Series / One Piece (2023)

The pirates are coming.^note L - R: Sanji, Usopp, Monkey D. Luffy, Nami, and Roronoa Zoro

"Gold Roger's final words changed the world forever. A new age was born, the Great Pirate Era, setting off a race across the seas to find the Pirate King's hidden treasure, the One Piece."

— Narrator

One Piece is an American/Japanese fantasy/adventure/comedy series based on the long-running global smash-hit manga of the same name by Eiichiro Oda, as well as the first live-action entry in the franchise. It is developed by Matt Owens (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Luke Cage) and Steven Maeda (The X-Files, Lost), executive produced by Maeda, Owens, Oda, Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Chris Symes, Marc Jobst, Tim Southam, and Tetsuya "Tetsu" Fujimura, and co-executive produced by Ian Stokes, Diego Gutierrez, Laura Jacqmin, Damani Johnson, Nic Louie, and Stephen Welke. Directors for the first season include Jobst, Southam, Emma Sullivan, and Josef Kubota Wladyka.

The series once again tells the tale of Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his journey to become the King of the Pirates by assembling a crew called the Straw Hat Pirates and journeying to the Grand Line to find the One Piece — a mysterious treasure belonging to the notorious pirate Gol D. Roger. After rescuing and recruiting Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu) as the first member of the Straw Hats, they set off on a journey to the Grand Line. They soon join forces with Nami (Emily Rudd), a thief and navigator with a dream to draw charts on the Grand Line; Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), a marksman and serial liar with a dream of becoming a brave warrior; and Sanji (Taz Skylar), a chef with a dream to find the mythical All Blue. Now all Luffy has to do is convince his would-be new friends to take a gamble on their dreams... and deal with the ocean of enemy pirates and marines between them and their goals.

The cast also includes Peter Gadiot as Shanks, Vincent Regan as Garp, Morgan Davies as Koby, Jeff Ward as Buggy, Aiden Scott as Helmeppo, and Ian McShane as the narrator. Most of the anime's voice actors reprise their roles in the Japanese dub as well.

The eight-episode first season premiered on Netflix on August 31, 2023. Two weeks after the series premiered, a second season was announced.

Previews: Teaser, Trailer, Final Trailer

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The world has truly entered a great trope era!

A-C

• Accent Adaptation: Many characters have accents from throughout the world where they didn't originally in any given dub. Perhaps most notably, Garp has a thick Scottish accent, and Sanji has a London accent.
• Adaptational Attractiveness:
  • Usopp in the manga/anime does become more attractive and muscular later on, but still borders on Gonk with his Gag Nose and huge lips. Here he's played by the very handsome Jacob Romero with his comical schnoz getting removed for practicality reasons.
  • Helmeppo, even after Taking a Level in Badass from a skinny fop to legitimate fighter, is far from good looking in the source material. Here he's played by Aidan Scott, a Mr. Fanservice whom even has a Female Gaze-y nude scene, showing off his ass in the very first episode, though he remains quite foppish.
  • Sham is a creepy hunchback in the manga/anime, but due to getting a Gender Lift is played by the attractive (and non-hunchedbacked) Bianca Oosthuizen instead.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Nami earlier on the manga couldn't defeat more than two or three Mooks with her Martial Arts Staff, and usually would wind up a Damsel in Distress in need of saving/protection from her stronger crewmates if there were numerous enemies around her until the introduction of her signature weapon, the Clima-Tact. In this series however, Nami makes Donatello proud being able to fight and take down a dozen marines alongside Luffy and Zoro with her ordinary bo-staff in the first episode. She also joins the boys in the raid on Arlong Park, rather than crying in the village during all the asskicking and only reappearing after most of the Arlong Pirates are defeated, like in the manga.
  • Morgan in the manga couldn't so much as land a hit on Luffy with his namesake axe-hand and got cut down by Zoro before he could accomplish his back attack on Luffy (who was focused on saving Koby from Helmeppo). In this series, by contrast, Morgan effectively fights both Luffy and Zoro simultaneously and manages to knock them both around, putting up a helluva fight before Luffy takes him out with a Gum Gum Whip.
  • Buggy in the manga is a legendary Boisterous Weakling who uses cheap tactics and sneak attacks as well as exploiting his Devil Fruit, the Chop Chop fruit, to get the upper hand. In this series he's much more formidable giving Luffy, Zoro and Nami the fight of their lives and almost killing them before they figure out they can trap his detached limbs. Additionally two weaknesses of his fruit from the manga have been removed: he no longer needs to keep his feet planted on the ground, and he can mitigate damage from punches by selectively popping certain parts off his body.
  • In the manga, Kuro's Super-Speed was so intense for him that he couldn't see where he was going while moving, causing him to attack everything and everyone indiscriminately with his Out of the Bag Attack. He shows no such blindness in the series as he Flash Steps all over the manor with perfect control.
  • Sham and Buchi in the manga generally relied on sneakiness and good ol' pirate pragmatism, only giving Zoro any trouble due to stealing away two of his swords and Buchi in particular getting hypnotized into being stronger by Jango. Here on the other hand, they both give Zoro a real fight without getting empowered (since Jango is Adapted Out of Syrup Village) and they can match him for a while even when he is using two swords against them. Sham in particular knocked out Zoro cold in an earlier scene with a sneak attack, and manages to steal Wado Ichimonji out from under Zoro's nose.
  • Downplayed, but the Arlong Pirates (namely Arlong and Kuroobi) get a considerable amount of this compared to the manga version, despite being much less physically huge. To explain, while they were undeniably extremely powerful in the source material as well, being alongside Hachi and Chu, the strongest antagonists of East Blue (barring Smoker), Arlong and Kuroobi nevertheless only gave Luffy and Sanji a real challenge respectively up until the latter two's Let's Get Dangerous! berserk buttons being pushed — which resulted in Arlong and Kuroobi getting stomped. This was also on top of other factors, such as Luffy accidentally getting his feet stuck in stone which Arlong took full advantage of by throwing him in the ocean and Kuroobi getting a strength boost from fighting Sanji underwater and taking advantage of Sanji being distracted by Zoro's wound reopening. Here in this series however, Arlong and Kuroobi are able to decisively defeat both Luffy and Sanji in their first bout at the Baratie, and the only reason Luffy doesn't get killed by Arlong is because Nami convinces the latter to dump him in the ocean rather than bite his throat open.
