Just wondering what people who have watched Netflix's new One Piece series think.
They don't have the greatest track record with anime adaptions so I'm afraid to watch it. I thought Cowboy Bebop was alright. Although they kind of butchered Vicious and Julia, imo, the people who played Spike and Jet did well enough that it was able to sustain my interest for awhile but not long enough to finish it. Death Note was barely like the original at all. The only good thing I can say was Lakeith Stanfield's L portrayal and Willem Dafoe's Ryuk.
But this series seems to be trending, so maybe they've finally done it?
I never saw nor knew anything about the anime and I loved it. I don't really like anime so I hope we can have all the 5k episodes in live action. Iñaki Godoy is so fun I loved the character
The live-action One Piece is being praised for being one of the best adaptions of an anime/manga series of all time. I think part of that credit goes to the fact that Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, was directly involved in the live action show's development. So it wasn't just licenced to a studio who felt they could "appeal to a wider audience" with their own version; they actually wanted it to be faithful to its source material, which is already loved by global audiences.
The show made a few minor changes from the original source material that helped it flow better in a short 8-episode live action format, but overall, the show itself was very faithful and well done.
They've already gotten approval for a 2nd season (they claim the script is already done and they're just waiting on the writer's strike to end before filming) and they have at least a 12-season plan in the works.
Also, as someone who watches the anime in its original Japanese, I'm stoked to learn that the original anime cast was hired to do the Japanese dub of the live action show.
12-season plan, wow. I was thinking it would take them about 8 seasons to get to current if they merge some of the smaller arcs (e.g. Skypiea and Thriller Bark) into adjacent sagas. Makes me wonder if the 12-season plan includes the final (as of yet unseen) saga. If not, they must really be planning on giving each saga a full retelling with its own season. Hope they get to complete the series!
I've never been able to read the manga or watch the anime for various reasons not depending on the content.
I was captivated by the trailers and watched it very quickly. I found it very enjoyable and can't wait for a possible second series.
Not knowing the source material, I'm not sure if what I'm about to say is trivial, anyhow, I really loved how simplistic (in a good way) it is. The characters are finding out more about themselves and the protagonist wants everyone to achieve their dreams.
Everyone appears somehow one-sided and only bent on realizing their goal, but the actors give life to believable fantastic characters and you follow the fairy tale happily.
I'm not sure if I conveyed how I saw it, but I really liked it!
Netflix's Cowboy Bebop and Death Note are hard to watch, in comparison
(Context: I haven't read the manga, and have only seen a couple of the anime episodes.)
The live action is goofy, unpolished, sometimes awkward, and in some ways looks like a low-budget college production. But it also has a kind of genuine charm that I don't see every day. Luffy in particular was very well cast, IMHO.
It's a good show that stands on it's own. Manga / anime adaptation or not, it succeeded by actually being an entertaining show.
I'm a casual One Piece manga fan and I would say it is probably the most faithful adaption to the source material. Most of the sets and scenes are bang on and the cast is just fantastic and likeable. Luffy, Zoro and Nami in particular are great casts and really grew on me. But most importantly the show has heart, which is something a lot of the modern show lacks and tries to substitute with paint-by-color beats.
I don't feel too strongly one way or the other. It's alright. You can make up your own mind about it. Anime fans tend to circle jerk a lot of things. If you like it, cool. If you don't, cool.
It's not embarrassed about being an anime adaptation so it actually does a good job embracing most of what makes the anime great. I have some reservations about it but overall I'd definitely recommend it as a "should watch" anime adaptation.
I didn't watch the anime but have always been curious about it. Ended up watching the show with my daughter and really loved it. It's unapologetically happy.
I think the only people who won't like it are die hard fans of the original Anime. Even most OG fans seem to dig it. It's crazy how each episode is the equivalent to like 5-8 of the anime shows.
I don’t know anything about One Piece other than the fact it’s really long and super popular.
I heard the Netflix show was pleasing fans so I threw it on when my wife was around and we both ended up getting into it. We haven’t finished the whole season yet, but we will.
