8 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching One Piece 1 Year After The Netflix Live-Action Show Premiered (2024)

Rewatching One Piece live-action one year after it premiered on Netflix reveals some interesting truths about the Netflix show and the future of the adaptation. After being the highest-selling manga year after year and releasing over 1000 anime episodes, it was time for One Piece to receive a live-action adaptation. With fans of the source material working on the project and Eiichiro Oda’s involvement as a producer, One Piece season 1 was a pleasant surprise and performed much better than previous Netflix anime adaptations.

From the accurate and inspired cast to the attention to detail, One Piece was arguably as faithful to the manga as an adaptation can be. Netflix had high hopes for the project considering the noticeable production value and the marketing campaign leading up to the release. It paid off, as One Piece was one of Netflix’s most streamed shows of 2023. One Piece season 2 is confirmed, and the future of the live-action franchise sounds promising one year later.

8 One Piece Live-Action’s Manga Changes Worked Surprisingly Well

One Piece Was Going To Have To Make Big Changes

One Piece made a lot of changes to the source material, from the pacing of the story to the exclusion of multiple characters and storylines. However, strangely enough, most of those changes worked. Turning the East Blue saga, which refers to the first 60 episodes of the anime, into an eight-episode live-action series was a very difficult task. It was unreasonable to think that Netflix’s One Piece was going to be completely faithful to Oda’s manga, yet the live-action show did a great job of balancing what should and should not be removed.

For example, Don Krieg only appeared in one scene of the live-action adaptation instead of being the main villain of the Baratie segment. Likewise, Arlong had a bigger role in the live-action show, serving as the overarching villain and appearing as early as in episode 2 instead of just joining the story during Arlong Park. One Piece season 1 is not the most manga-accurate version of East Blue when compared to the anime or the Episode of East Blue movie, but it was a solid adaptation of Luffy’s first adventure.

7 One Piece Live-Action Could Have Gone Wrong Badly

One Piece Being This Good Was Surprising

Fans of the One Piece manga or anime had all the right to be concerned about a live-action adaptation of Oda’s work. A live-action version of One Piece could have gone wrong in many ways, from the casting to the visual effects and everything in between. If Hollywood had already failed relatively grounded anime and anime like Death Note or Ghost in the Shell, there were not many reasons to believe that One Piece of all shows was going to be the one to break this adaptation curse.

One Piece is set in a very particular world where giants, demons, sirens, and flying cities can be found. Additionally, it features a rich set of characters, each of whom feels like they belong in a different anime. That is not to mention the complexity of the story and how important the backstories of each character are, particularly the Straw Hat pirates. Even Luffy’s Gum-Gum powers were a point of concern considering that stretchy powers are difficult to convey in live-action. However, One Piece season 1 made it all work.

6 One Piece Live-Action Might Never Cover The Whole Story

One Piece Has Way Too Many Chapters Left To Be Covered

One Piece anime has 1115 episodes as of the writing of this article. Considering that only 60 or so of them have been covered in the first season of Netflix’s live-action, there are still over 1000 episodes left to be tackled. Even when disregarding filler, there are still countless storylines and characters for One Piece live-action to cover. Netflix’s One Piece was very well-paced for an eight-episode series, yet it still only covered East Blue. One Piece live-action can't realistically adapt the whole story, which hasn’t even been concluded in the manga yet.

Netflix’s One Piece is a great way to get into the story of Monkey D. Luffy, but it might not ever be a definitive adaptation of the manga simply because of logistics. Either One Piece runs for 10 seasons or more, which seems unlikely given that even other Netflix titans like Stranger Things and The Crown didn’t last that long, or the show will never get to the most recent arcs. Another option is that One Piece rushes through most arcs and cuts a lot of them, which would not be ideal either.

5 One Piece’s Success Makes Previous Anime Adaptation Failures Worse

If One Piece Worked, Other Adaptations Could Have Too

One Piece was so good that it made me reconsider my opinion on previous Hollywood live-action adaptations. If One Piece, a very convoluted story set in a fantastical world where every character and location has an extensive backstory, could make for a great live-action show, there is no reason why the likes of Knights of the Zodiac or Cowboy Bebop could not have worked either. One Piece is a great reminder that having a strong creative vision and honoring the source material goes a long way for adaptations.

