Fly the Jolly Roger: The ‘One Piece’ Live-Action Sails Into Netflix

Live-action adaptations of shounen anime are most often exercises in futility, doomed to fail from the get-go. Even the most loyal fans approach a live-action with as much trepidation as poking a viper’s nest while the viper is angry. Netflix adaptations have the reputation of being particularly poisonous and deadly — with a single frame, a deadly bite, it kills the source material. The Netflix adaptations of Death Note and Cowboy Bebop are prime examples of this. In fact, why even stop at anime? Look at what happened with The Witcher adaptation.

So, when word on the high seas was that One Piece is going to get a Netflix adaptation, most fans sighed and thought that One Piece would get the same treatment. The fanbase was divided into three factions — the ones who believed the live-action One Piece will and should sink to the bottom of the ocean, the ones who were hopeful that the live-action would be smooth sailing and the third group who were ambivalent and did not care either way continuing to watch the anime or read the manga, content.

It was very strange that Netflix had set its eyes on One Piece. For starters, Eiichiro Oda’s cult manga One Piece is an ongoing mammoth, it has to date 1,058. The anime has over 1,070 episodes, not to mention the 15 movies. The running joke is that One Piece will never end (though the manga has apparently entered its final arc). How does one even begin to condense and adapt it to the format of a Netflix series?

Then there is Oda’s distinct art style, comically exaggerated features, unrealistic body proportions (which could honestly be said of most anime/manga art) and the superhuman powers in play. How would the strange and wonderous world of One Piece translate to a medium that isn’t two-dimensional?      

Of course, on the other side of the coin, One Piece is the most natural choice for Netflix to adapt. Its popularity will guarantee views. One Piece is well known, it’s part of the Big Three of anime. You can see that the Straw Hat Pirates have left their mark everywhere you look, be it the literal streets you walk down, the bookstores or at Comic Con. Monkey D. Luffy’s Wanted Poster hangs proudly in many a room. The other thing One Piece has going for it is its very colorful cast of characters, something which is right up Netflix’s street when it comes to Western live-action adaptations.   

The scales are balanced.

When the One Piece live-action finally weighed anchor and unfurled its sails, it did not sink.

To the general surprise of a lot of people, the One Piece live-action adaptation isn’t half bad.

Granted, of course, majority of the people did not board the Going Merry (Luffy’s ship) without any expectations.

But what is One Piece?

It’s the story of Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), who dreams of becoming the Pirate King and find the legendary One Piece, the treasure of the late infamous pirate Gold Roger. (Note: it has been confirmed by Oda that the One Piece is indeed a material object that exists).

Luffy isn’t what comes to mind when you think of a pirate. He isn’t a swashbuckling swordsman, or a peg-legged one-eyed pirate that goes “Yo ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” Luffy is scrawny and doesn’t look very menacing at all. Thanks to consuming the Gum Gum variety of a Devil Fruit as a child, Luffy’s body is effectively made of rubber. He’s permanently walking on sunshine, cheerful, childlike, naïve and very helpful to any who comes across his path. He considers himself a good pirate (which is technically a very bad pirate in the eyes of, say, Blackbeard). If anything, Luffy is sort of like Robin Hood without the actual robbing.

Luffy despite his naiveté does make a very good captain; he will risk life and limb for his crew. The only time he’s serious is if someone is in danger.

He manages to band together a crew by winning them over the course of the series. The Straw Hat Pirates are:

The First Mate/ swordsman, Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), an ex-pirate bounty hunter.

The Navigator, Nami (Emily Rudd), a very talented cartographer/thief.

The Sniper, Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), a cowardly albeit talented marksman.

The Cook, Sanji (Taz Skylar), a masterchef and skilled fighter.                 

Aboard their ship the Going Merry, the Straw Hat pirates sail the waters of the Blue Sea, hoping to achieve their dreams. 

With the basic course of One Piece charted, we can now turn our attention to the details.

Visually, it did a remarkable job of bringing the world of One Piece to life. The attention to detail that went into the sets was amazing. It really does transport you to the World (which is the name of the world where One Piece takes place). It’s difficult for a drawn image to be translated into a live-action setting, especially the kind of locations in One Piece but these sets looked and felt like the real thing. Not too cartoony/comical and not too real — just the right mix of fever dream to get it going.

The fact that each pirate is introduced with their bounty poster fluttering in and the pirate destroying them in their own individual style is also a really nice touch. It lets you get to know a little bit more about the character very subtly.

CGI was not bad at all most of the time. In anime or manga, there’s no problem when it comes to portraying strange powers that you come across, it flows together with the art style quite seamlessly. In a live-action series, with a character like Luffy who is basically a rubber man like DC’s superhero Plastic Man, one would think fight scenes where Luffy’s powers are on full display would definitely look strange. Somehow it doesn’t. It fits right in.

Though speaking of fight scenes, everything is very manga-esque, which at times makes the show look more comical than badass.

The only thing that looks out of place in terms of visuals is perhaps the odd camera angles and the awkward zooming in on the characters’ faces. It works for animation but it does not work in real life. It seems awkward and janky, taking away the seriousness of the conversation that’s taking place. A couple of scenes, in episode eight especially felt very strangely stitched together.

The Going Merry hits rough waters when it comes to the pacing of the story itself.

The live-action has adapted around 95 chapters of the manga in eight episodes — that’s around eight hours. There is no possible way for the show to cover every single aspect of detail of the source material the way the anime does. The result is that the pacing is very hurried. It has to cram as much of the plot as it can along with character development in eight hours. Whatever bonds Luffy has forged with his friends or significant milestones the characters make tend to be a little contrived. You cannot fault them for giving an abridged version of the manga. Under the circumstances, I suppose it is the best that can be done.

Overall, the One Piece live-action is probably the best anime live-action Netflix has given us to date.

But what exactly worked for One Piece that failed with all the others? How did they capture the spirit of One Piece if you will?

Eiichiro Oda is the answer to that. His involvement with the live-action adaptation made sure that justice was done to the source material. Whether it was reshooting scenes to meet his expectations or creative directions the show takes, he was there every step of the way. Perhaps Netflix is learning from its past mistakes?   

Going forward, it is difficult to say what waters await the Going Merry. This is only the first season of a very, very, very, long journey; far longer than what Luffy can stretch his arms to reach. Realistically, how many seasons can one expect for an adventure that isn’t over? I guess we will just have to wait and see what lies in store for the Straw Hat Pirates in the treacherous waters of the Blue Sea.