‘One Piece’ Season 2 Trailer Reveals Another Netflix Race-Swap

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Netflix dropped the trailer for season two of its live-action One Piece series on Tuesday. The first season was a huge success for the streaming service last year, and fans have been excited for more. But a choice to change the ethnicity of the character Vivi is sparking debate online.

One Piece’s Vivi got Netflixed.

— Pirat_Nation 🔴 (@Pirat_Nation) January 12, 2026

Fans are divided on the casting choices for the live-action One Piece series. Some believe the decisions fit the story, while others see it as Netflix prioritizing diversity over staying faithful to the original material. If the character of Vivi isn’t well-received, it might not be about cultural debates, but rather a sign that the show is harming the One Piece brand.

Studio Goals and Fan Expectations

According to a fan wiki for One Piece, Vivi is a young woman with fair skin and long, wavy, light blue hair. Given that she’s a princess from the desert kingdom of Arabasta, it might seem logical that she and her people would have darker skin. However, in fantasy stories like One Piece, the creator’s artistic choices and what fans expect often matter more than strict realism.

On August 23, 2024, Variety announced that Charithra Chandran would play Vivi in the second season of One Piece. A year later, a short teaser gave fans a quick peek at her as the character. However, the newest trailer provided the first substantial look at Chandran in action as Vivi. While she has Vivi’s signature blue hair, her overall appearance differs significantly from how Vivi is portrayed in the manga and anime.

I have to say, I was really impressed with this actress’s turn as Edwina Sharma in the second season of Bridgerton. While she had a small role in Eternals – a Bollywood dancer, if you blinked you might have missed her – Bridgerton is where she truly shone. It’s a fascinating show, too, a reimagining of Regency England, and I especially loved the bold choice to cast Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte – a brilliant piece of color-conscious casting.

Netflix had faced similar accusations of prioritizing diversity when choosing actors before this instance, and it wasn’t the last.

Netflix’s History of Race-Swapping

Netflix faced significant controversy in 2023 with its docudrama Queen Cleopatra, which cast biracial actress Adele James as the Egyptian queen. This led an Egyptian lawyer, Mahmoud al-Semary, to file a lawsuit seeking to ban Netflix in Egypt. A similar casting choice occurred in 2021 when Jodie Turner-Smith played Anne Boleyn in a limited series.

The Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla took creative liberties with historical accuracy, notably changing the depiction of Jarl Haakon, a real Norwegian leader. In the show, this historically white and male figure was reimagined with a different race and gender.

I’ve noticed a lot of discussion around casting choices in Netflix shows, even the ones that aren’t based on real people. Take The Witcher, for example. It’s based on these amazing fantasy books by a Polish author, and most fans always pictured the characters looking Eastern European. But the casting director, Sophie Holland, explained they chose Anya Chalotra, who has Indian heritage, for the role of Yennefer specifically to shake up people’s ideas of what beauty looks like. It’s a bold move, and it’s definitely got people talking!

What sets Chandran’s role as Vivi apart is that Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, supposedly preferred her for the part in the live-action series. This support from the creator could help address any concerns fans have about the casting choice.

A Warning Signal

Whether or not Chandran is accepted as Vivi in the second season of One Piece will likely depend on her performance in the role.

The growing use of “Netflixed” to mean “race-swapped” suggests viewers anticipate Netflix will prioritize diversity when adapting stories. This isn’t necessarily the image Netflix wants to project, and it could damage the trust of fans who prefer faithful adaptations of the source material.

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2026-01-13 15:57