Entertainment
Netflix’s 2-Part Fantasy Series Is Officially the Best Adaptation Ever
Adaptations of any medium can be very hit or miss. Retelling a manga in an anime format sometimes turns out well (though not always), but what’s more concerning is when a manga gets a live-action adaptation. As manga and anime become more and more popular in North America, Hollywood keeps trying to use the popularity of these stories to recreate them in live-action. However, from Dragonball Evolution to Cowboy Bebop, these remakes focus too much on catering to Western audiences that they lose the essence of what makes the source material great.
Understandably, it can be difficult to recreate the fantastical worlds and the intense action from manga, but then it begs the question: why even do it? Like it or not, these attempts will keep on going. Fans just hope that at least one of them will be good. And thankfully, Netflix and Tomorrow Studios developed the best live-action manga adaptation with One Piece.
Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Feels Like the Manga Brought to Life
Created by Eiichiro Oda in 1997, One Piece follows the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail across the world to find the One Piece, a legendary treasure that promises wealth, fame, and power. Over 20 years later, and it’s still one of the best anime series of all time. The manga and anime are still ongoing to this day, with well over 1,000 chapters and episodes each. When Netflix announced it would be adapting One Piece, fans were justifiably concerned about how they would be able to tell such a grand story set in this fantastical world with unique abilities. But with Oda heavily involved in the production process, his creation was handled with care and surpassed all expectations.
Showrunners Steve Maeda, Joe Tracz, and Matt Owens managed to adapt over 100 chapters in just 16 episodes (spread across two seasons) while still hitting the main story beats and character development. While some manga adaptations try to bring these stories to a more modern and realistic setting, One Piece embraces its roots to the fullest with colorful costumes, locations, and characters. The show perfectly balances the silliness and fun with the dark and creepy moments. Adapting manga or anime into live-action doesn’t immediately mean making it more adult or serious. It’s about capturing the essence of the source material, but not being afraid to change some things to better the overall narrative and direction. Even with the large amount of content to go through, the One Piece creative team blends story arcs together to make them more digestible and fit with the characters’ development.
‘One Piece’ Star Charithra Chandran Reveals What That Epic Finale Cliffhanger Sets Up for Season 3
The hit show’s newest star also reveals if she’d return for another season of ‘Bridgerton’ or ‘Dune: Prophecy.’
‘One Piece’ Is the Live-Action Manga Adaptation Fans Deserve
For new fans who might be overwhelmed by diving into the overwhelming amount of source material, Season 1 does a great job of introducing them to this grand world by devoting full episodes to each character’s backstory to really make audiences feel invested. Loyal fans are also rewarded by seeing these iconic moments recreated with such love and care. Chopper’s (Mikaela Hoover) backstory in Season 2 is one of the best episodes of the entire series, and just a stellar standalone episode that anyone can jump into. It also helps that almost every cast member embodies their characters to the fullest. The on and off-screen chemistry amongst the cast feels so tangible and heartwarming. Iñaki Godoy, especially, is perfectly cast as Monkey D. Luffy and will go down as one of the most accurate portrayals in history, like Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man.
What also helps One Piece stand out amongst other live-action adaptations is how the world looks and feels like a place people can visit. Other projects rely on green screen and VFX, which can look very jarring, but the One Piece team takes the time to build out these large sets to not only immerse the audience, but the cast as well. With a perfect 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes for Season 2 and being the most-watched show on Netflix globally, One Piece is what a successful adaptation should be. It perfectly translates the source material’s tone, themes, stories, and characters, while still providing something new and refreshing. With a third season already in the works, the team is working as fast as possible to keep fans engaged without sacrificing quality in terms of writing and production value. It’s rare, but refreshing, to see just how dedicated the creatives are to making the One Piece fandom proud to see this world come to life and grow.
- Release Date
-
August 31, 2023
- Network
-
Netflix
- Showrunner
-
Matt Owens, Steven Maeda, Joe Tracz
- Directors
-
Tim Southam, Marc Jobst, Josef Kubota Wladyka
- Writers
-
Tiffany Greshler, Diego Gutierrez, Allison Weintraub, Lindsay Gelfand
You must be logged in to post a comment Login