Let’s discover together, in this dedicated review, the strengths and weaknesses of Netflix’s One Piece Live Action, which recently arrived on the platform: let’s go crew, board!
ORIGINAL TITLE: One Piece. TYPE: adventure, action, comedy, fantasy. NATION: United States, Japan. REGIA: Marc Jobst, Emma Sullivan, Tim Southam, Josef Wladyka. CAST: Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Jacob Romero Gibson, Taz Skylar, Vincent Regan, Jeff Ward, Morgan Davies. DURATION: approximately 60 minutes per episode, 8 episodes. DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix. EXIT: 31/08/2023.
There are things that cannot be stopped: inherited will, people’s dreams, the passage of time. As long as people thirst for freedom, these things will last forever.
Gol D. Roger
When it comes to Live Action, fans of any medium to which they refer shudder. Often, in fact, these are licensed products that hardly cross the threshold of mediocrity and are even less able to bring back to the screen, this time with “real” actors, what lies behind the original work. You will understand well, therefore, as great fans of One Piece, that when Netflix announced the Live Action (although also edited and followed by the master Eiichiro Oda), we too had shivers down our spines. We took our time to fully savor it, digest it and assimilate it. And finally we’re here: we liked the Live Action of One Piece and we’ll explain why in this review.
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We have already anticipated the outcome of this review, but we already know that those who are not interested in our opinions on Netflix’s One Piece Live Action have already skipped to the voting paragraph, so no big deal. We have told you this before because we do not want (never, but in this case in particular) the final vote to distort the meaning of our discussion. One Piece is not free from defects, on the contrary: it has some, and even big ones, especially from the point of view of the narrative rhythm and in some directorial choices. But he does something that we have rarely seen in other exponents of this slice of cinematography: respects and reflects the original workalso encouraging their values in some situations.
The story follows the young pirate Monkey D. Luffy who, together with his Straw Hat, sets out in search of the One Piece, the treasure bequeathed by the legendary pirate Gold D. Roger, executed years earlier by the Navy. Live Action adapts the first 48 episodes of the anime (or the first 11 volumes of the manga, as you prefer) and, in simple words, summarizes and collects how and when Luffy “enlists” the first four members of his crew: Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji. Approximately two episodes each, for a total of eight one-hour episodes which, we’ll tell you straight away, are really too few.
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In fact, Live Action takes narrative liberties aimed at condensing all the events of these first arcs of One Piece, eliminating secondary characters and extras who would have only given greater characterization to the supporting characters and streamlines situations, fights and events. All of this, in the eyes of a One Piece enthusiast who knows it well, makes the series too fast and hasty from many points of view and definitely makes you think that those 4 more episodes would have been needed to make everything less rushed.
Especially, in our opinion Sanji’s arc suffered the most from this rush: his relationship with Zeff and the motivations behind their disagreements are condensed into a few simple (albeit effective, we admit) jokes, giving minimal space to what is unquestionably one of the most touching moments of the first episodes of One Piece. No, we won’t tell you what it is because we don’t want to give spoilers, obviously.
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However, we admit, with a big smile afterwards, that the iconic touching moments are all there (yes, including that Nami scene) and they are all reproduced almost flawlessly. This is mainly due to the excellent choice made by Netflix regarding the cast, especially the five protagonists. In particular Inaki Godoywho seems practically born to be Luffy, but also Mackenyu (Zoro), Taz Skylar (Sanji), Jacob Gibson (Usopp) ed Emily Rudd (Nami) perfectly embody the distinctive traits (and not just the physical ones, mind you) of Oda’s iconic characters. A synchronous work, also given by the fact that all five are notoriously fans of the series, they know their roles and transpose them with passion and emphasis.
Passion and emphasis: this is what really lies behind the work done by Netflix for this Live Action. Oda’s hand is present, it’s true, but she couldn’t have been saved to this point if there hadn’t been passion behind it. Netflix’s One Piece fully takes up the values of the original work and emphasizes them: freedom, rebellion against oppression, the sense of abandonment, the fear of death and redemption. Every frame makes all fans of the manga and anime breathe an air of home, and we assure you that it wasn’t that obvious given the premises.
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Also missing, albeit with some exceptions, the feeling of being faced with an eight-hour long cosplay competition. Let’s be clear, some choices are rather questionable (hide the Fish Men please) and others even incomprehensible (a little too much blackwashing, in our opinion), but in the end these are secondary elements and mainly due to the change of reference medium. If Arlong’s big sawnose could work in the One Piece manga and anime, it was difficult to transpose it in a convincing form into Live Action. And in fact…
From a directorial point of view, we are at rather good levels, apart from a few gross errors (in some battles the time of day changes numerous times over the course of as many frames) and which, in the end, It doesn’t ruin the overall experience. The CGI and special effects of the clashes are also good, a trademark of Netflix’s bottomless budget to be honest. We followed the series with the English dubbing for mental heritage, but out of curiosity we also listened to a couple of episodes in Italian and the dubbing is really well done.
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We conclude this review of Netflix’s One Piece by admitting that we didn’t expect so much from this Live Action. Despite the rush and the need to condense so many events into too small a number of episodes and some stylistic choices that were not exactly right, this series brought to the screen with real actors everything that Eiichiro Oda’s great work has always had with it: strong ideals, memorable clashes and iconic characters. An exceptional cast and a beating heart behind it can make any series enjoyable and appreciable. Also a Live Action. Learn, Cowboy Bebop.
And this is all! You too can see the One Piece Live Action series exclusively in the Netflix catalogue. Let us know what you think below in the comments and stay tuned with us at TechGameWorld.com for all the news on cinema and TV series!
Points in favor
- Excellent cast choices
- Atmosphere, themes and emotions that follow the original work
- Great start to a great adventure
Points against
- 8 episodes are too few
- Some directorial lightness
- Too hurry!
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