Netflix’s One Piece Live Action has broken the shackles of the anime live adaptation failures. Production houses and directors were afraid to venture into the anime live adaptations genre after the continuous failures in that genre. After One Piece’s massive success, many have found the confidence to try their luck in the mentioned category.
One of the franchises that was inspired by One Piece Live Action is Gundam. Yoshiyuki Tomino’s masterpiece is 45 years old and will have a live-action movie released soon. Even though Gundam is quite a popular franchise, following One Piece’s footsteps might not be the right thing to do. Netflix has several pros, including the financial backing, which might be difficult for Legendary to match.
Gundam Live Action Could Suffer From Recency Bias
Recency bias has become common in the 21st century, especially in the entertainment industry. Before One Piece Live Action, there were multiple attempts to create a successful anime live-action movie, but most of Netflix’s projects turned out to be flops. After One Piece’s success, several franchises are trying to recreate the success. Even Gundam has fallen into the trap of recency. There are more cons than pros when it comes to recency bias.
Legendary Pictures have acquired the rights to Gundam Live Action, but it might benefit them more if they stick to their agenda. Not every studio has the financial backing of Netflix, and it might cause harm if they set their budget too high. Netflix has enough budget to run One Piece Live Action for multiple seasons, even if a couple of seasons fail to deliver. But Gundam and Legendary Pictures might not have that privilege.
Naohiro Ogata, the executive producer of Bandai Namco Filmworks, shared his insights on the upcoming Gundam Live Action in an interview with Mantan Web. He said,
“Because it’s a large-scale work, including the budget, the pre-production phase has been quite lengthy. However, once it starts, it’s expected to move at an incredible speed. The Hollywood version is crucial as we approach the 50th anniversary. The success of the Hollywood adaptation of One Piece is a testament to the significant opportunity for international expansion of Japanese content.”
20th Century Fox acquired the rights to create live-action Dragon Ball movies. They intended to produce a series of movies, but the failure of Dragon Ball: Evolution made them abandon the project. The sequel was to have the Super Saiyan transformation, but fans missed it due to the horrible project.
One Piece Live Action Is Not The Only Series To Be Inspired From
Countless popular anime live adaptations can be seen as an inspiration apart from Netflix’s One Piece. There is Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning, Chihayafuru trilogy, Attack on Titan, etc., which were box office hits and made on a limited budget. There is no harm in aiming to be the best, but Gundam should start from scratch when it comes to anime live adaptations.
Netflix also produced Avatar: The Last Airbender and Yu Yu Hakusho, but they received mixed reviews. Everything should be done according to capability and blindly walking into the recency bias trap could prove costly later. The anime and manga industry has gone mainstream, which might be a reason for the booming anime live adaptations. Trends often change, so taking precautions is always the better strategy.
One Piece Live Action is currently available to watch on Netflix.
