The bestselling manga series “One Piece” has made it’s way to it’s first ever live-action adaptation. With an epic saga of adventures on the high seas, One Piece has depicted the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a high in spirits, young who dreams to become the King of Pirates.
A Cultural phenomenon with countless fans worldwide, One Piece has been keeping the fans engaged with it’s thrilling storyline involving the Straw Hats, a group of misfits on a journey to become Luffy’s loyal crew.
Table of Contents
The mastermind behind One Piece, Eiichiro Oda is serving as the executive producer for the live-action adaptation of this series, in partnership with Shueisha. The producers of this on screen debut are Tomorrow Studios and Netflix with Matt Owens and Steven Maeda as the writers and showrunners. Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements have also played their part as executive producers.
Trending on Social Media Platforms
One Piece has reached 37.8 million views on Netflix in less than two weeks of it’s release with 10,000 plus ratings which is among Netflix’s highest audience scores ever. Along with this, it has been trending among top 10 in 93 countries with being a social media sensation having more than 4 billion search impressions for #onepiecenetflix on TikTok alone, one Piece continues becoming a ongoing trend on different social media platforms.
The series revolves around the adventures and hurdles faced by the protagonist Luffy and his crew during their sailing journey for finding One Piece treasure.The adaptation begins with the start of Luffy’s tale, introducing existing fans and brand new audiences to the live-action phases of One Piece’s major characters, destinations and oppositions.
One Piece 101
One Piece is the consequence of imagination and creativity of Japanese writer and illustrator Eiichiro Oda. It began as a serialized manga pirate adventure with it’s first debut in “Weekly Shonen Jump” magazine. It was loved by the readers and the first four chapters were ultimately published in December 1997 and ever since, there have been more than 105 volumes of One Piece stories, written an illustrated by Oda.
Toei Animation introduced the first ever 2D animated series of Oda’s work (One Piece) in 1999. This presented the story of Luffy and Straw Hat’s origins in a colorful format which not only enhanced the attraction of fans towards the book but also attracted the nonreaders and anime lovers to step in the mythology. Now, the series have launched 20 seasons with over 1000 episodes involving Luffy and plenty of other entertaining characters.
One Piece world has been spreading into different animated versions and theatrical films. Since march 2000, there have been 15 movies involving the original story line as well as the remix versions of the story for big screen. Moreover, 40 different video games has also been produced by Bandai, having One Piece world and it’s characters. One Piece characters have also appeared in Shonen Jump video games.
The Mastermind behind One Piece-Eiichiro Oda
Among the names of top writers and publishers, William Shakespeare has been the most legendary fiction writer with approximately 4 billion on scale. But, if we move down the list a bit, name of Eiichiro Oda will be residing on number 10. He is the only manga writer of the world to be ranked among the top 10 with 516.5 million copies of books sold.
He has achieved to be the most important manga creater in the history of the medium. With 105 collected volumes of One Piece, Oda has been the only mastermind keeping this manga going with mysteries and surprises in nearly every part of the story. However, Oda has been planning to wind up One Piece in 2025.
A lesser known fact is that Eiichiro Oda always wanted One Piece to be adapted into a live-action series and for this, many attempts have been made but weren’t fruitfull but now, as Netflix has collaborated with Manga publishers, Tomorrow Studios and Shueisha, Live-action of Luffy and his crew is a reality.
As an executive producer, Oda has been putting a lot of efforts in the casting, production, editing and detailings. He’s working side by side with executive producers and series showrunners Owens and Maeda and executive producers Adelstein and Clements from Tomorrow Studios. The series is a fusion where original author is woven into the fabric of an adaptation team, making sure to provide a professionally designed live action series to the fans and anime lovers reflecting the creativeness of Oda’s mind.
Oda’s Part in Live-Action
Oda is an executive producer on the series and has dropped personally penned letters (you can read them below) discussing the collaboration and assuring fans that the production is “burning with passion.”
Reason of Fame
One Piece World revolves around thrilling sea quest unlike any other. Luffy has been showcased as a young and adventurous guy who had dreamed of living a life of freedom ever since he can remember. He starts off on a remarkable sailing journey from his small village in search of the precious treasure of One Piece world to fulfill his passion of becoming the King of Pirates. For this voyage, he has assembled his dream team before finding a ship to sail, explored each and every inch of vast blue seas, outspaced the marines and outsmarted his rivals on every turn of his journey.
The Legendary Casting
The Straw Hats
The heart of this series is Monkey D Luffy and high-in-spirit crew having misfits called Straw Hats. The Straw Hats includes:
- Inaki Godoy as Luffy, the protagonist optimistic young man.
- Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, a passionate person and a guarded swordsman.
- Emily Rudd as Nami, a theif who’s good at keeping secrets.
- Jacob Romero as Usopp, a lively person with an adventurous soul.
- Taz skylar as Sanji, a great cook with a mischievous side.
These all work together with regards to the real message of One Piece that is to achieve dreams and be loyal to your close one. The existing fandom of One Piece already assumes themselves as a part of Straw Hats and this series will be welcoming more dreamers to Luffy’s crew and One Piece Fandom.
Other Castings
Additional cast includes Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Morgan Davies, Aidan Scott, , Jeff Ward, Celeste Loots, Alexander Maniatis, Vincent Regan, McKinley Belcher III, Craig Fairbrass, Steven Ward, Langley Kirkwood, Chioma Umeala, and Michael Dorman.
Conclusion
The live-action adaptation of One Piece is a huge accomplishment for the writer Eiichiro Oda and a treat for anime and manga fans. This debut has been made, keeping in eye, all the beautiful detailing of this storyline. The producers, directors and cast have worked to keep the true essence of One Piece manga alive fulfilling the expectations of the audiences. This adaptation is a combination of engaging storyline, amazing cast and high-quality visuals which have not only served the fans but also attracted the nonreaders too.