It reminds me of watching power rangers back in the 90s as a kid. The dialog is really elementary and clearly targets kids, but the character acting is endearing, and it’s fun to look up the original illustrations because the casting and costumes are so spot on.
I’m particularly fond of how each episode goes through some kind of story and character development, but always climaxes on some big fight scene, just like in the old power rangers shows. It’s like soul food for me.
Think it'll work as another feel-good, pleasant background show we can put on when we don't feel like serious dramas? Right now we use The Great British Bake Off and The Good Place as that.
The actors playing the main heros do a pretty good job, but not great. Some do better than others. I expect roles like these are not easy to do especially for inexperienced actors, so I won't dole out any actual criticism. From what I understand of the manga, they definitely picked the right actors. They all have great potential and I'm looking forward to see them grow into the characters.
The actors playing the villians (and the peg leg chef) are absolutely fantastic! The series is worth watching just for them. But as much as they could easily dominate the scenes they're in, they deftly let the younger actors shine. That takes skill and professionalism.
The costumes, sets, makeup, and visuals are perfection. Especially the shark guys.
I didn’t really know anything about One Piece until I watched the live action show but it was a lot of fun. The biggest thing for me was the scoring. It’s well scored and has the same swashbuckling feel as the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie!
Its really good. I was familiar with the anime but had never watched beyond the first few episodes and i loved it. I watched with my brother who loves the anime and he agreed. The casting is really good and the heart and soul of the characters are intact.
I think its good for what it is. Im not the biggest fan of the casting of young luffy, but it doesn't detract from the story much. It does Villain casting very well, Easily a fan of how Buggy, Mihawk and Kuro to some extent.
I was bedridden for the weekend when it came out. I tried the anime about 20ish years ago, but I decided to stick with Naruto instead and didn’t give it any further thought.
I watched it in one sitting and really enjoyed it. I think after Rurouni Kenshin movies, this is my favourite live action anime adaption.
Definitely worth watching. I haven’t read the manga or watched the anime but really liked the live action adaptation. The practical sets are glorious, it is able to successfully present a very absurdist world in a convincing manner, and the actors really seem invest and mesh well with their characters. The fights are also top notch if you’re into Japanese fight choreography.
Long answer: There are some creative choices I question, but it doesn't try to tell its own interpretation like some live action adaptations. It's probably about as true to source as you're going to get in a live action series. After your initial recoiling of live-action anime, you'll most likely start to enjoy it.
It's the best of those so far: quite faithful to the original, but also constrained by live-action limits.
On one hand the over-the-top expressions and physicality (body types, wacky combat, etc) are missing. On the other the main actors are doing a pretty good job with their characters. It's well above painful to watch, which is a low bar, but also where most live-action manga adaptations fit, IMO. Let's say it's almost good, but not quite.
it was pretty good but I was hoping to see jango and luffy did the arm holding thing a bit much, but maybe I don't remember the early episodes that well and he did that a lot back then too, some of the colourful hair dyes come off more as cheap wigs and as less of a complaint and more of a "huh" type thing luffy's accent really comes through when he talks about becoming the king of the pirates
It’s ok. Not bad, but not great either; and that's pretty good for a manga/anime adaptation. The adult characters were all good, as well as the villains. The guy who played Usopp was the weakest actor IMO. They also have an interesting choice of camera angles. Not sure if the super zoomed in shots of everyone’s faces was intentional, or if it was a budget issue, as I believe they had a pretty large budget for this show.
My mom watched One Piece with me when I was a kid (she had no choice), and will catch constant reruns of it on TV through the years so she's basically familiar with it. She watched the Live Action in one day lol, she enjoyed it way more than she expected (she usually watch a show for days) so I guess that's a good indication.
We enjoyed it, and felt that they did right by the characters with how they structured their interactions. There was some notable character development missing (imo) from the interaction with Mihawk and the fights at Arlong Park, and the fights did feel a little quick for how difficult they were for the crew at the time, but it was still a fun trip through the East Blue.