‘I don’t want to speak on the continuation’: Nobody at Netflix seems willing to guarantee a future for its latest expensive investment

It must be embarrassing for studios, showrunners, and filmmakers when they talk up sequels, spin-offs, or subsequent seasons of their latest project only to watch as it all goes down in flames right before their very eyes, which goes a long way to explaining why everyone involved in Netflix’s One Piece continues to remain so non-committal.

Under normal circumstances, the streaming service investing a reported $144 million into eight episodes of television would lead you to believe that plans are already afoot for additional adventures, but given that the platform has also canceled upwards of 20 original shows so far this year, that obviously isn’t the case.

Not even the company’s head of scripted content would dare give a definitive answer when questioned on a potential season 2 of One Piece, and showrunner Steven Maeda has taken virtually the same approach when quizzed by Variety.

“It’s a worthwhile ask — and answers will be forthcoming. I don’t want to speak on the continuation of One Piece at this point in time, just because this first season was such a bear. It was a wonderful challenge, but it took years out of our lives and I want to really let the focus be on that for the launch.”

Netflix’s last high-profile anime adaptation was officially canceled just 20 days after it premiered, so you can understand the trepidation. Then again, One Piece is vastly superior to Cowboy Bebop in every imaginable way, so it’s chances are a great deal stronger in avoiding the one-and-done curse.