Summer 2026 Light Novel Guide
Set Sail: The Art and Making of One Piece
What's It About?

Join Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates on their journey to find the fabled hidden treasure: the One Piece! This deluxe hardcover art book explores the making of seasons 1 and 2 of the hit Netflix live-action series One Piece, based on the hit manga series by Eiichiro Oda and serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump.
Discover how the production team brought to life the expansive story beginning in the East Blue and continuing to Drum Island. Concept art and on-set photography illustrate how unique locations such as the 153rd Branch Marine Base, Baratie, Loguetown, Little Garden, and numerous pirate ships—including the iconic Going Merry—were constructed using a mix of stunning practical sets and striking visual effects. Filled with exclusive interviews and commentary, this book describes the meticulous work that went into the creation of the costumes, prosthetics, hair and makeup, sets, stunts, and much more.
Set Sail: The Art and Making of One Piece is written by Mike Avila. Published by Viz Media (June 23, 2026).
Is It Worth Reading?
Erica Friedman
Rating:
Right from the beginning, with the note from Joe Tracz, co-showrunner of the blockbuster Netflix live-action adaptation of One Piece, you just know this is going to be a great book. Tracz talks about the series like a fan…like any one of us. He gets the show, and having watched both seasons more than once, it truly shows.
Set Sail: The Making and Art of One Piece is a great book for any fan of the show, whether you watch the anime, love the manga, enjoy the live-action adaptation, or all of the above. This is a fan's book, full of love for the characters, the places, the plots, the magic that makes One Piece so successful across the globe.
Stories from the horses' mouths give you a look behind the scenes, as Oda-sensei and his people asked for no significant changes to the story (no crew romances, hallelujah), how each actor was brought in, and how each set was imagined, then created.
It is really wonderful to hear from departments who usually don't get much time in ‘art of’ books past the monster makeup. Wigs and hats and coats were all ideated for “Creating seamless visual cohesion…”. Effects get space, of course, and the fabrication of prosthetics, but the bulk of the book is taken up with the specifics of each set, including a detailed discussion of the creation of the Going Merry and Baratie, and page after page of the posters and ads that turned film sets into the Grand Line.
This book is a treasure chest of One Piece lore and love.
Bolts
Rating:
The live-action One Piece series is certainly an anomaly. Live action adaptations of anime have historically gone poorly, but despite the fact that Netflix was attempting to do a live action adaptation of one of the longest running and arguably more cartoony anime shows of the past several generations, I think most people agree things turned out for the better. The cast is incredibly charming, the sets are phenomenal, and at the very least, you can really feel that a good chunk of the people working on the One Piece live-action series actually had a strong reverence for the original material. The fact that Oda was deeply involved is also a plus. This volume shares a lot of that insight and love for this adaptation. While it didn't necessarily change my personal opinions on the live-action adaptation, I do have an even stronger respect for the crew that put everything together.
This book is full of excerpts, interviews, and behind-the-scenes insight into various stages of the first two seasons' production. It literally starts at the beginning with how the rights needed to be acquired, how the showrunners felt when they were meeting with Oda, and really hammering home the sheer weight of such an ambitious adaptation. After that, the book showcases various sections that go over individual members of the cast, and I really appreciate how the style of this book breaks everything down. The whole thing is structured in a way that is similar to some of the wanted posters that you would see in One Piece. There's so much bold framing and striking colors that help distinguish everyone's individual character sections, and it's not just the main crew, but pretty much every major character that appears throughout the first two seasons. What I love in particular is how they go over how every individual actor brought something unique to the role that distinguished them from why they got cast in the first place, particularly Iñaki Godoy's amazing energy when it came to playing Luffy.
The rest of the book gets into the literal production of the adaptation with things like costume and set design. One of my favorite parts about this book was the glimpse into how the show ended up having a lot more practical effects than it was originally planned to have. There was actually going to be a lot more CGI, especially when it came to the non-human creatures like the Fishman, who were originally gonna be fully rendered in CGI. But they decided to take the practical makeup approach despite how hard it was going to be. There were also different reference models for characters who almost looked completely different as the crew tried to find ways to bring the more cartoony aesthetics of the manga to live action. The jury is still out on whether or not they succeeded, but you can tell there were real attempts at experimentation to see how far they could push it.
If you're a fan of One Piece in general, it is worth picking up this book. Even if you didn't like the live-action adaptation, the behind-the-scenes stories and insights like this are really important. This is something that showcases how different perspectives on what the largest franchisees on the planet can lead to some interesting creative choices when it comes to bringing something like One Piece to a completely different medium. You might not agree with every choice that was made, but this feels like a weird piece of history in its own way, despite being a relatively new book. At the very least, I think it is a great conversation starter that should be checked out.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Anime News Network, its employees, owners, or sponsors.
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