• Adaptational Context Change:
  • In the manga, Helmeppo is just a civilian freeloading off his dad. Once Morgan is deposed, he's forced to earn his keep as a chore-boy (the lowest Marine rank). In the show it's implied he's already joined the Marines, though Morgan lets him wear a non-regulation suit and boss everyone around, presumably putting him back in the uniform of a recruit for Garp's benefit. Once Morgan is removed from his position, Helmeppo finds himself back at the bottom of the ladder, which in fairness is more than he's earned.
  • The Going Merry is named after Merry in both versions of the story, but the actual reason is different. In the manga, it's because he was the ship's original designer. Here, Luffy chooses the name in tribute of him after he's killed by Kuro.
  • In the manga, Mihawk shows up at Baratie at the same time as the Straw Hats by coincidence, as he's just chasing the remnants of the Krieg Pirates. Here, he's specifically sent looking for Luffy on Garp's orders.
  • Sanji's reason for waiting tables at the Baratie. In the manga, it was because the restaurant was understaffed, mainly due to the wait staff quitting out of fear of pirates. Here, Sanji is doing it as punishment for arguing with Zeff.
  • In the manga, Luffy has to Work Off the Debt for a year after accidentally redirecting a cannonball into the Baratie restaurant to pay for damages.^note Though none of the characters take this all that seriously, and Zeff even cancels the debt when Luffy starts fighting the Krieg Pirates, noting that a year of Luffy's "help" would destroy the place. Here, the Straw Hats eat a large amount of food and Luffy tries to pay with an I.O.U. set for after he finds the One Piece. Zeff wasn't having it and dragged him into the kitchen to be his chore boy. Zeff cancels Luffy's debt in the manga after he saves Baratie from Krieg. Since Krieg doesn't appear and Luffy even loses when Arlong pirates take over, Luffy decides to leave without asking in pursuit of Nami, and Zeff has Sanji go with him to get Sanji to follow his dream.
  • In the manga Nami stealthily steals Going Merry and Yosaku tips Luffy about her potential whereabouts due to her staring at Arlong's wanted poster. In the series when Arlong comes to Baratie, Nami openly switches sides and leaves on another ship.
  • While both the manga and series have Nami undergo a Heroic BSoD thanks to her plan to pay off Arlong falling through, the exact details vary. In the manga, after Nezumi confiscates her money, Coco village goes into open revolt against Arlong, undoing the carefully orchestrated masquerade Nami and Nojiko had set up, and Nami is anguished because she believes her people are going to get themselves killed. In the series, Coco village genuinely despises Nami due to her not telling them her true plans, and it's established that Arlong actually directed Nezumi to Nami's stash in order to stiff her on their deal and attack Coco village anyway, leading to her breakdown.
  • Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji meet Garp much earlier than in the manga/anime, as well as learn that he is Luffy's grandfather. However, Garp never tells them who Luffy's father is.
• Adaptational Curves: Since a lot of the characters are Noodle People in the source material they tend to get this by default.
  • Sanji while quite muscular underneath his suit is still largely drawn like a stick figure. Here's he's obviously muscular with his actor Taz Skylar having had to train hard to get into high kicking shape for the role.
  • Benn Beckman is a trim pirate in the source material while here he's played Laudo Liebenberg who's much more stout.
  • Helmeppo starts off as a skinny fop and he along with Koby only becomes muscly when Garp puts them through Training from Hell. Here Helmeppo as evidenced by his hilarious and out of nowhere nude scene is in good shape from the start.
  • Nami as well as Kaya, Nojiko, Belle-mère and Makino rather than being supermodel petite with hourglass waistlines like in the source material are due to the show being an Pragmatic Adaptation realistically curvy. Trying to replicate Oda's Jessica Rabbit-like female character figures in live action would've likely required corsets.
• Adaptational Diversity: In the original manga, the Baratie only had human workers. This adaptation shows at least one Fishman on staff.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • A rendition of ''Binks' Brew'' can be heard in the background during the flashback where Shanks stitches up Luffy's scar, quite a long time before its relevance to Brook's introduction and backstory.
  • Garp appears in the very first episode in this series, rather than appearing in the cover story of Chapter 92 like in the manga and not getting properly introduced until later still in Chapter 431 which is Post-Enies Lobby, well beyond East Blue.
  • In the show, Arlong's crew intimidate Buggy shortly after his defeat, and attack the Baratie to take the Grand Line map from Luffy. The fishmen don't appear until the following arc in the anime and manga.
  • Baroque Works wasn't mentioned until the Alabasta saga of the main story, but in this series, a flashback depicts Zoro's fight with the first Mr. 7.
  • In the manga and anime, Nami had a couple of Early Bird Cameos but didn't actually meet Luffy and Zoro until the Orange Town arc. In the show, she joins up with them in the first episode which is based on the Romance Dawn arc. This is due to the Marines being in possession of the Grand Line map instead of Buggy.
• Adaptational Explanation:
  • The "map of the Grand Line" is sometimes considered Early-Installment Weirdness due to it later being established that Buggy was already very familiar with the region and the idea of there being a useful complete map of the Grand Line is laughable. This work implies that its true value is it having the topography of Reverse Mountain, the very small and treacherous route around the Calm Belts.
  • The Manga never explained where Kaya's family wealth came from. Here, it's established that her parents owned the largest shipyard in the East Blue.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • Buggy is more violent and threatening in this series than in the original show where he was very comical.
  • Alvida is violently cruel and sadistic here as opposed to the source material where her antics and meanness were silly rather than sinister.
  • Sham and Buchi weren't exactly the nicest to begin with in the original, but the live action does away with their cowardly act and instead they work with Kuro slowly poisoning Kaya over with Buchi's soup and tea, which is practically all she's eaten since they hatched the plan. Buchi even takes glee in Luffy almost dying from eating the entire pot's contents.
  • Kuro is already a psychotic prick in the original show who planned to kill Kaya, but his live action counterpart takes his time going on a Motive Rant about how much he's always despised her upon revealing his true colors, and sadistically mocks her parents' death and her grief over it.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Luffy is less mean to Koby, where in the manga/anime, he made fun of him and punched him in the head simply because he was annoying him, and beat him up so that the Marines would allow Koby to join them. Here, the worst he does is slap Koby for calling his own dream dumb.
