Eiichiro Oda’s Magnum Opus “One Piece” was finally released as a Live-Action series on Netflix. The release of the adaptation turned into a Global Phenomenon.
The bestselling manga of all time finally got adapted into a live-action. The most amazing, diverse, and mysterious world created by Eiichiro Oda has finally become a reality. It took 6 years of planning and hard work to finally make it possible.
So how was the live-action? Did it live up to the expectations of the huge fandom or is it again another failure? Here I’ll share my Spoiler-Free thoughts and review of the beautiful and amazing Live-action adaptation of One Piece.
The Story
The Season 1 of One Piece Live Action covers almost 100 chapters worth of content. They have condensed the massive content according to their own need. In this way, they have created a separate piece of media to spread the heart and spirit of One Piece. However, the main aspect of this is that they stayed faithful to the source as much as possible.
A rookie pirate named Monkey D. Luffy sets out to the sea to find the One Piece. His dream is to become the “King of the Pirates” and to achieve that he needs a strong crew. On his path, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji join him and they set out for the Grand Line. All together they are known as “Straw Hat Pirates”. That’s the basic summary of the story.
The Casting & The performances:
One of the very positive things about this live-action was the casting choice for the characters. One Piece’s diverse world is filled with very odd and unique-looking characters.
So bringing them to life is in itself a very hard thing. However, the staff members of the show have done a great job regarding that.
The main cast, Luffy(Iñaki Godoy), Zoro(Mackenyu), Nami(Emily Rudd), Usopp(Jacob Romero), and Sanji(Taz Skyler) were perfectly cast.
The most stand out among the others are Buggy(Jeff Ward), Mihawk(Steven Ward), and Kuro(Alexander Maniatis).
Now, about the performances, it was also very good even though some scenes felt a little less impactful. The main characters and their chemistry were portrayed very well in the series.
Iñaki as Luffy did a great job. Even though the Luffy here seems a little bit different from the manga. Still, Iñaki carries the heart and kindness of the original character.
Emily Rudd as Nami is a perfect casting choice and her acting also is very impressive.
Mackenyu Like Zoro shines at fights the most. He can cut someone half; ya.
Jacob portrays the goofy side of Usopp very well.
Taz Skylar as Sanji might steal some girls’ hearts. His acting and fights are really well done.
All the other characters had a very good acting performance throughout. One thing that stands out the most in this show is the performance of Jeff Ward as Buggy. He alone steals the show whenever he is on screen. So that was a very pleasant surprise to watch.
Shanks’ hat looks too small and out of proportion for his head, giving his overall look an unnatural feel. His first mate also lacks the imposing, impactful presence he has in the anime.
Even though they have done such a great job sometimes scenes feel a little bit overly dramatic which in a way affects the impact of the situation.
The Cinematography & Set Designs:
The biggest strength of One Piece as a series is its huge yet breathtaking world. So bringing that world to life in an amazing way was really a necessity. The show’s Cinematographer Nicole Whitaker did his absolute best in that regard. The world of One Piece in Live-action feels really alive.
According to an interview with Nicole, she and Marc Jobst both are huge fans of One Piece. So bringing that world to life was really a pleasure to them.
One more interesting thing about this adaptation is the set design. For the most part, they used sets created by them rather than CGI. That made the world a lot more real and immersive. Specifically sets like Baratie or Shell Town look like they were taken out of the manga itself.
The Fights & Music:
Fights are one of the most important parts of any Shonen Manga series. So being a part of Shonen Jump, One Piece also has many cool fight scenes. And the Netflix adaptation did not disappoint with the fights. The fights are probably the most impressive part of this season. From, Luffy’s unique stretchy ability to Zoro’s magnificent swordplay everything has been handled very well. Sometimes the CGI for Luffy attacks feels a little odd but that is very little. One interesting thing about the fights is that this series does not shy away from showing brutality or gore, unlike the anime. So the fights are handled very well.
One pice live action and one pice anime. zoro solo Mihawk #onepiece #OnePieceLiveAction #OnePieceNetflix #zoro pic.twitter.com/pFwiVhbBaG
— Phong-Nopro1 (@KazeHadaka) August 31, 2023
One thing this series did to perfection is the music. Sonya Belousova, Giona Ostinelli, and the team did a great job of bringing out the essence of the scenes with their beautiful music. They also brought the fan favorite songs like We Are and Binks’ Sake. I loved the music of this show a lot.
How good was the Adaptation:
One Piece Live Action season 1 covered almost 100 chapters from the manga. Even though they have changed a lot from the source material to condense it. They have added a lot of new stuff. They have tried to create a show that is truthful to the source material and yet gives a new flavor to their audience. However, did they succeed in it? Did they adapt it to a very good quality?
ONE PIECE LIVE ACTION EDIT#OnePieceNetflix #OnePieceLiveAction pic.twitter.com/wqmXVM8qWd
— Y (@yakshit321) September 1, 2023
To that question, my answer is that the adaptation is not perfect but that does not mean it’s bad. There are several directorial choices that as a fan I felt were somewhat forceful or unnecessary. Some important scenes or characters were also cut out of the story. However, the added scenes do fill that gap to a degree. Some of the best moments of the series were done very well.
Another issue I think is the excessive content they covered. It was a lot to adapt in only 8 episodes. I think this led to some issues with the character interactions too. The character interactions among the crew were great but the interaction with other characters was very less. This in a way affects the emotional impact of some smaller scenes.
Final Thoughts:
So overall this was a very fun watch. While watching the show I was reminded of my first time watching One Piece. This brings the world of One Piece to real life in a very unique and positive way. Even though I was kind of worried about the adaptation it really blew away my expectations.
This show proved that anime can be adapted to live-action. Hopefully, unlike other Netflix shows it won’t be cancelled and we will see another season very soon. Until then see you.
One Piece (2023 TV series)
Director: Marc Jobst
Date Created: 2023-08-31 08:57
8
Pros
- 1. Strong casting choices that capture the essence of the main characters.
- 2. Impressive visuals, cinematography, and set design that bring the world of One Piece to life.
- 3. Dynamic, well-executed fight scenes that don't shy away from the anime's energy and action.
Cons
- 1. Pacing issues from trying to cram too much manga content into a limited number of episodes.
- 2. Some interactions between characters feeling less impactful or rushed.
- 3. Certain directorial choices coming across as unnecessary or forced to fans of the source material.
Final Review
Our Rating: 8/10
One Piece will start a new era of live-action adaptations. This show brings the essence of the original source material with a new flavor creating a very different yet enjoyable adaptation for very new and old fans of One Piece.
