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UnverifiedUpdated Nov 13, 2026 · 4 sources

Showrunner Steven Maeda Reveals How Eiichiro Oda Fought Netflix Budget Cuts

Recent posts on the r/OnePieceLiveAction subreddit have highlighted comments from showrunner Steven Maeda regarding behind-the-scenes battles over Season 1. According to these shared reports, creator Eiichiro Oda stepped in to stop Netflix from cutting the budget and replacing Usopp's Syrup Village storyline with Gaimon Island.

Budget Disputes and Three Different Versions

In mid-October 2026, a user on r/OnePieceLiveAction shared an interview featuring Steven Maeda on episode 330 of the Trash Taste podcast, titled "How One Piece Broke the Live Action Curse." In the weeks following that post, several threads on the subreddit highlighted specific statements attributed to Maeda about the production of Season 1.

According to an October 28 post on r/OnePieceLiveAction, Maeda stated that budget disputes with Netflix led to three different versions of the live-action series being developed. Another thread from October 20 shared a report claiming that after budget cuts altered the show's plans, creator Eiichiro Oda pushed back, saying, "This is not what I signed up to," and forced Netflix to restore the original vision for Season 1.

Saving Syrup Village From Being Replaced by Gaimon Island

A November 4 post on r/OnePieceLiveAction pointed to a specific story change that was reportedly pitched during those development struggles. According to the post's title, Oda rejected a plan by Netflix to replace Usopp's Syrup Village storyline with Gaimon Island.

Fans reacting to the thread expressed relief that the creator took an active role in the production to protect key parts of the manga's story. Whether similar budget discussions or script rewrites have occurred for future seasons is not known yet.

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