One Piece (2023)

To The Grand Line, Nakama!

This is my honest take of the live action action version of my favorite shonen series, One Piece. Subjectively, this is just an 8.5 out of 10 for me. I found it highly enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but there are some stuff that don't sit well with me and I feel that changing or omitting certain parts takes away some of the heart of the story. I don't mind them streamlining the narrative and combining subplots to create more moving parts in a single episode because, honestly, early One Piece is a slow burn. By doing so, they can move things along, improving the plot progression immensely. For the uninitiated, this is actually better because it introduces the world of One Piece more fluidly and hooks you fairly quickly. But as I mentioned, some of the parts that were taken out were integral to the characterization of some of the characters and would've further explained their motivations. Some of the emotional scenes were not executed as well as the anime that they just didn't have the same effect on me. Of course, non-fans wouldn't notice these things, so hopefully, they'll feel the same way us fans did when we saw these scenes in the anime. But for an avid fan like me, those scenes felt lacking and the payoff of some of the subplots just weren't as satisfying. But I still commend the writers for doing the best they could with the material that they were given. One Piece is probably the hardest story to adapt not only because of the massive world Oda has created but also the zaniness and goofiness of the characters. I imagine the writers were hard-pressed to balance the serious and comedic tones of the story because One Piece, at its core, is a comedy with dark undertones and serious themes. So for them to actually successfully adapt One Piece and pay tribute to what makes it one of the greatest works of fiction ever written is a humongous feat. I give them props for that. Still, there's room for improvement, and hopefully, they can improve upon it in the succeeding seasons.

The cast of actors, especially the first five Straw Hats, are phenomenal. Inaki as Luffy is not the Luffy I know from the anime but he exudes Luffy energy and that's what matters. He made this role his own and I'm cool with it. Mackenyu as Zoro is legit a brilliant casting choice. He is Zoro in every way. I just wish that some of the emotional beats regarding his back story were done better, though. They've made some changes with Sanji's character, which is understandable as Sanji's “perversion” would not sit well with the western audience. But they managed to keep what makes Sanji Sanji, so I'm okay with that. And Taz is great in the role. They couldn't have picked a better Sanji to be honest. I never doubted Jacob's casting as Usopp from the moment I saw videos of him talking and joking around. He immediately gave me Usopp vibes so I'm quite happy with this choice. I just wish they kept some of Usopp's heroic scenes because those are what made me respect the character and think that he's the bravest of them all despite his cowardly facade. Emily as Nami was not convincing to me at first as I've seen her in other projects and her acting didn't impress me at all. But to be fair, she did deliver. She did make me cry in that pivotal scene, which I'm not going to mention here as it's a spoiler for those who haven't seen it. But One Piece fans would know what I'm referring to. Mihawk, Buggy, Koby, Helmeppo, and Kuro are so spot on it was like watching manga/anime characters come to life. Steven John Ward, especially, is literally the real-life version of Dracule Mihawk! I do have some complaints regarding the casting for some characters, though. Ben Beckman, for example, just doesn't scream badass to me. The guy they got is too old and overweight. Makino is supposed to be younger but they chose an older looking actress.

And to be honest, I still have a problem with some of the costumes and wigs. I get that they're trying to embrace the goofiness of the original but there's no excuse for bad costuming and wigs, man! They can be very jarring and plain cringe. The sets and special effects are so on point, they made me feel like these places and creatures do exist in another world somewhere. I especially adore the news coo and the den den mushi or transponder nails. They made me laugh every time they appeared on screen. The boats are spectacular! I'm glad the showrunners opted to use as many practical effects as they could. Luffy's stretching didn't bother me, I thought it was nicely done. Same with the Fishmen. I really didn't have a problem with them using prosthetics or the choice to make them human-sized instead of unusually large. I understand why they had to do that. Besides, the guy they got for Arlong is menacing and he even got Arlong's laugh right.

The action choreography, for the most part, is pretty dope, especially the Zoro fight scenes. However, there are parts when you can clearly see the wires and props. Some eagle-eyed viewers have caught those boo-boos. Those could've been easily edited out. This reminded me of the Starbucks cup in the final season of Game of Thrones. lol They should hire better stunt coordinators and editors to avoid these kinds of mishaps.

The music, though not as epic and iconic as the anime's musical score, is pretty good. Some of the character theme songs got stuck in my head for days, especially Nami and Zoro's themes. I'm happy that they did their own versions of We Are and Bink's Sake as these are One Piece staples. A part of me wished they also made versions of Overtaken and The Very Very Strongest, though.

