One Piece Live Action season 2 divides the fandom over Robin's ethnicity

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 saw reputable unofficial online news sources begin revealing that Netflix’s One Piece Live Action season 2 series had put out casting calls for various characters. Seven characters in total had casting calls put out for them, each specifying a specific age range and ethnicity the series’ staff was searching for.

Some of these characters included fan favorites like Nefertari Vivi and Nico Robin, with the latter’s casting call details having most fans jumping for joy heading into One Piece Live Action season 2.

According to the latest available information, it seems that the role of Robin is being restricted to Latino/Hispanic actresses, mirroring the darker skin tone she’s first introduced with.

However, some fans are taking grievance with the choice, citing original manga series creator Eiichiro Oda’s words on Robin being of Russian descent. The fandom is now seemingly more divided than ever over Netflix’s production heading into One Piece Live Action season 2, arguably the worst time for such strife to be popping up.

One Piece Live Action season 2’s ship could be sunk following the latest Robin news

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Part of the blame for this strife regarding One Piece Live Action season 2’s casting choice for Robin does unfortunately fall on Oda’s shoulders.

Upon introduction, Robin was given a much darker skin tone due to having spent quite some time living in the desert region of Alabasta while working for Crocodile and Baroque Works.

However, during the time-skip, Robin spent time in a prison located in a wintry area before being rescued by the Revolutionary Army and taken away. However, it is presumed that her time spent in this wintry area combined with wherever she went after being rescued resulted in the tan she had acquired going away.

That, in turn, led to Robin returning in the post-time-skip with a much paler complexion more in-line with the nationality on which she's based.

Amongst anime and manga fans, this change was a major deal and sparked a conversation which is still ongoing today, nearly 14 years later. Likewise, it’s expected that similar strife would be caused by One Piece Live Action season 2 choosing to cast Robin with her pre-time-skip appearance in mind rather than her post-time-skip appearance.

While some are arguing this is indicative of the series’ long-term future, it’s likely just the result of a necessary choice given the difficulty in changing a real-life actor’s skin tone. Likewise, in either scenario, the decision was bound to cause some controversy, making it difficult to truly blame the staff of Netflix’s adaptation.

Fan reaction

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Nevertheless, there are some fans who are displeased with the take, even though a good portion of reactions are positive as seen in the embed above.

Many negative reactions are likewise blaming Netflix rather than Oda, despite Oda’s involvement in this current scenario being clear as described above, such as:

“The hell? Oda himself stated that Robin was Russian. Basically white as f*ck. Is netflix starting their BS again,” pointed out one fan.

Another agreed with them, asking “isn’t Robin canonically Russian?” in response to the casting news.

“Uh… [grimacing face emoji] Robin was mentioned by Oda-sensei to be Russian. Just sayin…” rightfully claimed yet another.

Clearly, some fans are taking issue with the contradiction in Oda’s words versus Netflix’s casting approach for the role.

It’s worth mentioning that, although they recognize Oda’s words on Robin’s nationality, they don’t comment at all on her initially being introduced with a darker skin tone. Some are sharing similar sentiments online, like one fan’s words below:

“people acting like robin being russian is at all part of the actual plot of one piece when russia doesnt even exist and in fact she is from an island of people who suffered a genocide so like why would they have her be white,” pointed out one passionate netizen.

Although one fan touches on other subjects, their main point of Robin’s nationality having little to do with her character arc or the series’ core plot rings true. Likewise, there are several others celebrating the casting choice:

“Latino sounds alright for Robin. [heart emoji],” conceded one fan.

“My latina queen,” praised another.

“YAAASSSSS,” shouted yet another fan.

While the topic is a hotly debated one, it’s clear that supporters exist on both sides of the aisle, as well as those in the middle questioning the relevance of the character’s ethnicity regardless.

In any case, while this is likely not the reaction Netflix wanted to this One Piece Live Action season 2 news, it’s an unfortunately inherent result of making such a choice.