  • While he's still a narcissistic blowhard and abusive father, Morgan is not as corrupt as in the original where he murdered his subordinates on a whim and extorted protection money from the townspeople. Likewise, his son Helmeppo doesn't sic vicious dogs on Rika, he just carelessly bumps into her and calls her stupid.
  • Zoro's aggressiveness is toned down and he only draws swords and kills when it is truly necessary. In the manga by contrast, he was willing to cut down a non-attacking Nami after hearing she has supposedly killed Usopp and made to attack her before Sanji intercepted him. Speaking of, his rivalry and Headbutting Heroes relationship with Sanji is much less violent and bitter than it is in the anime/manga. While they do argue and compete, Zoro is calmer towards Sanji and doesn't threaten to kill him like he does in the manga/anime.
  • While she still gets annoyed with her crewmates' antics, Nami is significantly less short-tempered than she is in the original series, and has never hit the other Straw Hats, something her original counterpart was known for. She's also far less manipulative with men, only luring a single marine into dropping his guard with flirtation in the first episode in contrast to the manga/anime where Nami does it all the time with the lovesick Sanji getting constantly used by her feminine wiles. Additionally, she doesn't steal the Coco Village residents' wallets while leaving the village like she did in the manga/anime.
  • Koushirou doesn't display the sexist attitude that he did in the manga, making Kuina's comment about men surpassing women seem to stem from a lack of self-esteem.
  • Sanji gets a good deal of this, as both his violently short temper towards things that piss him off and his extreme horniness from the anime/manga get very toned down. In the show he only takes Fullbody down due to the latter starting a fight in the Baratie and endangering other customers, unlike the manga/anime where he nearly beats Fullbody to death just for smashing up his table and food. As for Sanji's lecherous behaviour, unlike the manga/anime where he famously swoons and drools over Nami and other beautiful women, he's instead just lightly flirtatious to Nami and Nojiko here rather than desperately trying find love and get laid like his manga/anime counterpart, which is a pragmatic choice as Sanji's manga/anime horny behaviour would be unacceptable in live action.^note  Granted Sanji was actually less pervertedly horny and more of a gentleman earlier on like the live-action version before Flanderization royally kicked in.
  • Garp putting Luffy through a Hilariously Abusive Childhood is naturally (given the show is a Pragmatic Adaptation) toned down massively with Garp only tearing apart a pirate ship Luffy had built but otherwise not harming his grandson in the slightest. He is willing to punch Luffy around when he's an adult as seen by Episode 8 but it's more Anger Born of Worry as he doesn't want Luffy to throw his life away and die as a pirate, showing that he does love his grandson dearly. In the anime/manga Garp does care for Luffy but his main grievances are largely rooted in Luffy choosing to be a pirate instead of a marine, rather than just being concerned for his grandson's life period.
  • Zeff doesn't physically abuse Sanji like he did in the manga, and is far kinder to Luffy when the latter's acting as a chore boy, openly praising him for following instructions despite messing up^note During the fight with Kuroobi, Sanji makes a quip about how Zeff hits harder than he does, but this could just be Trash Talk.
• Adaptational Slimness: Due to the constrains of the medium live-action film and casting decisions, several characters' unusual proportions have been adapted out, such as Nami's big knockers (who now are arguably still above-average, but not rivaling Pamela Anderson's in size as in the manga and anime) or Alvida's obesity and ugliness (the live-action version is only slightly overweight and actually rather good-looking).
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Kuro is an even worse person in this show than he is in the manga. In this adaptation, it's revealed he's been actively poisoning Kaya for years in a convoluted plot to steal her inheritance and has already killed most of his crew.
  • In the manga, Buggy conquered Orange Town and forced its citizens to evacuate to shelter outside the town. In this show, he completely destroyed the town and is holding the citizens hostage in his Circus of Fear, forcing them to participate under the threat of death. This version of Buggy also tortures Luffy, and seems to get a lot of joy out of it.
  • Alvida is much nastier here than she was in the manga, actively smashing her prisoners' heads in with her club if they press her Berserk Button, and her mean behavior towards Koby isn't Played for Laughs like it was in the manga, being decidedly more cruel and demeaning. In episode 8 where she meets Buggy, she also appears to just want to kill Luffy, unlike in the manga where she's fallen for him after he kicked her ass.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • Due to being a Pragmatic Adaptation, the non-Devil Fruit using characters with Charles Atlas Superpower are (with the big exceptions of Mihawk, Garp and Kuro) more realistically grounded. For example, in the manga/anime Zoro and Sanji were capable of great feats of Super-Strength despite being rookies in East Blue. In the live action series however they are "merely" very strong by human standards and don't display anything too crazy beyond some wall running, torso bisecting and Sanji sending Kuroobi flying with Mouton Shot, and even then he doesn't literally kick the fishman through Arlong Park like in the manga/anime.
  • Zeff also got this, partly due to his actions in the Baratie arc and Sanji's flashback getting compressed, but mainly due to being a relatively more grounded character. In the manga/anime version of the flashback, Zeff was shown to be strong and badass enough to kick a mast in half and use said mast to save the swept overboard kid Sanji - here however, all his blood-soaked kicking action happens off screen by the time he encountered Sanji and he doesn't display any super strength. Even in the present as a Handicapped Badass with a peg leg, Zeff could still knock Luffy around and at one point uses Razor Wind from one of his kicks to blow out some flaming pearls flying at him. In the live action series Zeff is realistically well out of fighting prime with Kuroobi able to defeat him effortlessly. Played With though, as in this series Garp the "Hero of the Marines" and rival to Gol D. Roger considers Zeff a Worthy Opponent and respects him as a fellow grizzled geezer. Unlike the manga/anime where Zeff was never considered or mentioned to be within Garp or Roger's ballpark.
  • Hatchan aka Hachi, Arlong's right hand man, due to being heavily Demoted to Extra and being Hachi In Name Only gets this. He only appears in one scene where he plays cards with Nami, doesn't resemble an octopus and is only named in the credits. This contrasts to the manga where Hachi while the silliest and most gentle of the Arlong pirates (with his better nature leading to him going on a Redemption Quest) was still pretty damn badass, being one of the Sun Pirates and wielder of six swords which he uses to effectively fight (an admittedly wounded) Zoro. In this series however Kuroobi takes his position as The Dragon to Arlong.
