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A new Netflix show released on August 31, 2023, got the most popular title in 84 countries in its first two weeks of streaming — even more than season 4 of Stranger Things with 83 countries. Season 1 of the One Piece live-action series had 8 episodes and as the name suggests it is a live-action adaptation of the One Piece anime and manga. The story is about a fun pirate adventure with the main character Luffy, a goofy pirate who gained rubber-like powers from eating a Devil fruit called the Gum-Gum fruit. His goals are to travel around the sea with his crew, find the ‘One Piece’, the greatest treasure, and become the King of the Pirates. This huge project was created by Kaji and Shueisha Productions (the manga producers), Tomorrow Studios, and Netflix with the supervision of the creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda.
The pressure placed on this project was enormous because One Piece is one of the biggest animes/mangas of all time. So fans of the famed manga would have been outraged if the series was adapted poorly. It also had the task of breaking the so-called ‘live-action curse’, which is the idea that live-action adaptations of anime/manga can never be good. Live-action adaptations like Cowboy Bebop, Bleach, and Dragonball Evolution have all not been received well by fans and critics due to variables like acting, CGI, and scriptwriting. This obviously places pressure on the main cast (Luffy’s crew) with Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, Emily Rudd as Nami, Mackenyu Arata as Zoro, Jacob Gibson as Ussop, and Taz Skylar as Sanji. Since it was announced that Oda was closely supervising and the trailers looked good, people had high hopes, while still being skeptical. People of all ages are among the audience of skeptics and fans, but since the main character is a silly and playful young man, more teens gravitate to One Piece. So, what do ERHS students think of this live-action adaptation?
David Akowe, a sophomore at ERHS who is a One Piece anime/manga viewer said “It was perfect, actors delivered perfectly, CGI was great, it broke [the] ‘live-action curse’, and overall it was a 10 out of 10.” His overwhelming satisfaction as a lover of One Piece is evident. Another sophomore at ERHS, Joshua Arrieta who is not a One Piece anime/manga viewer said, “It was good and good enough to break the ‘live-action curse.’ I overall rate it an 8/10.” His pleasure with it as a non-viewer of One Piece was not as overwhelming but he still was satisfied with the show. Overall, viewers and critics agree with these students because the show received a thumbs up from viewers on social media with some still having some critiques for it. Fans loved the interaction and fight between Buggy the Clown (Jeff Ward) and the crew in episode 2, “The Man In The Straw Hat” as it really got fans laughing. Inaki Godoy’s facial expressions and line delivery really felt like the goofiness and silliness of Luffy especially in his interactions with his crew and Koby (Morgan Davies). The world of the show including the ships, buildings, and towns displayed the hard work of the set designers. So much so, that the aesthetic appeal was strong enough to make viewers watch the whole season solely because of the visuals. The world also looked fun and adventure-filled just like the One Piece anime/manga world. The creators, cast, and crew of the show were very proud of this project and expressed so on social media.
Just two weeks after the show’s release, social media received great news; Netflix has decided to renew the show for a season 2! Viewers are looking forward to the next season and can’t wait to see it.