After 20 years and over 1000 anime episodes and manga chapters, One Piece fans have finally, been rewarded with an 8-episode live-action edition only on Netflix. The cost to make the show is $18 million per episode, or $144 million for the whole season, which is similar to the cost of a Marvel film. There was a lot of hype for the live-action rendition after the reveal of the budget and news that the creator of One Piece, Eichero Oda, helped cast and produce the show to his liking.
There have been several attempts to make a good live action from an anime or manga in the past, but all have come up short of expectations. This has caused a great divide between good and bad expectations. Fortunately, the show was an instant hit as One Piece shot up all the way to Netflix’s number one watched spot only a week after release. Also, it ended up with an average of
7.7/10 from 53 approved Tomato meter Critics, 95% of 10,000 audience members rating the show 3.5 stars or higher, and an IMDb average rating of 8.5 stars out of 10 from 76,000 ratings. The thousands of One Piece fans and first-time watchers giving the show high ratings reflects its success. The re-creation of some major scenes has left fans in shock and awe.
One Piece fan Conner says, “My favorite scene has to be Zoro vs Mihawk or the cast-off ceremony at the end of the season.” It is hard to forget Zoro losing to the world’s strongest swordsman and each member of the Straw Hat Crew stating their dreams before entering the Grand Line. These were important moments that stick out for any viewer and set the tone for the rest of the plot to unfold. It’s not just the big moments that fans loved. There were also less significant scenes that gained notice. For example, One Piece Fan Ryan says, “My favorite scene was definitely Luffy coming out of the barrel.” This refers to Luffy awkwardly jumping out of a barrel to meet Koby on Alvida’s ship, reminding the viewers that the show is not just meant to be serious, but a little silly too.
Even though there were plenty of great moments, there were also many missing characters, beasts, and cut scenes. One Piece Fan Conner says, “everything feels rushed and the action scenes didn’t meet expectations.” Of course, it is difficult to adapt the large, animated fight scenes into real life, but it still is disappointing seeing things move as fast as they are in the show. It was also a bummer to not be able to see characters such as the Meowban brothers, Jango, Hatchan, or even the giant lion Richie. The rushed production was unable to include the full battles of Luffy vs. Don Krieg, Zoro vs. Hatchan, or Sanji vs. Gin because they would not all fit in the 8-episodes. In addition, there were also scenes added differently from the anime, such as the
early introduction of Monkey D. Garp, Mr. 7 and Baroque Works, and Bogard. They also changed some of the plot such as Mihawk defeating Don Kreig instead of Luffy defeating Don Kreig, and added scenes like Monkey D. Garp’s battle with Luffy.
Even though there was plenty to enjoy in season 1, the One Piece Live Action producers have begun working on a script for season 2. This will likely feature the introduction of Captain Smoker, Crocodile, and the evil organization of Baroque Works. There are still over 1000+ manga chapters and anime episodes to adapt and lots to look forward to.
