Summary
There is more to Julia Rehwald’s casting inOne Pieceseason 2 than meets the eye.One Pieceseason 1’s endingteased the arrival of the marines' Captain Smoker, and Callum Kerr has been cast in that iconic semi-villain role. Just as important as Smoker is his master chief petty officer, the sword-swinging Tashigi, and it’s she that Rehwald will be playing when Netflix’s live-actionOne Piecereturns.
When the Straw Hats encounter Smoker in theOne Pieceanime and manga, Zoro is amazed by Tashigi’s uncanny resemblance to Kuina, and this becomes a recurring theme whenever the two cross swords in later chapters.One Piecehas never provided a concrete reason behind Tashigi’s resemblance to Kuina, but a wave of fan theories have attempted to solve the mystery. One speculates that Tashigi and Kuina are somehow related; another suggests Kuina survived and adopted “Tashigi” as her new identity.One Pieceseason 2looks set to weigh in upon that ongoing debate.
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Netflix created a nearly perfect live-action anime adaptation with One Piece, and its history of failures and successes proves this was no easy task.
One Piece Season 2’s Tashigi Actress Really Does Resemble Kuina
One Piece’s Live-Action Casting Continues To Strike Gold
In theOne Pieceanime and manga, the similarity between Tashigi and Kuina would not be immediately noticeable if Zoro didn’t make a habit of mentioning it every time Smoker’s unit cruised into view. Without Zoro, fans likely would have struggled to draw any connection between the two characters, but - to the Straw Hat swordsman, at least -Tashigi is the spitting image of what Kuina would have looked like if she hadn’t died so young. Curiously, Julia Rehwald really does carry a passing resemblance to the actor who played live-actionKuina inOne Pieceseason 1, Audrey Cymone.
The Tashigi-Kuina parallel is not a plot point Netflix’sOne Piecenecessarily needed to adapt. Not only does it have minimal narrative impact, but finding a great Tashigi actor who could also be realistically compared to Audrey Cymone would have been a tough ask. Animation and manga can change any character’s appearance with a pencil stroke, but real faces aren’t quite so malleable, making live-action casting more restrictive. Nevertheless,One Piecehas taken great effort to cast a Tashigi actress who looks vaguely like an older Kuina, suggesting Zoro, echoing the source material, will be mesmerized by Smoker’s right-hand woman when they meet in season 2.
What One Piece Season 2’s Casting Means For The Tashigi-Kuina Theories
Live-Action One Piece Doubles Down On The Connection’s Importance
As of chapter #1120 in Eiichiro Oda’sOne Piecemanga, a reason for Tashigi’s resemblance to Kuina has not been given, and in 2009, the mangaka himself stated that Tashigi looking like Kuina was coincidental (viaShonen Jump). The possibility that one of the enduring theories will ultimately prove true does, however, remain possible.One Piece’s creator hasn’t always been beholden to his own comments, and after retconningLuffy’s Devil Fruitand revealing the entire world is sinking, Kuina and Tashigi being the same person would barely crack theOne Piecemanga’s top five most outlandish twists.
In a 2019 interview withFischer’s, Oda predicted thatOne Piecewould end in 2024 - a claim that now looks incredibly unlikely. In a 2016One Piece Great Newspaperinterview, Oda suggested Luffy wouldn’t beat Kaido with a simple strong punch, but that’s exactly what happened when Luffy’s victory came years later.
One Pieceseason 2 casting a Tashigi actor who bears a passing likeness to the actor who played Kuina doubles down on the importance of these characters being connected in some way. Netflix’s live-action adaptation could have easily skipped over the Tashigi-Kuina mirroring, but has gone out of its way to retain that tricky aspect of the source material. Such a bold move only adds credence to the theories that claim Tashigi’s similarities to Kuina are more than just coincidence.
One Piece
One Piece follows young pirate Monkey D. Luffy and his diverse crew as they embark on a daring quest for treasure. Released in 2023, the film brings the adventurous world of the popular manga to life, capturing Luffy’s relentless pursuit of the legendary One Piece treasure.