This debut has set an example how beloved manga and anime can be introduced in the form of live-action with creativeness and skillfulness allowing authenticity to meet innovation.
FAQ’s by Oda
Some Guidance for Newbies
From where did the idea of One Piece came to Oda’s mind?
“Back when I started writing ONE PIECE 26 years ago, we didn’t really have a lot of pirate manga or pirate fiction. I love movies, so I watched any and all pirate movies from Hollywood, but I didn’t find them interesting at all. But my love of pirates stemmed from watching Japanese anime as a kid, and I wanted to share that love with the world. That’s what inspired me to start writing ONE PIECE.”
Oda didn’t find any of those movies interesting and does Oda have any favorite Pirate movie from Hollywood ?
“It wasn’t until about six years after I started ONE PIECE, but I enjoyed the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. As a matter of fact, until that film came out, it was hard to find resources about pirates, but thanks to the global success of Pirates of the Caribbean, suddenly there were tons of books about pirates that became available, so research got a lot easier.”
For those who don’t know, where does One Piece take place?
“Huh, I wonder… In the very beginning, I wanted to start with a simple, pleasant island that would immediately come to my mind. To me that was windmills, cows, a ship at the dock. Just like Luffy, I wanted to start with an island that’s simple to draw and has a good vibe. From there on, I came up with islands that may sometimes be inspired by real locations from around the world but are completely fantastical.”
How is Luffy always so optimistic despite of all the trouble he’s been facing, why is he always upbeat?
“That might be true of other Shōnen Manga protagonists as well, but one of my personal philosophies is to not depict a world that is too bleak. Making someone like Luffy the hero allows me to take even the most serious of situations and make it fun somehow.”
What’s the story behind Ussop always using a slingshot?
“Usopp’s central character trait is that he’s always afraid, so he’d want a weapon that would allow him to attack from a distance. Considering the modest village where he grew up, a gun would be too dangerous, and a slingshot seemed to make the most sense. Each of their fighting styles always need to feed into their respective characters.”
Why does Zoro have three swords?
“In Japan there was a real life swordsman named Musashi Miyamoto who was regarded as the greatest ever, and he was known for using two swords. My childish idea was to simply make Zoro even greater by giving him one additional sword.”
One Piece is a fantasy but when would it be said to take place?
“The Age of Discovery did serve as inspiration, but this is obviously fantasy. I do try to follow a certain logic within the universe, though, like how much technology would’ve advanced in civilizations given certain developments. It’s a world in which the one fantastical element is the Devil Fruits. We do eventually see characters who create robots, but this is a world in which they somehow never came up with the idea to build airplanes.”
Resolving Queries of the Fandom
Why did Oda decided to do a live-action adaptation of One Piece now?
“Back then, 26 years ago when I started ONE PIECE, it was not an era when such a manga could be made into a film. However, at a certain point in time, the real technology of CG and VFX started to improve, and it became possible to visualize anything. I had seen many such things, so I decided to take the plunge, thinking that if I could have a truly reliable staff, I might be able to somehow make a film.”
What was the hardest hurdle faced by Oda to include and keep the same in the live-action adaptation?
“Again, the answer would be the Straw Hat characters. Of course, in order to have the adaptation satisfy the fans, you have to ensure that everybody’s favorite scenes — the big, important moments — are there. But the biggest constant throughout the show are the main characters, so if Luffy doesn’t feel like Luffy, or if Nami doesn’t feel like Nami, etc, nothing else will matter. So staying true to the characters was the most important factor.”
Were there any notes provided to Oda-San by Netflix executives that he found funny or stood out to him?
“Netflix knew they couldn’t allow this one to fail, so they brought forth many of their theories about how to make a successful show based on learnings from previous productions. I understood a lot of them, but there were also things about how shows have been made recently that I disagreed with, so I was assertive with my dissent. We were able to mutually voice our opinions without holding anything back.”
What was it like for Oda-San to work with Matt Owens, and what kinds of conversations did they have?
“He understands ONE PIECE more than anybody else. We did go through an earlier phase when we went through some trials and tribulations because there’s no road map for a successful adaptation. For a while we struggled to figure out how to go about creating a live-action One Piece for a global audience. But one day—a few years in—I received scripts that showed that he and his team really captured the characters, which brought me great joy.”
What was one change from the original anime and manga that Oda-san was most happy with?
“The characters and how they feel in real life. One of my biggest worries was how the Straw Hats would translate to the screen. But Netflix and I were able to get aligned, and I think we ended up with Straw Hat characters that work uniquely in live-action, with the actors breathing life into them in their own way. It’ll make sense once you watch their performances in the show.”
Why is Iñaki considered the perfect Luffy?
“You are just like the person I draw in my manga,” Oda told Godoy during a visit to the former’s studio. “I intuitively thought, ‘That’s Luffy.’ I can’t imagine anyone else but you, so far. I’m so grateful that you were born to be just like Luffy.”
A lot of fans have questions about the ethnicity of these characters, and now that they are being portrayed by real actors, what does Oda-san want to convey about where these characters are from?
“When I initially commented on the characters’ nationalities on SBS [Shitsumon o Boshū Suru, or ‘I’m taking questions,’ is a special column in tankōbon versions of the manga where Oda answers fan questions], it was in a very light-hearted way. I didn’t imagine it would influence the production team so much. But as they started showing me candidates based on my SBS responses, they actually felt right. I realized there was truth in my light-hearted answers.”
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