• Adaptation Deviation: In the manga Devil Fruit users have a weakness to being submerged in all kinds of water, losing access to their abilities and sapping their strength proportional to how much of their body is submerged (with full submersion making them unable to move their bodies at all). In this series the weakness is restricted to sea water specifically and applies to any kind of significant exposure, submersion or otherwise (such as getting heavily splashed with it), and the effect is lessened from total immobility to a severely weakened state (allowing the user to weakly thrash around). This actually serves to circumvent a moment of Early-Installment Weirdness in Luffy's flashback from the source material where he thrashes in the water for several moments after capsizing, even though by later established rules he should have been rendered immobile.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • The first episode expands on the backstory where Zoro duels with Mr. 7.
  • In the same episode, we actually get to directly see Zoro's confrontation with Helmeppo in defense of Rika instead of hearing the story from her. Zoro's first seen Pet the Dog moment in the manga eating Rika's sugary riceballs and calling them delicious, is also combined into this scene instead of happening later chronologically.
  • The "Koby and Helmeppo's Chronicle of Toil" cover story has been expanded into a season-long subplot, with elements of the Post-Enies Lobby arc merged with it.
• Adaptation Explanation Extrication:
  • Kuro's ultimate attack where he moves faster than anyone (including himself) can perceive is adapted as a Flash Step ability, but it's never explicitly said that he's moving too fast to see. Though anime and manga viewers are familiar enough with the trope, it's easy for a first-time viewer to assume he's eaten some form of teleporting Devil Fruit.
  • By extension, since there's no explanation for powers other than those of Devil Fruit (yet), some viewers assume that every power - like Shanks, Kuro, Mihawk, Garp - comes from one and/or that only some Devil Fruits have Super Drowning Skills as a drawback, when they all do.
  • There's no explanation for how Kuro faked his death, let alone the circumstances that led Morgan to take credit for it. In the anime and manga, Jango - who's been Adapted Out here - hypnotized Morgan into believing that he'd won the fight and taken in Kuro (or rather, a lookalike of him). Furthermore since that fight is how Morgan lost his jaw and left hand, that explanation is missing as well.
  • The nature of how Kuina died is kept vague in the show, with Koushirou merely stating, "There's been an accident," presumably because the way she died in the manga would've been hard to portray seriously in a live-action adaptation.
  • There's no explanation for why Sanji doesn't use his hands in combat to punch as well as kick here, with only Zoro noting that he "didn't even get his hands dirty". In the manga, Sanji explains in his very first proper fight that his martial arts style is based on not using his hands as he can't risk damaging them as a chef.
  • In the manga, Nojiko got a tattoo out of solidarity with Nami, who hated the tattoo of the Arlong Pirates that was forced onto her. However, the live-action adaptation has Nojiko believe Nami joined Arlong of her own volition and hates her for it, giving no spoken reason as to why she has a tattoo.
  • The telepathic Transponder Snails are used as telecommunications equipment, with voices and information travelling between snails (with or without electronic speakers). Here, Garp uses one as a megaphone, with the snail just repeating what it heard much louder.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • Sham and Buchi were very close in the manga, while in this adaptation, they can barely stand each other. There is a brief moment where Sham shows her concern that hints that the two might just be Vitriolic Best Buds in this adaptation instead, however.
  • In the original manga, Nojiko knew that the true reason for why Nami was working with Arlong was in order to free Coco Village, resulting in her being Nami's only confidant. Here, Nojiko has hated Nami for years due to believing Nami betrayed Belle-mère's memory (and Nami letting her believe that), not finding out the truth until near the end of "The Girl with the Sawfish Tattoo".
  • In the manga Zoro and Sanji are Headbutting Heroes whom often cannot stand each other and are constantly fighting, arguing and competing over everything. They have both respectively said they be would be willing to kill the other with Zoro even threatening to kill Sanji in their first argument. Here Zoro and Sanji are merely annoyed by each other and don't get into physical fights. Zoro even openly enjoys Sanji's cooking, coming back for seconds.
  • Nami and Sanji's dynamic from manga is altered due to them both being much less hilariously flawed. In the manga Sanji sycophantically worships the ground she walks on and Nami being a teasing femme fatale is willingly to milk his devotion to her for all its worth and manipulate him on a dime — to the point where Usopp comments that she has got him "wrapped around her finger". Here Nami is simply aloof and sarcastic to Sanji's light flirting and irritated at the other boys for teasing that she's gotten a "boyfriend".
  • In the manga it's made very unclear whether Usopp and Kaya are in love or just extremely dear friends like most relationships in the series (Kaya shows no interest to any handsome suitors while keeping Usopp's bounty close). Here they are unmistakably in love and have a Big Damn Kiss before Usopp leaves.
  • Zoro and Nami in the manga didn't initially get along as while Zoro was willing to save her life from enemy pirates, he didn't trust her too much and was enraged by Nami's betrayal at the Baratie to the extent he was willing to make a move to attack her after hearing she had supposedly killed Usopp before Sanji intercepted him. Nami was also willingly to punch his wound from Mihawk when she needed to look evil in front of Arlong. Here Zoro and Nami being the mature ones get along far better and are willingly to confide their heartache to each other. When Zoro is almost killed by Mihawk, Nami is grieved, angry at Luffy for letting him fight Mihawk and looks after Zoro while he rests — unlike in manga where she had stolen Going Merry and buggered off back to her home village by that point.
  • Luffy and Garp's dynamic is changed significantly from what it is in the manga. In the manga Luffy is terrified of Garp due to the Hilariously Abusive Childhood his grandfather subjected him to, to the point of actively avoiding any sort of physical confrontation with his grandfather. Meanwhile, when he isn't abusing Luffy for refusing to become a Marine or whatever offhand thing his grandson did to offend him, Garp treats him well and the two clearly love each other. Here, while the love is still present, their relationship is far more tense, with Luffy being actively resentful of his grandfather for constantly trying to stifle his dreams of being a pirate. In turn, Garp's anguish over the idea of Luffy becoming a pirate and having to hunt down his own family is more visible, making him come off as more sympathetic.
• Adapted Out:
  • Richie the Lion is absent from Buggy's Circus of Fear, which Buggy himself lampshades by pointedly asking where the lion is while criticizing the performers' work.
