes

I love a bold swing, and WIT Studio taking a crack at remaking One Piece is exactly that. The announcement landed with a mix of hype and side-eye: cool to see a fresh start, but also... this is WIT, the same shop that got heat for parts of Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga. With one of the biggest fanbases on Earth watching their every frame, the margin for error is tiny. Here are the specific pitfalls WIT absolutely cannot stumble into if they want this remake to actually land.

What WIT needs to nail on the One Piece remake

1. Ease up on the blunt-force CGI
   Vinland Saga season 1 leaned hard on CG early on — ships, crowds, water, those longboat shots — and it sometimes looked uncanny enough to pull you right out of the story. One Piece lives on ships, Devil Fruit chaos, giant crowds, and sea battles; it desperately needs CG used with a light touch and smart compositing. If the early arcs look plasticky, the whole tone goes wobbly fast.

2. Keep the look consistent, episode to episode
   Both Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga had noticeable swings in visual quality — highly detailed, cinematic episodes followed by flatter ones with limited animation or simplified crowds. One Piece is defined by Eiichiro Oda's super-expressive faces and elastic designs. If the remake veers too much in detail or style from scene to scene, fans will notice immediately, and not in a fun way.

3. Do not accidentally undercut the drama
   Vinland Saga is a serious show, but a few moments got unintentionally goofy because of stiff movement, awkward timing, or music/SFX that didn't fit the scene. One Piece walks a tightrope between comedy, adventure, and real emotional gut-punches. If a big dramatic beat reads silly by mistake, the spell breaks. Precision in tone is everything here.

4. Fix the pacing — especially early
   Vinland Saga can feel meditative; Attack on Titan had episodes that leaned into voiceover and reflection. Meanwhile, the original One Piece anime is infamous for its pacing bloat. The remake is the chance to course-correct. If East Blue drags, newer viewers will bail before the series hits its peaks. Keep it moving without losing character work.

5. Plan the production so it doesn't break
   WIT started both Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga, but production pressure and scheduling realities led to MAPPA taking over AoT's final season and Vinland Saga season 2. One Piece is a heavy lift — long, effects-driven, and massively scrutinized. WIT is already spinning up the remake, which means the usual schedule/resource potholes are right there unless they plan around them. Better to prevent the crunch than to hand off mid-run.

6. Stay faithful where it counts
   Attack on Titan's ending caught flak for the way themes and character arcs were handled onscreen; Vinland Saga also made small narrative adjustments that bugged purists. For One Piece, fans will expect a close read of the manga: character beats, key scenes, dialogue, and arc structure. If changes shift the tone, pacing, or growth in a meaningful way, the backlash will be loud.

7. Keep the trains running on time
   Vinland Saga had a big gap between seasons 1 and 2. Attack on Titan's schedule got famously tight, with release plans bending around production. One Piece has been part of pop culture for nearly three decades. Momentum matters. Long delays or big gaps between arcs will drain hype and reopen questions about whether WIT can sustain this thing.

8. Do not sand down Oda's character designs
   Vinland Saga's anime designs ruffled feathers compared to the manga — proportions, faces, even clothing details felt off to some viewers. With One Piece, design is sacred: exaggerated expressions, weird proportions, visual gags, and, yes, plenty of serious, dramatic looks. Tweak that too much and the soul of the series slips away. Get the faces right. Get the silhouettes right. Let the expressions breathe.

For context on WIT's track record with audiences: Attack on Titan sits around 9.1 on IMDb, Vinland Saga at about 8.8, Ranking of Kings at 8.4, Great Pretender at 7.8, and Hozuki's Coolheadedness at 7.1. In other words, when it clicks, it really clicks — but the misses are well-documented too.

If you want to revisit the studio's recent history, Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga are streaming on Crunchyroll.

What else should WIT keep an eye on as they rebuild One Piece from the ground up? Drop your take below.