When One Piece Brings Ace to Life in Season 3, I Need Netflix to Make One Important Change

The One Piece live-action adaptation has proven to be a true love tribute to the world created by Eiichiro Oda. The series so far has been one of the few faithful anime-inspired live actions in existence, making it a truly enjoyable and exciting adventure to watch. Nonetheless, to help the series appeal to a larger audience, some small changes have been made.

The team behind this successful series should consider making another small but significant alteration to season 3, specifically regarding Luffy and Ace’s friendship with Sabo. While the show should not force Sabo into the story ahead of time, hinting at his existence and story with the duo would do wonders for the plot.

One Piece’s Live Action Has an Opportunity To Fix Sabo’s Backstory

The Character Could Be Mentioned Years in Advanced

Out of all the friendships in the One Piece franchise, the one shared by Luffy, Ace, and Sabo has to be one of the best and most iconic. After the Red Hair Pirates left the Windmill Village for good, Luffy was taken to the Dadan Family hideout by his grandfather, Garp, to keep him safe. While living there, he met another boy named Ace, son of the King of the Pirates and despised by most for being a supposed curse. Luffy attempted on several occasions to befriend the boy without success.

In one of his daily attempts to become Ace’s friend, the future Emperor of the Sea followed the boy into the Grey Terminal Junkyard. Once there, Luffy noticed that Ace was talking to another kid, a stubborn but kind blonde named Sabo. After almost losing their lives in a battle against the Bluejam Pirates, the two older children accepted Luffy as one of their own, going as far as to become sworn brothers. Woefully, their adventures were cut short after Sabo supposedly died at the hands of a malicious noble.

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Due to this, Luffy and Ace would avoid talking about their lost brother, filled with pain and regret at the mere mention of his name. Although this explanation makes complete sense, one of the issues fans had with it is that it seemed to be created to justify the introduction of Sabo in chapter #583. As he had never been mentioned at all during the series, fans saw the flashback to Luffy’s childhood as a retcon to fit Sabo into his past. The Netflix One Piece adaptation could fix his introduction by hinting at his existence long before the Grey Terminal arc.

Ace Is the Perfect Character To Introduce Sabo to the Series

His Tattoo Hides a Nod to His Lost Brother

With Ace being all but confirmed as a character in Netflix’s live-action One Piece season 3, the show has a perfect opportunity to use Luffy’s brother as a way to hint at Sabo’s existence. The reason behind this comes from Ace’s iconic tattoo, which contains a small but wholesome homage to his presumably dead brother. Even though most fans might think that Luffy’s brother is incapable of spelling, this being the reason why his name is incorrectly written on his arm, there is a much sadder theory behind this detail.

Ace’s tattoo has a crossed-out S in respect to his fallen brother, as this is a direct nod to the pirate flag Sabo used as a child. Thanks to this, Netflix has the option of introducing the revolutionary soldier way earlier than the original manga. All they would have to do is have Luffy and Ace talk briefly about their dead brother, letting fans know about his existence. As such, once Sabo is revealed to be alive, fans who have not yet read the manga will have at least some idea about who he is.

Sabo Will Likely Never Meet Ace Again

Their Paths Are Not Meant To Cross, Not Even in Live-Action

Ace dies in One Piece — One-Piece-Ace-Death

After being seemingly killed by one of the terrifying Kings of the Sea, Sabo was rescued by the members of the Revolutionary Army. Most fans would expect that once he was saved, he would try to look for his brothers, letting them know that he was okay. However, he never did this as the traumatic experience caused him to lose almost all his memories. It was not until he received news about Ace dying during the Marineford War that he remembered his childhood adventures.

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Since the live-action adaptation has proven to be a faithful recreation of the One Piece story, there is little reason for the team behind it to change these events. This means that, even if fans are aware of Sabo’s existence once he is introduced, they will never see a reunion between him and Ace. This is one of the many reasons why his death is one of the most tragic and heartbreaking in One Piece, and fans of the live-action are likely not prepared for this event.

Netflix’s One Piecehas a golden opportunity to correct one of the plotholes Oda included in his beloved manga series. Moreover, by doing so, they would be hyping up the introduction of this iconic character, causing more interest in the show as a whole.