  • The Straw Hats never visit the Island of Rare Animals (and by extension, Gaimon). However, the island is shown on the map in the credits.
  • The Usopp Pirates are cut, as Usopp meets the crew as a worker in the shipyard that belonged to Kaya's parents and takes them straight to the mansion.
  • The Black Cat Pirates outside of Kuro, Sham, and Buchi have been removed, though Jango cameos on a wanted poster.
  • Zoro's bounty-hunting friends Johnny and Yosaku are removed, as the Straw Hats find Baratie by happenstance.
  • Carne, the other boisterous chef of Baratie alongside Zeff, Sanji and Patty is not to be seen.
  • Don Krieg only shows up getting curbstomped by Mihawk, and never gets to the Baratie. The same goes for his crew, they're never seen save for Pearl laying in the ground behind Krieg. Gin, unnamed, does appear in his original role as the starving pirate, but disappears afterwards.
  • Nako, the Coco Village's resident doctor, is nowhere to be found.
  • Momoo, the Arlong Pirates' pet Sea Cow is missing in action.
• Amusement Park of Doom: Unlike in the manga and anime, Arlong Park resembles an amusement park in this adaptation to reflect the revelation later in the series that it was meant to mirror the amusement park on Sabaody Archipelago, which the fishmen always wanted to visit but have never been allowed to.
• Arc Villain: With certain characters being dropped or demoted, and the arcs being more interconnected than in the manga, Arlong and Garp are effectively promoted to being saga-level antagonists. More specifically:
  • Arlong becomes the Greater-Scope Villain until the end of the season, establishing that he basically rules the East Blue, rather than just hanging out in Arlong Park. This includes a specific instance where Buggy informs Arlong about something, whereas in the manga, the two are independent villains.
  • Garp is a Hero Antagonist, chasing Luffy in part due to his job as a Marine Vice-Admiral, in part due to his love for his grandson, and in part because it's fun and he sees him as a Worthy Opponent.
• Ascended Extra: Bogard, Garp's nominal second in command in the Manga, gets a lot more focus here and his role as Garp's Number Two is a lot more fleshed out than in the original canon.
  • Coby and Helmeppo have a lot more screen presence as Garp's new proteges. In the original material, they only had the occasional few cameos until the end of the Waters 7 arc.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: In "Romance Dawn" when Luffy asks Nami if the Marines found them out after an alarm sounded in the base:
  Nami: No, I think they're looking for the other thief and idiot pirate trying to steal a map.
  Luffy: What are the odds of that? (notices Nami glaring at him) ...[I'm] Kidding.
• Award-Bait Song: Episode 8 ends with "My Sails are Set" performed by Aurora.
• Boss Subtitles: Powerful and/or feared pirates are revealed with a Wanted Poster showing their names and bounty, which they tear through to complete the introduction.
• Bloodier and Gorier:
  • There's a bit more realistic violence in the live-action series than in the manga and anime. In the first episode alone, Gold Roger's execution by impalement is fully shown, with him dying laughing out on the platform, Koby being made to clean up the blood left behind by Alvida smashing a man's head in with her mace, and Zoro is shown cutting Mister 7 in half (with the aftermath being shown).
  • Inverted with the scene of Nami stabbing her Arlong tattoo; in the manga, she stabs herself so many times she practically carves the tattoo off her arm, and leaves an ugly scar. Here, she just jabs herself a couple of times, and even then, it's not shown to be bleeding very profusely.
• Call-Forward:
  • Wanted posters that appear in the series include of course most of the characters that directly show up in it, but also some that the Straw Hats won't run into for a very long time, like Bellamy, Foxy, and Cavendish.
  • The chest containing the Gum-Gum Fruit has a Marine logo on it. Where Shanks has acquired it wasn't specified until much later in the manga.
  • The live-action version of Arlong Park resembles an amusement park in a similar vein to Sabaody Park.
  • The framing and sound design of the scene where Luffy eats the Gum-Gum fruit imply that it's calling out to him, almost as if it has a mind of its own and wants to be eaten.
• Calling Your Attacks: It's just as common here as in the source material. Luffy lampshades this in the first episode, telling Zoro that all great fighters call out their finishing moves. Zoro denies this, which makes sense because he has a sword in his mouth while using his full three-sword style and therefore can't call his attacks. Sanji says the same thing as Luffy in episode 8.
• Casting Gag:
  • Roronoa Zoro is portrayed by Mackenyu, who had previously portrayed another swordsman: Enishi Yukishiro from Rurouni Kenshin: The Final.
  • As with his previous role in Black Sails, Rory Acton Burnell plays a sailor in the form of Marine Captain Nezumi.
  • Sanji's actor Taz Skylar wrote and starred as Miles in the stage play Warheads, while Zeff's actor Craig Fairbrass played the character's father figure Deeks.
  • The narrator, played by Ian McShane, has previously played Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
• Character in the Logo: In the logo, there is an image of Luffy standing in the nose-hole of the skull.
• Closest Thing We Got: After Zoro gets deeply wounded by Mihawk, Zeff and Sanji admit that the closest doctor is two days away, and they administer first aid to him by slicing up yellowtail and grafting its skin onto the sewn cuts. Zeff, as a former pirate who had experience with this sort of thing, claims that this is an old sailing remedy for wounds.^note Which is actually Truth in Television, as fish skin legitimately has anti-inflammatory properties and, in a pinch, can be quite effective as a wound dressing.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Luffy and Koby view a series of wanted posters in Shells Town, the former notices that many of these are pirates. Koby remarks that it's terrible seeing this, to which Luffy agrees... before he asks where his face is among the posters.
• Comically Small Demand: Before Luffy, Zoro, and Nami leave Orange Town, Mayor Boodle offers what little food the village has to them. Luffy initially refuses to take the small crate of food knowing how the town suffered under Buggy, but changes his mind to take a single piece of bread to Mayor Boodle's amusement. Given his Big Eater tendencies, it was a nice gesture.
• Compressed Adaptation: Inevitable, considering how massive the manga and anime are compared to the short episode count of the live-action streaming series. The first 8 episodes of season one cover the first 44 episodes of the anime, which in turn translates to the first 95 chapters of the manga.
• Converse with the Unconscious: After Zoro is slashed to within an inch of his life by Mihawk and then given hasty medical treatment, Zeff recommends talking to them to help them cling to life and recover. We see both Nami and Luffy doing this, with difficulty finding their words.