Yes, many changes have been made, some I'm happy with, some I'm not. Is it perfect? No. Is it the best live action anime adaptation? No. But it's undeniably entertaining and I can honestly say that it kept the spirit of One Piece unlike most live action adaptations I've seen and I've seen an unhealthy number of those types of films. Seriously, eight episodes is not enough. I want more! And apparently, many others feel the same way. Personally, I'm excited to see what they'll do with the succeeding arcs, especially the Alabasta arc. They better get Chopper right!

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Need to re-read the manga. Haha...

Quite surprising when I know they gonna make the Real Life of One Piece. Even more surprised when I know MDL put it too. Cause you know the cast not really scream Asian drama.... Haha... Watching the trailer.... Interesting... The CGI quite good. We got the good picture of Luffy stretchy body or Buggy separated body without the blur or anything weird. Haha... Especially I'm really happy how they make Luffy stretchy body, it's quite real & fun... Haha...

This first of many season is up until Luffy gather his first crew: Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp & Sanji. Next season we will gonna meet Chopper & that's also another character that I'm really curious to see the CGI... Really happy about how they close the curtain... It's a beautiful end to close this season journey

My impression about the cast quite good. They quite fit their role & compatible to the manga. Actually except for Luffy himself, something lacking. I can't really said what aspect, but something feel amiss... Haha... And actually a little bit worried too. Cause for me the age of the cast quite aged/old. Haha... Worried about the future, cause you know this still a long journey to sail with. Haha...

And you know, funnily the one group of character that I kinda missed from the manga are Usopp little friend. In the manga Usopp have 3 little followers that follow him around. And also involved with Usopp little lie about 'Pirate are coming to town'. Because this 3 little followers that will gonna continue Usopp journey in the town & also help company & entertain Kaya after Usopp leave. But I know they just try to avoid Little Kids learn to lie kinda situation. Haha...

And I know some fans already complaining & comparing this to the anime or the manga. Like how short / looked easy the fight or how they change / shorten the story to make story faster. But hey, hello.... This quite difficult Anime or Manga to make real life action for & I'm really happy with the result. So don't write argument below my review too about how complaining you are. Haha...

Really hope they can keep the good work until the end & not messed up with the whole drama. Cause you know One Piece fans can go wild.... Haha...

Can't wait for season 2. Hope we don't wait for too long...

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Blown away!

I loved this so much. Honestly need a 2nd season asap.
From the point of view of someone who hasn't seen the anime yet, but I'm going to now, this show is simply amazing. It had me cheering every episode. Be it because of the characters, the story-line, the great, (sometimes ridiculous and predictable) dialogue or the very anime-like visuals. I loved every second of this show.
Although Luffy would certainly make sure to get everyone around him in trouble, I would definitely not mind being part of his crew.

I recommend everyone to watch this show. Please do so and make Netflix put a 2nd season of One Piece on the top of their priority list.

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One Of My Favorite Live Adaptation!!

From extended sword fights to exotic locales, One Piece excels at spectacle. Each of Season 1's eight episodes features at least one highly involved set piece ( and usually more), be it a heist, an all-out brawl, or a naval battle. Even less overtly out-there sequences, like visits to an at-sea restaurant or a rich benefactor's mansion, get their own degrees of flashiness. The latter even morphs into a slasher-esque showdown that will have you on the edge of your seat. XD

It's true that live action cannot completely replicate anime or manga's ultra-expressive physical acts and explosive fight scenes. One Piece live action certainly tries its best, with some efforts working better than others. For example, when it comes to filming, One Piece tends to over-rely on extreme close-ups and canted angles to achieve an anime feel.

One Piece's execution remains strong enough to deliver a larger-than-life delight one with a strong heart. Yes, this is a series where a boy can repel a bullet with his stretchy skin, but it's also a series about a group of outcasts finding and helping each other. Every member of the Straw Hat Pirates, including later recruits Usopp and Sanji, has a specific dream they want to achieve but none of them can get there alone. Only together can these five adventurers prevail. And with their quests already off to a promising start with Season 1, it's hard not to want more of this.......So Please Release The S2 faster!!🤧🤧

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It seems like just yesterday when the cast was announced. And when the teaser got out... my, all the complaints XD so I am really happy for Oda and the staff and the cast that they proved skeptical fans otherwise. Now all the skeptical fans are very proud of this LA, as they should!

Visually speaking, it is an excellent adaptation, beyond my expectations. The cast is spot on, the setting and costumes are just like straight out of a manga/anime, and what it is the most important, they don't look like cosplay nor props. Even characters are Nezumi and Arlong don't look out of place at all. Strictly speaking, I am not a fan of Sanji nor Nami but they were my favorites in this LA... I love that they toned down the aggressiveness of Nami and the pervert-ness of Sanji. Instead, she is just tough and he is a smooth flirt. Can't wait to see the rest of the crew!