With a Naruto live-action movie currently in development, I hope that future adaptations learn from One Piece. Live-action anime movies and shows should not be afraid of embracing their source materials, especially if they are based on already massively popular IPs like One Piece or Naruto. Bringing in new fans is important, but so is pleasing audiences who already have a connection to those characters.

4 Nami’s Backstory Deserved More Attention In One Piece

Nami’s Connection To The Village Wasn’t Explored

Nami’s backstory is arguably the most important part of the East Blue saga, which is why it is only revealed at the very end of it. One Piece season 1 rightfully kept the Cocoyashi Village arc for the final two episodes, but it rushed through Nami’s origin story a bit too fast. Nami’s connection to the village is not explored very well, which reduces the impact of her sacrifice and her cathartic “Help me” scene.

Although Emily Rudd and Inãki Godoy played the iconic “Help me” scene incredibly well, the rest of the Nami-centered episodes could have been better. Additionally, the fact that neither Nami’s sister nor Genzo knew the truth about why she was working with Arlong was too big of a chance. Nojiko knowing why Nami was doing what she was doing but not telling her was an important part of their dynamic that the live-action show failed to adapt.

3 One Piece Live-Action Could Have Used Better Fight Scenes

One Piece Season 2 Must Have Better Fights

Netflix’s One Piece did not have any bad fight scenes, but the original manga and the anime set the bar too high in that regard. While One Piece’s fights get bigger and bolder as the story progresses and the characters get stronger, East Blue has already featured a couple of great battles. Zoro vs. Mihawk was the best fight in the live-action series, yet it was a very brief one and did not feature any special abilities.

Moments like Luffy vs. Buggy or Luffy vs. Kuro lacked some of the energy and speed that only a comic book or an animated show can convey. That said, One Piece live-action’s fight scenes can be improved. Assuming season 2 will have a bigger budget or perhaps more time to flesh out the story, it has the chance of focusing a bit more on the action sequences, especially the ones where Luffy and his opponents are using Devil Fruit powers. Zoro vs. the Baroque Works should also be a great one.

2 Some One Piece Characters Were Given More To Do Than Others

One Piece Has Too Many Characters To Balance

Balancing the screen time for all characters that appear in One Piece’s East Blue saga must not have been an easy task. In addition to the Straw Hat pirates, all of whom are iconic on their own and have millions of fans around the world, One Piece’s first saga also includes several villains and supporting characters. While One Piece season 1 did a good job of giving everyone their moment, some characters shined more than others. For example, Garp and Koby had a bigger impact on the season than Usopp or Sanji.

One Piece season 1 dedicated between one and two episodes to each of the Straw Hats, meaning that those who were introduced at the beginning had more screen time than those who only joined the crew at the end. This was expected, though, namely because it is also how it plays out in the manga and the anime. Still, for season 2, characters like Sanji and Usopp should be given a little more time in the spotlight before new faces join the crew.

1 Garp’s Role In One Piece Live-Action Creates A Problem For Season 2

Garp Wasn’t Supposed To Be Important That Soon

Garp was revealed to be Luffy’s grandfather midway through Netflix’s One Piece season 1, a massive change from the source material. In the anime, Garp is only revealed to be Luffy’s grandfather after Enies Lobby in episode 314. Not only did One Piece live-action “spoiled” what should have been a future reveal, but it also made Garp important much sooner than he needed to. The same applies to Koby and Helmeppo, both of whom had way more screen time in Netflix’s version of East Blue than their anime counterparts did.

The problem with making Garp the one chasing Luffy in season 1 is that it removes some of the impact that Smoker is supposed to have during Loguetown and Arabasta. Netflix’s One Piece already did the “Marine officer hunting down Luffy and his friends” storyline with Garp, meaning that Smoker’s role in season 2 risks being repetitive. That said, whereas Garp sought to test his grandson, Captain Smoker initially wanted to capture or kill Luffy no matter what.

One Piece (Live-Action)

3.5

TV-14

Based on the popular manga/anime series, One Piece is a live-action Netflix adaptation of the story from Eiichiro Oda. The show follows the exploits of a band of pirates, the Straw Hats, led by the energetic and adventure-loving Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is a young man cursed with strange powers after accidentally eating a mysterious fruit. With his friends Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji, Luffy will head across the vast ocean to find the legendary treasure, the One Piece.

Cast

Iñaki Godoy , Mackenyu , Emily Rudd , Jacob Romero Gibson , Taz Skylar

Release Date

August 31, 2023

Seasons

1

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix

Franchise(s)

One Piece