• Couch Gag: The series' logo is made character-specific in each episode, swapping Luffy's Jolly Roger with theirs along with several other changes.
• Curse Cut Short: Buggy sings a sea shanty to persuade Zoro not to drop his head into the ocean, but when the song turns out to be making fun of Nami, Zoro instead drops him in a barrel, just as Buggy is about to say "ass".
  Buggy: Oh, there once was a girl with tangerine hair
  Stole my map and left me stranded somewhere
  Truly a crafty and crooked young lass
  But you can't deny she had a spectacular— Ow! God, right on my nose!
• Cynicism Catalyst: Nami is determined to never be as afraid and helpless as she was when Arlong murdered her adoptive mother as a little girl, but believes she must do this by using people and relying only on herself.

D-W

• Darker and Edgier: Compared to the original series, this one is substantially grittier with a darker lighting tone used overall, more violent, and with stronger instances of swearing. Additionally, and unlike a rather infamous trait of the manga where nobody dies outside of flashbacks (until much later), we see plenty of brutal deaths in the live-action, such as Merry and Krieg. That being said, it's still One Piece, and is thusly still an incredibly lighthearted and fun swashbuckler.
• Dawn of an Era: While Gold Roger's execution set things in motion, it's suggested that only now, twenty years later, is the new age of piracy truly starting; Zeff warns Garp that change is coming whether he wants it or not and Luffy - with his similarity to Roger - is at the forefront of that change.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Kuro successfully kills Merry upon revealing his true nature to him as opposed to the original manga, where Merry was grievously wounded, but survived.
  • Krieg is killed by Mihawk immediately after the two are introduced, whereas, in the manga, he survives Mihawk's attack.
• Death by Origin Story:
  • Just like in the previous adaptations, Arlong gunning down Belle-mere is an important part of Nami and Nojiko's backstory.
  • While Zoro's goal was already to be the greatest swordsman, Kuina's death fully solidifies it and also fuels his determination to survive difficult situations, as seen when he's trapped in the well at Kaya's mansion.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Kuro's right-hand man, Jango, only appears as a cameo in Episode 1 as one of several Bounty Posters that Luffy is looking at.
  • Jango's future unlikely friend Lieutenant Fullbody is slightly luckier: he appears as an unnamed customer in Baratie arguing with another patron before Sanji knocks them both out before the fight can escalate.
  • The subplots of the residents of Orange Town are removed, as the town has already been destroyed by the time the Straw Hats arrive. As a consequence, Mayor Boodle's planned one-man revolution is reduced to him standing up to Buggy during Luffy's torture, and Chouchou is reduced to an unnamed cameo at the episode's end.
  • Unlike in the manga, where Don Krieg was the Arc Villain of the Baratie Arc, here he only lasts a single scene before being killed by Mihawk.
  • His right-hand man, Gin, also has his role significantly diminished, only appearing to be fed by Sanji and to warn Luffy about how dangerous the Grand Line is before disappearing from the story altogether.
  • Hachi only appears in a single scene where he's playing cards against Nami, and isn't even referred to by name, only being referred to as Hachi in the credits.
• Dub Name Change:
  • Germany has the following changes, the same as the anime:
    • Monkey D. Luffy is called Monkey D. Ruffy.
    • Roronoa Zoro is called Lorenor Zorro.
    • Usopp is called Lysop.
    • Benn Beckman is called Ben Beckman.
    • Dracule Mihawk is called Mihawk Dulacre.
    • Mayor Boodle is called Mayor Poodle.
    • Merry is called Lämmchen (Lambkin).
    • Don Krieg is called Don Creek.
    • Chef Zeff is called Chefkoch Jeff.
    • Sham and Buchi are called Siam and Flecki (Patchy).
    • Kuroobi is called Schwarzgurt (Blackbelt).
    • Kuro is called Captain Black, while his butler persona Klahadore is called Beauregard.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Zoro notes that they could have turned in Buggy for the 15,000,000 Berry price on his head. Luffy reminds Zoro that all three of them, including Zoro, are wanted fugitives and would have been arrested on the spot the minute they handed Buggy over.
• Evolving Title Screen: In a sense. The "One Piece" title features a different variant of its skull each time, usually as a visual indicator of whom the focus character is.
• Fictional Currency: The fictional world of One Piece has a fictional monetary unit called "Berry" and is commonly used throughout the world such as the bounties on wanted posters.
• Foil: Koby is set up to be one for Luffy, in the sense that they both are set up to grow as characters as the story goes on. They both learn more about the world, deal with serious situations, and develop into their roles as Marine and Pirate Captain, respectively.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Zoro gets angry when Helmeppo steals his Wado Ichimonji. It's later shown to be a Tragic Keepsake from Kuina.
  • Buggy despises Shanks because he accuses Red Hair of overshadowing him despite having served in the same crew when they were younger. When the Warlord of the Seas Mihawk goes to visit Shanks on the beach, he quips how "a man of [his] status" was slumming it, showing that Shanks is a far more influential character in the world than the likes of Buggy being an Emperor of Seas
  • Sanji actually sheds some tears (that he wipes away) upon hearing Nami and Nojiko's traumatic backstory (their mother being killed in front of them) unlike Luffy, Usopp and Zoro who are simply horrified. Viewers of the manga and anime will know Sanji is remembering his own mother's death.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • During the flashback that shows how Luffy got his powers, the chest the Gum-gum fruit is in is clearly marked with the Marine symbol, which the manga revealed in Wano was actually the case.
  • The world map in the opening shot has details not present in the adaptation, like Roger's ship Oro Jackson, Momoo, the giant bird from the One Piece: Ace's Story manga adaptation, and other locations mentioned further in the original story.
  • In general, every time there's a bulletin board or posters on a wall, a close look will reveal a few easter eggs. Wanted posters are an obvious one, but also news such as war raging on Broc Coli Island, the sudden death of famous actress Victoria Cindry, or the execution of Tom the shipwright.
  • Mihawk's raft can be spotted among the ships before Roger's execution.
  • During Roger's execution, you can see younger versions of several characters among the crowd, such as Shanks, Mihawk, and Buggy. Also, there is Dragon, who is only recognizable from behind due to his iconic green cloak, and Smoker, whose adult self only appears in the final Sequel Hook of the last episode of the season.