I understand they had to cut many stuff and rush things up, so I have no complaints there. Everything went smoothly anyway. Maybe there were too many scenes of Garp and Koby, but the actors were so good I didn't mind too much (specially Koby, like WOW, he looked and behaved just like anime-Koby)

I loove that we have so many accents and not just American accent. There are actors from South Africa, Australia, UK, Mexico, Spain... Sanji and Luffy saying "Nami" with such a Latin accent, I love it <3

My complaint would be the script though. Like there are many lines that are straight "Marvel"-like; as in, a bit cheesy, funny lines are a bit cheap, other lines are a bit fan-service-ish.... specially those from Luffy.

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se tuti gli adattamenti fossero così, ne vedrei di più

parto col dire una cosa importante, per anni sono stata ossessionata con One Piece, tanto che ho un’estesa conoscienza di tutto ciò che avviene fino all’isola degli uomini pesce, poi la vita si è messa in mezzo e sto con ansia aspettando che finisca il manga per poter fare una lettura di tutto, quindi so One Piece e la saga dell’East Blue è fra parentesi una delle mie preferite in quanto è veramente una parte importante per la crescita della storia, quindi immaginatevi lo shock quando ho scoperto che avrebbero fatto un adattamento. però boy se mi sbagliavo, ho trovato tutto, per quanto mi riguarda, perfetto: la cura nei dettagli è massima, dai lumacofoni ai vestiti, per passare all’architettura che mi ricordava esattamente quella che si vedeva nei fumetti prima e poi nell’anime. insomma la cura nei particolari c’è (e credo che qualsiasi fan si possa immaginare nei luoghi che hanno preso vita con questa adattazione) e il cast: mamma mia che roba. piccola parentesi che ho dato solo 9,5 all’acting perché ci sono delle scene dove c’è dell’overacting che come dire sembra stornare, io credo servisse a creare quei momenti dove nell’anime/manga sembra che i personaggi urlino, però ovviamente con delle persone vere sembra strano, chiusa parentesi. ho amato il cast, l’attore che ha interpretato Rufy gli ha dato la sua energia e il suo sorriso, ma anche i momenti più riflessivi come quando Zoro è stato affettato. per non parlare dell’attore che interpreta Zoro, che gli ha regalato quell’aria mistica e un po’ assente che aveva all’inizio della storia, Sanji, like hello, primo tutti ci siamo fermati un momento a vedere bene la scena di quando recupera Rufy in mare (non mentite lo abbiamo fatto tutti) e poi aveva lo charm di Sanji, veramente. l’attore che ha interpretato Usop mi ha presentato sul grande schermo le sue storie - bugie, ma anche il suo coraggio. e poi Nami, all’inizio ero scettica perché mi sembrava troppo rigida, poi però ho detto “aspetta a fare commenti, guarda se cambia dopo arlong park” ed effettivamente così è successo, quindi ho visto una scelta anche in questo che mi è piaciuta. e poi mi sono piaciuti tutti: Kobi, Garp, Hermeppo, Kaya… insomma tutti (per non parlare di Shanks). veramente forse c’è qualcosa che andrebbe criticato, ma che lo faccia qualcun altro, per due motivi: primo, vorrei che con questa recensione i fan più hardcore, quelli che quando hanno sentito “live action di one piece” hanno avuto una sincope, si possano ricredere, perché merita, se potessi eliminare tutti i live action e tenerne solo uno, questo terrei, perché è one piece. e seconda ragione, ben più becera, non voglio “rovinarmi” la visione di un prodotto che ho amato solo per cercare dei difetti. ultimo commento più o meno serio, mi è piaciuto anche il lavoro che hanno fatto con la trama, tagliando parti relativamente prolisse (non che siano prolisse, solo che come potete ben immaginare gli episodi solo più di 1000, quindi alcune parti potrebbero essere ridotte), ma lasciando le parti importanti, per esempio le back stories dei protagonisti. ho apprezzato che abbiano usato Garp, Kobi ed Hermeppo come marine che sono costantemente alla ricerca di Rufy, per avere un po’ di continuità anche in quel punto e che abbiano reso Arlong un po’ il mega cattivo di stagione. poi hanno fatto i gabbiani porta lettere e i lumacofoni. e nulla, guardatela. non vedo l’ora di vedere la prossima stagione. (ah, e poi, trovarlo un cast che è preparato sui personaggi e sulla storia originale come lo è questo, si Percy Jackson, sto parlando proprio di te)

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One Piece fans satisfied

That scene in the end had me in tears really well done series. Some awkward moments but overall great production. Another medium to add to the one piece collection and as I fan I'm grateful it is being so well received. Love the cast and even though things were different I went with the changes and wasn't too critical of everything. Great OST and the fight scenes exceeded my expectations. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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