The One Piece! The One Piece is REAL! Here’s a film-centric angle on the good, the bad, and the stretchy aspects of the live-action adaptation of One Piece (2023).
This review contains spoilers for the first season of Netflix’s One Piece.
About One Piece
If you’re an anime fan and have never heard of the longest-running series One Piece, then it’s more than likely that you’ve been stuck at sea. One Piece by Eichiro Oda is a manga about Straw Hat Luffy, the future king of the pirates, gathering a crew of mixed misfits, fighting the big fights, and eating everything he can; all in search of Gol D. Roger (the previous pirate King)’s treasure. Quickly becoming a phenomenon and getting picked up by Dragon Ball’s animation studio, Toei Animation, One Piece would become one of the “big 3,” solidifying the influence of Luffy’s journey, along with fan favorite characters Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and many many more to come. This would send many people to the story of the Grand Line, in pursuit of the question still left unanswered after over 1,000 episodes; what is the one piece?
Now just barely beating out sales of the entire Harry Potter franchise, One Piece has become the highest-selling work of fiction of all time. Influencing the lives of many fans across the world, this powerful story has a place not just close to people’s hearts, but attached directly to them. So when the news broke that Netflix was picking up the material to adapt into a live series with real people, many became as scared as Usopp in a fight. With their previous track record of the Death Note (2017) movie and the Cowboy Bebop (2021) live-action series, there’s no question as to why fans were scared.
But as it turns out, it was in good hands. With director Marc Jobst, the boat didn’t sway. Being a more Hollywood-centered production, the budget was a lot more fulfilling. Many are preaching that One Piece (2023) finally broke the live-action curse, becoming a great entry point for those unfamiliar with the series. The condensed nature of the 8 episode show created a phenomenal cinematic take on the wonderful world of devil fruits and pirates. Even Oda was there for production! Though it does not directly recreate the series, the pacing is much more welcoming and favorable for real emotion. The cast only accentuates that fact. Scoring an 8.5 on IMDb, an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, and numerous accounts of praise from anime fans across the globe, it’s no wonder why this Netflix adaptation is gaining notoriety.
So why is One Piece (2023) the talk of the All Blue?
Live Action One Piece Stylistic Storytelling
Adapting a bright and colorful world of goofy Looney Tunes-esc characters into a real, down-to-earth setting is no easy feat. One Piece (2023) definitely did it though.
Although the bright and colorful anime world has determined swordsmen with bright green hair and a liar with an extremely long nose, making those aspects look realistic but not out of place in live-action is impossible. Instead, changing Zoro’s hair to a deeper green color reminiscent of earthy, natural tones, along with Usopp’s nose reduction kept the spirit of their animated counterparts while feeling more realistic. Unlike many previous adaptations, it did not feel like a cosplay reenactment of the anime with a lackluster production. There was love and care put into creating a new set of situations under the umbrella of the core events while keeping the personality of each of the original Straw Hats.
Introducing a more serious feel to these characters is exactly what this adaptation needed. One of the best establishments of character design and small nods to the original material is the use of wanted posters when presenting adversaries. Condensing 61 episodes of an anime into a congruent 8 approximately hour-long chapters means losing a lot of background information, but both for pacing and general threat-level, these simple and quick flashes of paper say everything the audience needs to know within a few seconds to get the same point across. Also with a little flare for characters such as Mihawk, Arlong, and Buggy.
Strange Lighting Choices
While the darker tones in the live action One Piece definitely help to bring out the idea of being stranded, set aside, or isolated, there were many shots (specifically earlier on) that felt as if they had a lack of lighting. While it does create a deeper tone, it’s hard to pull out what’s in these scenes from just black and blue visuals. Although Luffy and Koby can’t see very well at the bottom of Alvida’s ship, that doesn’t mean the audience shouldn’t be able to. Even in Buggy’s introductory scene, although he’s supposed to be complemented by the light, it’s a little too dark to really appreciate the intricacies of his costume design. In many scenarios, this would have worked, but the stark contrast of brightness compared to the rest of the episode threw off the consistency. It’s only ever so slightly, but the brooding atmosphere still emanates through the rest of the cinematic choices.
