One Piece is one of the most popular anime series that has been running for over two decades. The epic adventure of Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates has captured the hearts of millions of fans around the globe. The anime series is known for its outstanding storytelling, action, humor, and emotional moments that are loved by fans of all ages.
The show continues to gain millions of fans and as a result, a live-action series was announced in 2020 based on Eiichiro Oda’s manga series of the same name. While some fans of the series felt that it was a good idea, others called it a horrible idea due to Netflix’s earlier adaptations of anime series like Death Note, Bleach and Cowboy Bebop were all a disaster. Recently, a trusted scoper from Hollywood tells that the CGI in One Piece was abominable, and fans were not surprised about it.
The First Impressions of One Piece’s Live-Action Series
When the announcement of the live-action series of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece was announced, it was met with a lot of criticism by anime and manga fans. Recently, Divinity Seeker gave a scoop on the test screening of the live-action series by Netflix, where they stated that the show “tested horribly,” as the CGI was horrible and the story of One Piece made no sense to the casual viewers, hence every episode of the Netflix adaptation are being rewritten.
From a source connected to Netflix:
• Avatar: The Last Airbender will no longer release in 2023, but Netflix believes this will be their Stranger Things
• One Piece tested horribly, the CGI looked bad and the story didn’t make sense to non-fans, and they’re rewriting entire eps— Divinity Seeker (@DivinitySeeker1) April 13, 2023
In a series of tweets, Divinity Seeker stated that the first episode of the series heavily deviated from the source material. The first half of the episode was full of flashbacks of a young Monkey D. Luffy, and the other half of the episode quickly introduced the viewers to the first four crewmates of the Straw Hat Pirates.
On #OnePiece: in the first episode the first half is completely all flashbacks/features a Young Luffy, before we jump to the present and rush through introductions to Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji all within the remaining 15 minutes, a major deviation from the source material.
— Divinity Seeker (@DivinitySeeker1) April 13, 2023
The scooper continued that his source stated that the tone of the show is not working for them, and the looks of the cast were different from the original characters which added to the difficulty of the live-action series, making it inconsistent. And the Baratie restaurant would be featured in the third episode of the series.
(From the source)
As for the tone of the show: it’s not really working. The makeup/look of some of the cast look off, and the show jumps between being over the top goofy to being serious, and it’s jarring and inconsistent.They also built a giant set for Baratie for Episode 3.
— Divinity Seeker (@DivinitySeeker1) April 13, 2023
However, he acknowledged that he does not know anything about the original show, and from what he saw from the test screening looked fine to him, but some of them had unnatural hair color.
This is all I know! I know nothing about the original source material so I’m just repeating some of what I think may be of interest to a source connected to Netflix projects and execution of their roadmap.
— Divinity Seeker (@DivinitySeeker1) April 13, 2023
While the first test screening failed to meet the expectations of the creators, they are making changes so that it can add to the popularity of the anime and manga series. But is a live-action One Piece series possible that features authentic characters and a story true to the source material?
The One Piece Adaptation Has Already Raised Concerns
The idea of the live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece was already bad news, and numerous fans of the show were unsure if the OTT platform could pull off a successful adaptation of the series. But there were serious concerns as if not made correctly, it would infuriate the fans of the manga and anime series.
One Piece is an anime that features a complex and layered plot, that has been running since 1999, due to the show’s unique art style and intricate plot building which has kept its audience engrossed for over two decades. Having the same art style in the live-action series would be difficult and even if creators use CGI to achieve the same art style, it would be difficult to give the charm and charisma as the manga or anime.
The show also features unique body features of certain characters, while most of the Straw Hat Pirates look like normal human beings but characters like Franky the Cyborg, and Brook have unique body features which are easy to be created in anime but it would look cartoonish in a live-action series. Moreover, all the Straw Hat Pirates have a unique charm to them, which can not be replicated in the One Piece show.
Lastly, Netflix does not do justice to anime adaptations as they fail to capture the same essence of the source material, they have tried in the past and have failed miserably. Moreover, as Divinity Seeker stated that the episodes are being rewritten, which shows that the One Piece series by Netflix will move away from the source material, which would affect the original essence of the show.
Source: Twitter
