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Sorry, Fans, There Won't Be Any Canon Pairings in Netflix's One Piece

Sorry, Fans, There Won't Be Any Canon Pairings in Netflix's One Piece
Image credit: Netflix

Do not hold your breath for crew members to fall in love with each other.

Though most fans of Eiichiro Oda's iconic manga were somewhat apprehensive upon hearing of Netflix's plans to adapt One Piece into a live-action series in 2021, their fears were allayed when the show premiered last week. The adaptation has successfully captured the manga and anime's magic while delighting fans with some new and intriguing concepts, all of which have been incorporated seamlessly into the original canon.

However, fans should not expect Netflix's One Piece to significantly deviate from Oda's creation. Mangaka reportedly insisted the producers adhere to his list of stipulations before agreeing to sell the streaming giant the rights to adapt his work.

No Romance Among Crew Members

Since the fans saw the remarkable chemistry between Zoro and Nami, they were certain that the next season would depict the two falling in love, as the producers would not dare to squander such perfect dynamics between the actors. However, all such rumours were swiftly dismissed by producer Steven Maeda, who revealed that Oda had granted him the rights to One Piece under one condition - the show must refrain from featuring any romantic relationships between the crew members of Luffy's team.

While this news might be slightly disappointing for some fans of the series, the longtime followers of One Piece actually endorse it, as the manga has always been about adventure and camaraderie, not romance. If the show were to feature all the crew members developing romantic feelings for each other, people would pay much more attention to the relationships, not the adventures, which is something Oda is strictly against.

'I've always liked this rule Oda had. They're a family. You can still have romance in the story. They can have romantic relationships with non-crew members in such cases like Usopp and Kaya. It wouldn't surprise me if at the end of the series a couple of them might end up together, but not while the main story is going on,' a fan said.

Source: Reddit.