One Piece fans were shocked when Netflix’s live-action adaptation turned out to be solid. Not only was the series a live-action adaptation of a notoriously goofy manga and anime, it was released at a time when respect for the once-unstoppable streaming giant Netflix was at a low point.
Now, not even Netflix’s One Piece gears up for a new season, Mr. 3 actor David Dastmalchian has revealed his take on what sets the adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s classic manga apart from other adaptations of popular Japanese media.
In an interview with GamesRadarDastmalchian claims that fidelity to the source material is what sets One Piece apart from the competition.
“It’s really tricky when you think about how hard it’s been for people to find the good adaptations of anime to live action. And they nailed it because they leaned into what makes the manga work. And the manga is what makes the anime work. And you take both of those source materials, and if you’re willing to listen to do the magic of that, that’s what makes the live action work.”
Why One Piece Succeeds Where Other Anime Adaptations Fail
Dastmalchian echoes the common reason cited for One Piece live-action’s success. Eiichiro Oda was heavily involved in One Piece’s development at Netflix and helped steer the ship, ensuring that the streaming giant’s vision for the series was in sync with his vision for it.
While that certainly explains a large portion of the series’ critical acclaim, that doesn’t quite tell the whole story.
One Piece’s Success is as Much Due to What It Changes as What It Keeps the Same
One Piece is not, actually, a particularly faithful adaptation on paper. Significant chunks of the plot have been removed or changed, characters like Sanji have been altered, and the switch to live-action completely changes the series’ visual aesthetic.
While Netflix’s One Piece might not necessarily be faithful to the source material, it is always respectful of it, and that’s where the series’ true strength lies. While One Piece makes many changes, they are almost universally made in order to fit the new series’ formatting.
This sets One Piece apart from other anime/manga adaptations. Thinking back to the disaster that was Dragonball: Evolutionthere was a certain level of embarrassment about the source material that the movie carried. The result was a tonal mess and a legendary box-office bomb.
This has also been a problem for other Netflix adaptations of anime. In particular, Cowboy Bebop is a notable cautionary tale. While Netflix’s Bebop mirrored the original’s aesthetics, Netflix missed out on much of the deeper thematic and political depths that defined Shinichiro Watanabe’s classic series.
Netflix’s One Piece might not be a one-to-one adaptation, but it does carry the spirit of Eiichiro Oda’s masterpiece. Nor Dastamalchian says, One Piece live-action leans into what makes the original manga work so well, and that has led it to critical and commercial acclaim.
- Release Date
- August 31, 2023
- NETWORKS
- Netflix
- Showrunner
- Matt Owens
- Directors
- Tim Southam, Marc Jobst, Josef Kubota Wladyka
- Writers
- Tiffany Greshler, Diego Gutierrez, Allison Weintraub, Lindsay Gelfand
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Iñaki Godoy
Monkey D. Luffy
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