Netflix’s One Piece, like the anime and manga on which it is based, focuses on Monkey D. Luffy’s attempts to reach the lawless stretch of ocean known only as the Grand Line. The original story of One Piece is incredibly long, allowing the series to build a vast world filled with its own lore and mythology. Despite Netflix’s One Piece making some story changes to the source material, Luffy’s quest to find the Grand Line remains as does the hints at the ocean’s lore teased in the live-action show.
By the end of Netflix’s One Piece, the Straw Hats are formed and ready to depart the East Blue Ocean. The crew, after facing their first trials and tribulations together, set off for the Grand Line in search of the titular treasure trove, expected to be the basis of the story for Netflix’s One Piece season 2. However, given that the Grand Line was only mentioned by name in One Piece season 1, many are left wondering what the ocean is, where it exists within the world, and what Luffy and his crew will find there, with the anime and manga of One Piece providing answers to these questions.
Where The Grand Line Is In One Piece’s World
Firstly, regarding the location of the Grand Line in One Piece‘s world, this is explained in the anime and also the beginning of Netflix’s One Piece episode 2 by Nami. In One Piece lore, the globe is split into four quadrants of a vast ocean: the North Blue, East Blue, West Blue, and South Blue. Running down the vertical center of the globe is a long stretch of land known as the Red Line. Splitting the horizontal axis of the One Piece world is a huge stretch of ocean with bigger islands, cities, and groups of pirates called the Grand Line.
In comparison to where most of Netflix’s One Piece season 1 takes place, the Grand Line is southwest given that all of Luffy’s season 1 adventures take place in the East Blue Ocean. In regard to the rest of the world, the Grand Line horizontally stretches across the globe. It is known as a much more treacherous stretch of ocean than the other four quadrants, something likely explored in future seasons of One Piece.
Why Luffy Is So Desperate To Reach The Grand Line
Another question concerning the Grand Line that Netflix’s One Piece and the early sections of the anime raise is why Luffy is so desperate to reach that specific area of the world. The answer to this question comes in the form of the show’s title. In the world of One Piece, the Grand Line is where the deadliest, most revered pirates in the world operate. While the East, North, South, and West Blue Oceans also suffer from piracy, the Grand Line is where the bigger cities, islands, and treasure troves are found for pirates to plunder.
As Luffy wishes to be a full-blown pirate, he is determined to reach the Grand Line and prove he can cut it with the world’s most notorious pirates. Similarly, though, One Piece‘s title comes from the treasure trove known as the One Piece, the pirate treasure of Gol D. Rodger which he amassed by conquering the Grand Line and becoming King of the Pirates. Shortly before his execution by the Marines, Gol D. Rodger hid his immeasurable wealth, the One Piece, somewhere in the Grand Line and stated that whoever found it would become King of the Pirates, kickstarting the Golden Age of Piracy in One Piece lore.
As such, Luffy needs to reach the Grand Line for this reason. Luffy’s lifelong dream has been to become the King of the Pirates, something that finding the One Piece will help him achieve. Therefore, Luffy’s determination to reach the Grand Line stems from his dream of ruling the pirates and finding the One Piece to help him realize this dream, something he is one step closer to by the ending of Netflix’s One Piece.
More Dangerous Islands & Pirates Await Luffy On The Grand Line
Regarding what awaits Luffy at the Grand Line in future seasons of Netflix’s One Piece, the source material provides these answers too. More dangerous enemies await in the Grand Line, some of whom belong to the Three Great Powers. The Three Great Powers maintain balance in the world, between the Marines, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the Four Emperors. Concerning the Seven Warlords of the Sea, two were shown in Netflix’s One Piece season 1: Buggy the Clown and Mihawk. Others awaiting Luffy who are integral One Piece characters are the likes of Crocodile and Marshall D. Teach/Blackbeard.
Concerning the Marines who await Luffy in the Grand Line, their headquarters are on dangerous islands known as Marineford and New Marineford. Both hold important conflicts in the One Piece anime and manga that will undoubtedly be shown in Netflix’s One Piece going forward. All of this proves that Luffy’s journey to become King of the Pirates has only just begun, with the Grand Line offering up a new, incredibly heightened batch of dangers – with only a handful named here – for the aspiring pirate royal and his Straw Hat crew to overcome.
