Photo-Illustration: Vulture
Yo ho, me hearties! August 31 will see the debut of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of One Piece, a series that’s spent years in development and even longer as the white whale of a fanbase that awaits this type of project with an equal mix of excitement and trepidation. Whether it was the disappointing live-action Cowboy Bebop or the infamous Dragonball Evolution, manga and anime are typically poorly served by the translation to live action. One Piece, though, gives the entire concept a chance at redemption.
Based on the Eiichiro Oda manga that debuted in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump back in July 1997, One Piece has since grown as big as the leviathans that roam the seas of its story. It’s about fantastical pirates, their wide-eyed dreams, and the adventures they go on trying to turn hope into reality — and treasure. Let’s map out what lies ahead for those who want to come aboard the One Piece journey.
As with most pirate stories, there’s tons of treasure to be found in One Piece, but top of mind for everyone is the “One Piece” of the title. Left behind by the former “Pirate King” Gol D. Roger, the One Piece spurs youngsters and veterans alike to set sail and follow their ambitions, no matter how ludicrous or ill intentioned. And what they tend to find in a stretch of ocean called the “Grand Line” as they seek this fabled collection of … something (Oda hasn’t revealed what the exact nature of the titular treasure is yet) are thrills, adventures, and many, many battles.
But one character stands above the rest in their monumental dreams and drive to achieve them. Well, stretches above the rest would be more apt …
That’s Monkey D. Luffy, the central character of One Piece, a young man with very simple aspirations: to find the One Piece and be King of the Pirates. Played in the Netflix series by Iñaki Godoy with delightful aplomb that matches the cartoonish enthusiasm of his manga and anime counterparts, Luffy is the spirit of the series embodied in a single jorts-wearing figure. Despite setbacks and all manner of obstacles (of both the emotional and punching variety) he remains unwavering, and as such inspires others to drop their personal qualms and either join him on his ship or follow their own special paths. He encourages you to, in essence, live your best life. Unless you’re a villain who wants to harm people. In that case, he tends to beat the shit out of you.
Hardly. Luffy is far too carefree to really learn the ins and outs of pirating or even basic seamanship. He needs some friends, both to hang out with his endlessly extroverted self and to ensure that he doesn’t end up at the bottom of the ocean before he leaves the harbor. Luffy sails with the Straw Hat Crew, made up of himself, his swordsman, Zoro (Mackenyu); his navigator, Nami (Emily Rudd); his sharpshooter, Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson); and his cook, Sanji (Taz Skylar), in this early portion of the series. They are a found family of sorts, and each one has their own often funny relationship with one another.
On their journey in Netflix’s One Piece, they meet allies and antagonists alike, ranging from the sheepish Navy recruit Koby, to the domineering “Fishman” Arlong, to the machiavellian clown Buggy, to the cannonball-throwing Vice Admiral Garp. And as you see in the trailer, some of them (most notably Buggy, who can separate his limbs at will) have powers to match Luffy’s stretching.
One Piece isn’t just a pirate show, even if many elements are based on real-life pirating history. It’s also layered with fantasy, and the way Luffy stretches is a great example of that. The story goes that he consumed the Gum-Gum type of Devil Fruit, a mysterious food that imbues its eater with a specific power. In Luffy’s case, it allows him to stretch his body in every way possible, but it’s different for everyone who eats one. This not only gives the fights in One Piece very physical stakes, it also renders them outlandishly entertaining.
Now, anyone who’s experienced live-action stretching effects before (the horror that was the mid-aughts Fantastic Four films comes to mind) knows that this particular breed of VFX is oddly hard to master. In fact, it’s probably one of the biggest mental leaps that one has to make regarding the look of the live-action series. Thankfully, One Piece, in all of its incarnations, is very at peace with the inherent silliness of this power.
Few series thrive on the unhindered imagination of animation and visual art like One Piece. Nearly everything about it is big, especially its outsize and expressive character and location designs. That doesn’t change in the live-action adaptation, so the familiar problem faced by fans of comic-book stories — nervous studios trimming color and character until they’re uninspiring visual drudgery — isn’t as sizable an issue here. A big problem with live-action anime and manga adaptations is that they rarely feel like what they’re adapting; in the process of changing mediums, something goes wrong and the energy has been either warped or totally lost. This can supersede any changes in plot or altering of characters — if the adaptation doesn’t have the energy of the original series, it’s doomed. One Piece is an exception, keying into the freewheeling spirit of the manga and approaching the source material’s cartoonishness as a challenge to be met rather than an obstacle to be changed. And much of that attitude is thanks to its creator.
Author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda has turned One Piece into the best-selling manga in history and himself into one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time. It’s an impressive workload, one he’s balanced with maintaining a close relationship to the production of the Netflix series. Attaining Oda’s consent regarding everything from casting to the filming of certain setpieces was a prime concern, and his satisfaction was regarded as the ultimate affirmation of its quality.
Considering the length of the series, it’s an affirmation that Netflix’s One Piece might be seeking for a long time. Though Oda has spoken over the years of his plans to inevitably wrap up One Piece, his eagerness to expand the narrative has been his undoing in this regard. His most recent goal was to end it within five years, and from the looks of it, there’s a very good chance that Luffy’s journey will surpass that.
If all goes well, much more. Over the past 25 years, One Piece has come to amass almost 1,100 manga chapters and anime episodes each. And that’s not including all of the spinoff movies, TV specials, and an ever-growing collection of tie-ins and merchandise; a quick look at the One Piece Wiki will reveal a whopping 7,046 individual pages of lore and summary pertaining to the franchise. Without diving too deeply and spoiling its riches, this first season covers much of what’s become known to fans as the “East Blue Saga,” which, while just a fraction of the full story thus far, still comprises a satisfying story of its own. Each “saga” abounds with its own array of interesting locales, emotional arcs, and ridiculously engaging characters.
One thousand one hundred chapters and anime installments might sound like a lot, but one of the best aspects of One Piece is how easy it is to devour. The pacing of its storytelling makes it a very dynamic read, and 1,100 chapters will quickly seem like not enough. (The Shonen Jump app contains the entire series and is only $2.99 a month.) But for those who want to dip their toes in the water of the Grand Line without fully committing, One Piece has plenty of ways to do so. The easiest way is with one of its anime movies or TV specials, some of which are available to stream on Crunchyroll and Netflix. One Piece: Episode of East Blue is an abridged version of the East Blue saga, capturing the dynamic of the anime and hitting all of the bullet points of the section in just over 100 minutes. There are also movies, like One Piece Film: Gold, that take place outside the confines of the main story and are very fun — though, considering how far into One Piece’s narrative they fall, they also contain copious implied spoilers.
You could also aim for chapter one of the manga or episode one of the anime. This live-action version is less a strict adaptation of the manga than a remix of sorts, so the experience won’t be overly repetitive. A lot of the plot beats and central characters are very recognizable from medium to medium, but the live-action series has wisely chosen to not make a 1:1 translation; certain parts are expanded, some are left behind, some are shifted around, and others are entirely new. In short, the live-action version is just one way to experience One Piece, and the best way to enjoy both this show and the other incarnations is probably the simplest: Start at the beginning.