  • During Krieg's "battle" with Mihawk, a dead Pearl can be seen sprawled on the sand in the background.
  • In the newspaper containing Luffy's bounty poster there is an article headline about recent Revolutionary Army activities.
  • In the credits, the map's commissioner is stated to be Commander-In-Chief Kong, who is the head of the Marines, the Warlords, espionage agents, Cipher Pols, and Impel Down and Enies Lobby staff as well.
• Friendship Denial: After their fight with Captain Morgan, Luffy states that he can sense some tension in the crew. Zoro and Nami quickly deny that they are a crew.
• Gender Flip: Sham is made a woman in this adaptation.
• Guns Are Worthless: Guns are seldom shown being effective in combat, due to so many characters being Immune to Bullets or being fast enough to dodge, deflect or bisect them. Most fighters, pirates and marines alike, don't even bother carrying guns most of the time. The only character who we see successfully defeating an enemy with a gun is Yasopp, for whom sharpshooting is his schtick.
  • Given that the guns in question appear to be flintlocks, this may possess a touch of Truth in Television as their lethality is well below that of modern firearms.
• Hard Truth Aesop: The series puts an extra emphasis that dreams are beautiful, but the reality is often very harsh and those who seek to follow their dreams will have to face that harsh reality sooner or later.
  • Koby has always wanted to be a marine, but hesitates after seeing the corruption in Morgan's base and the Warlord system in action, with Garp lecturing him that you can't enforce justice by keeping your hands clean, and sometimes you have to follow orders that are unjust.
  • Young Luffy has been hyping up Shanks like a superhero and gets mad at him for not treating him like a pirate, despite being a kid. Then he sees how bloody real pirate fights get and agrees to get stronger. Turns out Garp has been pursuing Luffy to see if he's still just as determined to follow this path.
  • Usopp has been spreading lies to the whole town that pirates - meaning his father - are coming, to cheer up his mom. She eventually dies in front of him without getting to see her husband, and when he's frantically trying to get the town's help when real pirates have appeared, the townspeople refuse to even consider listening because of his years of Crying Wolf.
  • Kuro gives a speech to Luffy that being a pirate is childish, as once you do, marines, other pirates, and even your own crew want you dead and you have no time for adventures.
  • Zoro feels pretty confident against the World's Greatest Swordsman because he has a promise to his childhood friend to fulfill, before being shown to actually be no match for that legend and that he's still got a long road ahead.
  • Unlike in the manga, Zoro has a night to prepare for his duel with Mihawk. Luffy, as the captain, deliberately permits this after a discussion. When Zoro nearly dies, Nami puts full blame for this on Luffy, who, after Nami leaves, realizes he can lose everything due to his choices.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Kuro needs Kaya to live only until midnight before he can kill her. While he couldn't argue with her when she invites Straw Hats for dinner, he has a valid excuse to not let them stay overnight, considering she's sick and Luffy reveals himself to be a pirate. He also drops all pretenses and openly goes on the attack once midnight strikes, allowing Usopp and Nami to convince Kaya of the truth when beforehand she'd been doubting Usopp and questioning his sanity.
• Impossible Task: Arlong demanded one hundred million berries from Nami in exchange for permanently leaving her hometown in peace. Of course, he expected she could never earn or steal such a sum in her lifetime, and when she does he sends a corrupt Marine captain he's in cahoots with to take it away.
• In the Blood: The promotion of Garp to being a deuteragonist of Koby's subplot helps illustrate how similar he is to Luffy.
  • They both value freedom, to the point they show disgust at the concept of being tied down. Garp has turned down multiple promotions, since the higher you go, the more you trade your freedom for power.
  • They both value loyalty, willing to impose their will on others to help stop bad people from doing bad things, protecting the innocent, etc. The only difference is their methods.
• Ironic Echo: Zoro demonstrates his skill in the first episode by taking down a bunch of Marines through Cherry Tapping, never actually pulling out any of his swords. Something similar happens later on, except this time, Zoro is the one being made an example of by Mihawk, who's using a comically tiny knife in place of his actual sword.
• It's Personal: As in the manga, Luffy decides to go to Arlong Park and take on the Arlong Pirates after realizing how much Nami has suffered under them.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Buggy's proper introduction to the Straw Hats has him go off on his Buggy Pirates for getting the execution wrong and at the very end of his complaints he questions Mohji where their Lion is, acknowledging the omission of Richie in the adaptation.
• Lighthouse Point: This incarnation of the Baratie restaurant has a lighthouse as part of its design.
• Live-Action Adaptation: The series is a live-action adaptation of Oda's iconic manga.
• Macguffin: The map to the Grand Line in Season One. As one of the few means to navigate the entrance of that dangerous stretch of ocean, everyone with lofty goals wants to get their hands on it.
• Missing Steps Plan: From gathering a crew to buying a ship to paying a bill at a restaurant, Luffy keeps assuring folks he'll pay them in full once he finds the One Piece and the vast treasure. He's honestly surprised when people refuse to accept promises to pay from a treasure Luffy isn't close to owning.
• Mythology Gag:
  • While the show couldn't adapt everything from the source manga, it throws in a little nod to the missing material once in a while. Examples include Buggy's very loud complaining about his show not having a dancing lion (as Richie the lion was skipped and his tamer Mohji turned into a silent extra), Jango's wanted poster briefly showing up, or Kaya's garden featuring bushes shaped like the animals from Gaimon's island.
  • Most outfits the Straw Hats wear are taken from the various manga's volume covers.
  • During a flashback scene to Shanks' time at Windmill Village, Bink's Brew can be heard in the background.
  • Zoro, feeling as if he's seen Klahadore from somewhere, asks if they might have met at the Funky Bar on Mirror-Ball Island, the setting of the cover story "Jango's Dance Carnival".
  • Sanji's newest experimental dish, Elephant True Bluefin Sautee, is based on one of the dishes from the One Piece Pirate Recipes cookbook. It uses elephant tuna, the fish Sanji discovered in Loguetown in the manga that furthered his belief that the All Blue must be real.
  • In the original manga, Zeff suggests that the reason Mihawk attacked the Krieg pirates was because they woke him up from his nap. In this adaptation, Mihawk tells Don Krieg that's the exact reason why he's attacking them.
  • Nami reads the storybook Liar Noland to Zoro while the latter was in a coma after his loss against Mihawk.
