Following the trailer release for Netflix’s upcoming live-action retelling of the long-running manga and anime, One Piece, drawn and written by Eiichiro Oda, fans of the popular anime are left divided. Although many fans are excited to see their favorite characters in the medium of live-action, following Hollywood’s history of dealing with manga properties, it’s reasonable to be doubtful.
The last decade has witnessed some not-so-great retellings of popular animated classics, including 2017’s Death Note. And with fans anticipating Netflix’s retelling of the iconic story, fans who are skeptical about the whole thing, have brought up another Hollywood’s failed attempt at bringing an iconic anime to live-action.
Fans skeptical about Netflix’s retelling of One Piece
Looking at some of the previous attempts of bringing these iconic characters to the live-action realm, the end product mostly hasn’t lived up to fans’ expectations. And although many fans of the classic anime are looking forward to Netflix’s One Piece, a good chunk of fans are skeptical about the whole thing. Many fear that it might end up being Netflix’s lazy attempt at banking on a popular IP like several failed Hollywood attempts at tackling anime properties, most notably Dragonball Evolution.
They’re gonna recreate this 💀 pic.twitter.com/q7l4MRQ6Mw
— yron (@yronzx) June 17, 2023
Live action remakes of great animated works are always terrible. Sadly this seems to be no exception
— Powdered Toast Man (@arvay61) June 17, 2023
This story was NEVER meant to translate to live action.
I will however watch it, and I will giggle the whole way through. It’s going to most likely be bad, but I really like the cast of people and trying to watch them embody the ridiculous world of One Piece.
— Savvy | Artist (@MadamSavvy) June 17, 2023
Me On my way to ask Eiichiro Oda if he really signed off on this sh*t! pic.twitter.com/sTjd4iPpi7
— Monica (@monicayxz) June 18, 2023
You know it’s still probably better than Dragonball evolution,I’ll give it a go 🤔
— Rob Adams (@DarkMatter599) June 17, 2023
Dragonball Evolution 2.0 pic.twitter.com/BPJkHwCfjd
— Steven JFG (@FatStevenJFG) June 18, 2023
Although only time will tell whether it will be able to overcome the odds and live up to the quality of the original source material, it will be interesting to see how the 1000+ episode anime is told in a span of 10 episodes.
The major reason why Dragonball Evolution failed
In most cases, the retelling of an iconic story, which is beloved by many, doesn’t end up going in the studio’s way and this was the case with Dragonball Evolution. Among the plethora of flaws that got this film bombarded by fans and critics despite being based on one of the most popular anime shows, the difference between the actual IP and the movie was the major factor. Although remakes of an existential IP do often change certain aspects to provide a brand new experience for fans without losing the magic of the original, in Dragonball Evolution‘s case it was a bit too much.
With 2 months away from its release, fans are hoping that Netflix’s One Piece will be able to overcome the odds and provide a fresh experience for fans without disrespecting the source material. Even though many are skeptical about the upcoming show, the trailer of the series does imply that this might not just turn out to be another lazy attempt to bank on fans’ love for an existential IP.
One Piece will premiere on August 31 on Netflix.
Source: Twitter
