In January of 2020, the live action version of the world renowned animanga One Piece was announced to be in the works. Three years later, the anticipation built up prior to the release this August.
Premiering on Netflix, many fans were skeptical because of the streaming network’s bad reputation with live-action adaptations of anime. Previous Netflix adaptations had a low-budget, featured bad acting, and felt inaccurate to the original story material. A prominent example among anime fans is the Death Note live action movie, which left fans of the original show highly disappointed.
One Piece, however, did not fall to the same mistakes of its predecessors, surpassing fans’ expectations.
One Piece revolves around a boy named Monkey D. Luffy ,who wants to become king of the pirates and find the “one piece”, hence the name of the show. What is the one piece? It is a mysterious treasure that the old king of pirates, Gol D. Roger, left for the other pirates to discover. The first season of the live action series mainly focuses on the story arc of Luffy recruiting the beginnings of his pirate crew—Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp—known as the “East Blue Saga.”
Buggy, Nami, and Zorro’s actors bolstered the show. The trio executed the characters’ mannerisms and dynamics well, based on what I know of the anime. The dynamic between Nami and Zoro was a highlight. Although I’m not sure if they connected quite the same in the anime, it was refreshing to see two side characters platonically bond instead of force a romantic relationship between them.
However, at times, the acting came off as cringey, especially with the execution of Luffy’s character. But anime characters’ personalities tend to be harder to replicate in real life without coming off as too camp or forced.
The fights were well done. Fight scenes with powers like Luffy’s stretchy body, are difficult to execute on an actual human rather than animating or drawing. The stunt coordinators did a good job translating these scenes from illustration to live action. The SFX team impressed as well, especially with Buggy’s ability to remove parts of his body and make them fly around.
The costumes and sets were great and felt authentic to the original, although the main cast’s costumes far outweighed the quality of the side cast. Many side characters’ outfits looked cheap, like someone buying a Halloween costume of their character’s wardrobe from Amazon. While it wasn’t a deal breaker, I wish the costume department had put more effort into it.
Netflix’s One Piece live adaptation is great for people who do not have the time to commit to the thousands of episodes of the anime. It is also a great stepping stone for audience members who are skeptical about watching anime and want to tip-toe their way into the medium.
Overall, One Piece surpassed Netflix’s previous anime live action adaptations. I would give it a solid 9/10. It was good, and it was definitely better than the other anime live actions that I have seen. It’s a solid 9/10. My rating may lean on the more generous than an o.g. fan because I have not seen the original, but watching the live action has encouraged me to add the anime to my watchlist.