Instead, going for a brighter blue moonlight aesthetic would benefit these scenes. Some fluorescent lights can give enough light to simply highlight the main object or person in the scene. Just enough to tell the audience what is going on a little better. It’s hard to find out exactly what’s happening during the scene without a little bit of guidance, and aside from the obvious audio queues, some brightness adjustments could have benefitted the first few episodes. It’s nice to see the amazing cast’s faces, after all.
There are a few sequences where the silhouette vibe works well, but overall some more lighting would have been nice in a few scenes during the first 2-3 episodes. Yet as the series continues, the Straw Hats enter a brighter landscape, and this issue becomes almost irrelevant. Its first impression may be a little rough, but by the middle of the series, the sets and lighting improve dramatically.
The Live Action Spot-On Casting
Speaking of faces, the crew behind this series, specifically the actors, are all ideal. It’s as if the actors were born as physical representations of these characters, playing their roles to near perfection.
From Iñaki Godoy’s perfectly joyful portrayal of the ever-hungry captain to Mackenyu’s deep and brooding but still personable Zoro, the cast behind this film really puts a lot of love into these characters. Some especially surprising but astonishingly good performances include Morgan Davies as Koby, Aidan Scott as Helmeppo, Jacob Romero as Usopp, Taz Skylar as Sanji, Steven John Ward as Mihawk, Peter Gadoit as Shanks, and deservingly, the internet’s favorite: Jeff Ward as Buggy. Also, it’s near impossible to imagine anyone except Iñaki as Luffy.
One of the reasons these actors work so well in their roles in the live action One Piece is not only because many of them have a soft spot for Oda’s work, but also because they made the anime version of the characters more personable and realistic. For example, take the amazing Emily Rudd as Nami as an example. Instead of being an overblown anti-pirate thief, with a knack for expressively swiping treasure, Emily Rudd’s Nami is more slick and efficient, with a more gruff atmosphere. She’s less goofy and conniving, and more determined and unwavering. Delving into the more emotionally damaged side of Nami really provided a better angle for the actors to dish out emotional performances.
The costumes they don also help to feel more real. Taz Skyler’s Sanji rolling up his sleeves to cook, or throwing off his jacket to fight adds just a small bit of atmosphere in order to drag out the realism. If there were a fight in a fancy restaurant, it’s more than likely that the server would be dressed nice, but need a bit of air to kick some ass. Now put that on the sea, and call it the Baratie, and One Piece has the feeling on point, along with some high-kicking action.
Sacrificed Events
It comes with any change of medium. A few points zip by faster than anticipated. Though without the context and direction that the series is taking, it can seem like a loss. The reorganization of the story fits ingeniously in the deeper world of Netflix’s One Piece, but sometimes the wound may still feel a little sore. Either way though, if Zoro shows anything, scars look cool.
Cutting entire sequences such as the Don Kreig fight and Nami’s first scenes seem like a loss at first glance, but help to pace and foreshadow certain events down the line that condense the east blue saga into a more suspenseful watch. Even going as early on as changing Buggy’s fights to include Arlong was a strange choice that many fans are still on the edge about. Yet looking at the overall series, and especially with how dominant Arlong is portrayed, such establishing scenes make it easier to pick up on his dynamic early. Setting him up for a climactic ending to season one seems much more justifiable when he appears in more places than Cocoyasi Village and Arlong Park.
Yet it can leave a sour taste in some mouths when certain sections of character development are either ditched or reworked to create something new. Although Usopp and Kaya’s relationship is given a more directly love-centered arc, certain developments from Syrup Village are ditched in the process. Usopp’s mischievous acts involving climbing a tree or utterly spouting nonsense about pirates are referenced or slightly shown, but do not have nearly as much effect. Cuts like the Usopp Pirates make Usopp seem just like a normal rascal with a rich friend. The first impression of Syrup Village felt a little more lackluster than the anime.
