Live action anime adaptations have not had much success. From “Death Note” to “Attack on Titan,” they’ve been mostly terrible, having a losing streak very much like what video game adaptations once had.
Netflix’s live action adaptation of “One Piece” hopes to set itself apart from the pack. With series creator Eiichiro Oda deeply involved in the project as an executive producer, many fans saw hope in this project. Did it pay off, or is “One Piece” live action another miserable failure? I’d say mostly yes to the former.
“One Piece” live action adapts most of the East Blue arc of the manga, from Romance Dawn to Arlong Park. We meet our blissfully clueless heart-of-gold protagonist Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) as he leaves his hometown and pursues the life of a pirate, intent on finding the famed One Piece treasure and becoming king of the pirates. Like in the anime, Luffy is abnormally strong thanks to years of training under his grandfather, Navy Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp (Vincent Regan), and he creatively uses his Devil Fruit powers, which has turned him into a rubber man, to his advantage (Devil Fruit users gain superpowers but are unable to swim and lose their power in the ocean).
We see him free Koby (Morgan Davies), a cowardly cabin boy, from the clutches of the pirate Alvida (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino), then the swordsman Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu) from the despicable Marine Captain “Axe-Hand” Morgan (Langley Kirkwood), and the two become some of Luffy’s first friends. Zoro becomes his first mate on his new crew, while Koby pursues his dream by joining the Marines. Ironically, Koby ends up serving under Garp, and unlike the manga and anime, Garp, Koby and Helmeppo (Aidan Scott) — Morgan’s son who becomes Koby’s closest friend — chase Luffy throughout the East Blue, as Garp tries to deter him from his life of piracy.
Those are among some of the changes that I think made the story stronger and more streamlined. In the source material, Garp doesn’t catch up to Luffy until much later and he has all but accepted that Luffy has made his decision to become a pirate; in the live action show, Garp cares more and tries to be more active in Luffy’s life.
Other changes that enhanced the story come with its treatment through Syrup Village, which occur in the show’s first five episodes. Extraneous characters like Jango, Johnny and Yasaku whom we haven’t seen in a very long time in the source material are left on the cutting room floor in order to put more of the show’s limited spotlight on major characters like Syrup Village villain Captain Kuro (Alexander Maniatis) and the main cast. Another change I really liked is how Syrup village took place in Kaya’s (Celeste Loots) mansion mostly, who is the love interest of sharpshooter and future crew member Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson). In the original, the crew meanders around the island doing battle with Kuro’s Black Cat pirates, but by reducing the arc to mostly one location, it enhances and makes the mansion more memorable.
However, some of the changes came at the expense of the narrative and will likely leave “One Piece” newbies a bit confused. These mostly come in Episodes 6-8, which cover the Baratie and Arlong Park arcs. The most glaring omission is the near-deletion of Baratie villain Don Krieg (Milton Schorr), who is killed in a short scene before the arc begins. He is instead replaced by Arlong Park villain Arlong (McKinley Belcher III), a leader of the fish-man pirates terrorizing the East Blue, whom Luffy and company are initially unsuccessful in fighting off when they threaten the Baratie.
Like most of the other arcs in this season, the Baratie serves as a way for Luffy to gain another crew member, with his cook, Sanji (Taz Skylar) joining after this arc. The issue is that Luffy needs to make a case for him to join. In the anime and manga, beating Krieg and putting his life on the line for the Baratie convinces him to join. The live action show just doesn’t make a compelling enough case, and as a result, Sanji’s story suffers.
The Baratie and Arlong Park in particular feel truncated and much less effective than the anime and manga, whereas I think Episodes 1-5 are much stronger than the originals; the latter knows exactly what to cut and change, whereas the former cuts a little too much to the point where the story it tries to tell barely works.
Overall, it mostly hits the emotional beats of the original and it gets why we care about this story and its characters. The East Blue saga is all about Luffy earning his crew mates by doing something very personal and selfless for them. For Zoro, it’s freeing him from certain death to help him become the world’s best swordsman; for navigator Nami (Emily Rudd), it’s freeing her from the clutches of Arlong — who has oppressed her home island since she was young; for Usopp, it’s saving his village and his best friend; and for Sanji, it’s to give him an opportunity to seek out the All Blue (a place where fish from all four of the world’s seas can be found; a cook’s dream).
Godoy, Rudd and Regan have standout performances among the main cast. Among the secondary, Maniatis and Jeff Ward, who plays Buggy the Clown, shine bright, with Ward displaying what should be the gold standard for these types of adaptations; his take on Buggy gets what makes the character so effective, yet he’s able to make it something completely his own.
The same I think can be said of Godoy’s Luffy. His delivery can be clunky sometimes and his performance is by no means a 1-to-1 recreation of the anime, but he understands the heart and spirit of Luffy and I think pulls off the very best performance in live action you can get with this source material.
I’m not quite sure how someone who’s not a fan of “One Piece” will receive this show. If you’re not familiar with the source material, its bright colors, strange costumes and middling special effects might be off-putting to you, though I think the storytelling and performances are strong enough for those who give it a chance to see past them.
I think this show has done more than enough for a Season 2. I have no expectation that it will adapt all of the manga, but I think it deserves to set course for a long run.
“One Piece” live action gets an 8/10
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