On Tuesday morning, Netflix released the trailer for the long-awaited second season of One Piece, a live-action adaptation of the long-running anime. The first season was one of 2023’s biggest hits for the streamer, and fans have eagerly anticipated a second season. However, the decision to race-swap the character of Vivi is causing some online controversy.
One Piece’s Vivi got Netflixed. pic.twitter.com/2U1iTTVlFs
— Pirat_Nation 🔴 (@Pirat_Nation) January 12, 2026
Some feel that the casting is justified within the world of One Piece, while others argue it’s yet another example of Netflix’s push for diversity at the expense of remaining true to the source material. If the character of Vivi fails to land with fans, the fallout may be less a reflection of a culture-war dispute and more an indication of brand damage.
Studio Goals and Fan Expectations
A One Piece fan wiki describes Vivi as “a young, fair-skinned woman of medium height with long, wavy, light blue hair.” As a princess of the desert kingdom Arabasta, it could be argued that logically she and her people should have a darker complexion. However, when it comes to fantasy stories like One Piece, logic is sometimes secondary to the creator’s vision — and fan expectations.
Variety reported on August 23, 2024 that Charithra Chandran had been cast as Vivi in One Piece season two, and a year later, a teaser offered fans a very brief glimpse of her in character. This latest trailer was the first good look at Vivi in action. Chandran is shown sporting Vivi’s trademark blue locks, but she otherwise bears little resemblance to the character from the manga and anime.
Vivi from the One Piece anime – Crunchyroll, YouTube
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The British-Indian actor had a small part in Eternals as a Bollywood dancer, though her breakout role was as Edwina Sharma in the second season of Bridgerton, also on Netflix. That show, an alternate history of regency-era England, featured a race-swapped Queen Charlotte played by Golda Rosheuvel.
But that wasn’t the first or only time Netflix was accused of making casting decisions based on diversity goals.
Netflix’s History of Race-Swapping
The most infamous case of race-swapping on Netflix was the 2023 docudrama Queen Cleopatra, which featured Adele James, who is biracial, as the Macedonian Greek ruler of Egypt. In response, Egyptian lawyer Lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary filed a lawsuit in an attempt to have the streamer banned from the country. Two years earlier, Jodie Turner-Smith portrayed Anne Boleyn in a miniseries.
Vikings: Valhalla altered historical European and Norse figures, with the historically white and male Norwegian ruler Jarl Haakon both race- and gender-swapped for the show.
Henry Cavill as Geralt, Freya Allan as Ciri, and Anya Chalotra as Yennefer in The Witcher Season 3 (2023), Netflix
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Other Netflix projects not involving actual historical persons have also received pushback. The Witcher is based on a series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, with most readers assuming the various characters look Eastern European. Casting director Sophie Holland said that Anya Chalotra, who is partially of Indian descent, was chosen to play Yennefer to “challenge what people think of as beauty.”
What potentially makes Chandran’s casting as Vivi different is that Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, reportedly wanted her for the part in the live-action adaptation. Having the creator’s blessing may help to smooth over any sense of betrayal.
A Warning Signal
The deciding factor will ultimately be if fans accept Chandran as Vivi in One Piece season 2, and that may come down to how she does in the role.
Charithra Chandran as Vivi in the One Piece season 2 trailer – Netflix, YouTube
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But the fact that “Netflixed” is becoming shorthand for “race-swapped” could be a signal that audiences expect the streamer-turned-studio to make diversity-based decisions. That may not be the reputation Netflix wants going forward — and it risks eroding trust with fan communities that value fidelity to their favorite properties.
What do you think of the Netflix race-swap casting of Vivi in One Piece season 2? Let us know in the comments!
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They just can’t help themselves. It is amazing how Netflix reinforces the meme in virtually every Netflix production.
If they were keeping WBD’s TV studios they’d make Discovery swap out Great Whites for Black Cod during Shark Week. Wrong color, no teeth, and about 10-15 feet shorter, but it is worth it to further their efforts to decolonize the seas. Or something.
There are enough useful idiots who pays for the crap…
Netflix will do this. Shame on Oda for promoting this abomination.