There were also a few lost side characters that played into East Blue that are either cut down on or missing completely. Continuing on Syrup Village, Merry’s death was astonishing, and the fact that Captain Kuro shows no mercy exemplifies how dark this story can get very fast. Even though it hits hard, without developing Kaya and Merry’s relationship, his death feels more like fodder rather than a prompt for giving the Straw Hats his ship. It’s smaller things like that that are missing from this series, and although it’s not crucial to the plot, it can sometimes feel a little less personal. The absence of Johnny, Yosaku, and Genzo’s screen time are not detrimental to the series, but do cause the series to lose a little bit of personality that the anime had.
The Story Adaptation for the Live Action One Piece
The live action series does make up for what’s lost in other ways though, in the form of some more interpersonal sequences between the Straw Hats. Zoro and Nami’s drinking game during the Baratie arc is a perfect example. Sharing a drink to give some subtle foreshadowing and background into Nami’s intentions was genius. It helped to create a foundational friendship that makes Arlong Park hit with a bit more power, and make the classic “Of course I will!” scene just as, if not more hard-hitting. The Straw Hats have cared for Nami at her lowest, and can finally express their gratitude with Nami’s approval.
This extends to the Marines as well, with the shifting around of certain events that give Garp, Helmeppo, and Koby more screen time. They feel more realistically connected to Luffy’s crew, and claim a main cast role. It’s easier to identify with Garp, Koby, and Helmeppo not only because of their largely improved screen time, but also due to their realistic reasons for hunting down the main pirate crew.
The transition into Sanji’s backstory is a great example as well. Since the entirety of Don Kreig and Gin’s fight is cut, Sanji instead gets a more intimate sequence and transition into helping cook for an injured Zoro. It’s here, when he sees Luffy and Usopp at their lowest, that makes his traumatic experience connect with their pain. Though it may not have as much action-packed flare as the anime, it’s much more fit for film and television. It’s more real, intimate, and empowering to the vulnerable side of each character. This is reminiscent of the entire series, which works surprisingly well for the complicated world of devil fruits. It’s less goofy, but hits closer to home. A nice trade-off.
Final Thoughts
Although anime and film can technically be grouped into visual arts, they are tremendously different modes of expression, which is why it’s so hard to change from one to another. It may be alright for a character’s eyes to pop out in a cartoon world, but when switching to tangible faces, it’s not going to have the same effect. The crew behind One Piece understood this, and gave us a closer-to-home retelling of the East Blue.
Its amazing world and even heartier characters brought the story of the East Blue to life once again, filling hearts new and old with the excitement of going on a journey again. Though it did have a few rough points, considering there’s still the gap of naturally adapting cartoon-style movements, magics, and fish people into a realistic setting, it was able to compress the excruciatingly long story of One Piece into an cinematic format fit to challenge even Hollywood productions.
With amazing casts, a revisit to the loving world where Luffy got his straw hat, and a solid production value that allowed them to dodge some of the larger complaints with live action anime, Netflix and Tomorrow Studios’ One Piece is one of the best ways to get that stingy friend to start watching anime. It’s heart-wrenching, climactic, and makes these straw hat pirates feel more human than ever. It’s not a direct adaptation, nor is it a cosplay reenactment of the series. It’s One Piece set in a more earthly atmosphere with emotional realism that’s rare in this switch of mediums. There’s a reason to get on the Going Merry and join the straw hats, they’re a band of miscreants that can travel any sea, be that anime or cinema.
Ready to set for the Grand Line? Watch the live-action adaptation of One Piece now on Netflix, also with the anime streaming there in certain regions, and everywhere on Crunchyroll. Read Oda’s SUPER!!! manga through Shonen Jump.
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