So I’ve watched most of the one piece live adaptation, except for a bit of the second last episode and the last episode. If I had to be very honest about One Peace Live Action, I think they did a great job translating the source material into a live action format. The production quality is superb, there’s a lot of heart behind the characters and story in this show, and every episode had me curious and excited about what they were going to show next. Some highlights they had that were not emphasised as much in the source material were the bounty poster introductions and Kuro’s “nightmare on elm street” hallway chase.
Considering the great reception it has gotten on social media, I think it’s likely they green light it for a season 2 and I’m very curious to see how they introduce other characters and storyline’s, especially Chopper and Ace for example
I do see the budget skyrocketing with each season considering how One Piece just gets more and more crazier the more you read/watch it.
Of course it’s not without its criticisms. In favour of a more streamlined and fast-paced story that can fit into an 8-episode format, they’ve chopped down bits and pieces from the source material. Some of it is barely noticeable, while others are on the scale of entire characters being killed off or side stories being removed, while in the manga these were all given special attention. This does make it feel like something is missing in the episodes at times, but I’m not sure if a new watcher will notice it as much as a One Piece fan will. Of course, this streamlined approach may help to cut down on convoluted storyline’s and help the story progress faster. It may also give screentime to characters who are otherwise neglected in the manga until a certain point (e.g. Koby and Helmeppo’s training arc is very much a background feature on the cover page in the manga, but in One Piece it is a recurring and major part of the show and gives us a lot of insight into how the Marines are perceived by people.
I think some deviation is expected, and I can see why they choose to focus a lot more on the major story beats and characters. For me, One Piece live action is more of a fun statement that live actions can work if given a lot of attention and care. It’s made One Piece a lot more accessible to watchers who might otherwise avoid the manga because they can’t keep up with the many storylines and characters that are constantly showing up
Overall I’d give it an 8/10.
