One Piece mangaka’s heavy involvement in the Netflix show is giving fans hope.
Anime fans have every right to be pessimistic about live-action adaptations of their favorite anime. After all, history shows that production companies rarely know how to bank on the success of popular series and sculpt the brilliant source material into a movie or TV show worth watching. However, Eiichiro Oda disagrees: his continued praise of the upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation of One Piece is turning the tide of public opinion around.
It’s not often that manga authors voice their thoughts on the live-action adaptations of their creations, much less become directly involved in the making of said adaptation. The mangaka of One Piece chose to take the road less traveled and became heavily involved in the first season of the TV series, working closely with the producers Steven Maeda and Matt Owens to ensure the show aligns with his vision.
Oda has repeatedly praised the Netflix series’ action scenes, visual effects, and especially the cast performances, encouraging fans to give it a try. And it’s hard to resist his enthusiasm. Fans are starting to feel less cynical about the project, praying that the eight-episode series proves to be the exception rather than the rule and breaks the curse of poor live-actions adaptations.
Of course, there’s still a lot of negativity flying around. Many consider One Piece a tricky manga to translate into real-life action: it’s goofy, eccentric, whimsical, and features a host of ridiculous-looking characters. One Piece is popular because it is so unique, and the series’ cartoonish, childish nature is no doubt a challenge to recapture with real actors.
_15474.webp)
That being said, the majority of the fandom has become somewhat more open minded over the past couple of weeks, especially now that the first trailers have been released to overwhelmingly positive reactions and we also have Oda’s stamp of approval.
According to the more optimistic fans, the least we can do is to respect the mangaka’s wishes and give the show a try. With Netflix heavily pushing the show ahead of the premiere, it’s unlikely to tank regardless of what the skeptics think. Even if fans end up hating the final product, it might still turn out to be an enjoyable watch for casual viewers unfamiliar with the anime.