  • It's subtle, but the actor playing Arlong does the character's signature "Sha-ha-ha" laugh.
  • Buggy introduces himself as the Flashy Fool and the Genius Jester. The former is a reference to his Character Catchphrase in the manga that has him adding "Flashy" to every sentence, while the latter is his epithet after becoming one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
• Non-Indicative Name: Several towns are named after foods, while having nothing to do with them.
• Opening Narration: The first episode starts with expositionary narration, courtesy of Ian McShane.
• Open Secret: While the revelation that Garp is Luffy's biological grandfather comes as a surprise to the younger characters of the cast, older characters such as Zeff and Mihawk are revealed to have already been aware of it.
• Painting the Medium: When a major pirate is introduced, their wanted poster flies on-screen and apparently gets stuck. Most characters then removes the poster (e.g., cutting it up). Don Krieg in particular grabs and crumples his up before throwing it away. Roger, because he is handcuffed, lets the wind blow it away.
• Pictorial Letter Substitution: As part of its Couch Gag, the logo swaps several letters of "One Piece" with pictures; a Jolly Roger appears as the O, while an item associated with a major character stands in for the I (Zoro's Wado Ichimonji, Buggy's knife, Usopp's hammer, Zeff's peg leg, etc.). Arlong's logo even has his sword stand in for the last E, and the Sun Pirates' logo as the hole inside the P.
• Pragmatic Adaptation:
  • Many things in the original manga and anime don't make it into this version. This can be due to: budget constraints; impossible things that would be difficult to replicate in real life, even with CGI; arcs considered too minor, and therefore removed to streamline the story; minor characters getting cut, since there are so many of them; locations being consolidated; etc.
  • One specific example worth noting is Luffy's footware being changed from sandals to proper shoes. The creators tried thinking of many ways to avoid it, but sandals would've proven too dangerous to wear for all of the stunts. It was ultimately Oda himself who told the creators to go with the shoes out of concern for Godoy's well-being.
• Precision F-Strike: The final episode of Season 1 has Buggy pull a Screw This, I'm Outta Here on the Straw Hats despite them reuniting him with the rest of his body, prompting Zoro to mutter "fucking clown."
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Luffy uses his Gum Gum Gatling, an intense barrage of stretched punches, against Arlong.
• Reconstruction: The series justifies the bad reputation pirates get by relocating several fight scenes from outdoor locations away from innocent bystanders to smaller and more populous areas, leading to plenty of collateral damage. Standout examples include the battle with Kuro taking place entirely within Kaya's mansion and the Baratie lacking the wharf extension that served as a battleground.
• Remake Cameo:
  • In the Latin American Spanish dub:
    • Arlong is voiced by Dan Osorio, who played Smoker in the anime's 2020 re-dub for Netflix.
    • Óscar Gómez (the original voice of Nefeltari Cobra) instead voices Genzo.
    • Kuroobi is voiced by Humberto Solórzano, who previously voiced Genzo in the anime's 2020 Netflix re-dub.
    • Alejandro Orozco (Usopp in the anime's Netflix re-dub) is instead the voice of Yasopp.
    • Mihawk is voiced by Daniel del Roble, who voiced Zeff in the anime's Netflix re-dub.
  • In the Italian dub:
    • Shanks is voiced by Renato Novara, who plays Luffy in the anime dub.
    • Garp is voiced by Dario Oppido, who has been Crocodile's fourth voice actor, Whitebeard's third voice, Blackbeard's second voice, and Basil Hawkins's first voice in the anime.
    • Mihawk is voiced by Maurizio Merluzzo, who has been Koby's second voice, Hermeppo's fourth voice and Doflamingo's sixth voice in the anime dub.
    • Nojiko is voiced by Federica Simonelli, who voiced Uta in the dub of One Piece Film: Red.
    • Higuma is voiced by Riccardo Lombardo, who voiced Mr. 5 and Mashira in the anime dub.
• Retro Universe: The story mixes and matches several time periods; the wooden sailing ships and the sheer abundance of pirates obviously harken from The Golden Age of Piracy, but most people dress in fashions that wouldn't be out of place in the 21st century.
• Rewatch Bonus:
  • Zeff's initial appearances has him be harsh and authoritative towards Sanji, trying to do everything to get Sanji to quit Baratie. But after Sanji's flashback in episode 6, it's actually revealed Zeff was very supportive of Sanji's dream of finding the All Blue and his main conflict with Sanji is that he wants Sanji to follow his dreams rather than spend his life as a chef at Baratie out of an obligation towards Zeff.
  • In Episode 3 Buggy's right ear appears to be missing. We later learn that he placed his right ear on Luffy's hat to spy on him.
  • The last two episodes have the Straw Hat crew hauling around Buggy's head in a bag. In episode 3, Zoro mentions that they should've stuffed Buggy's head in a bag and brought it with them after looking at Buggy's wanted poster.
• Running Gag: Luffy forgetting and messing up Buggy's name.
• Saved to Enslave: After Buggy is defeated, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami free the captive citizens of Orange Town, to which Mayor Boodle asks if the citizens are now their prisoners. Fortunately for them, Luffy replies he isn't that type of pirate.
• Schizo Tech: Like the manga series, but more noticeable from the start. Despite ostensibly being a Wooden Ships and Iron Men setting, houses have electric lights and the live-action show has expanded on the iconic Transponder Snails of the manga by making a smaller version of them that can be used as a kind of bluetooth earpiece. Also a sign of Technology Marches On since the saga being adapted was written in the late 90s.
• Self-Deprecation: Zoro scoffs at the idea of pirates calling out their attacks, something that is frequently done in the manga/anime. Even more hilariously, nobody is more guilty of this than the manga/anime version of Zoro, who has some of the longest attack names in the history of anime.
• Sequel Hook: The first season's final episode ends with the Straw Hats closing in on Reverse Mountain, Garp offering to personally train Coby and Helmeppo, Buggy and Alvida teaming up to get revenge on Luffy, and Captain Smoker coming across Luffy's wanted poster.
• Shadow Archetype: The three major villains the Straw Hats face each embody a corrupt version of the Pirate King's great possessions, what Luffy longs for.
  • Buggy represents the desire for fame. He destroys towns and menaces populations to make certain the world learns his name, no matter how much innocent blood he has to spill along the way.
  • Kuro represents the desire for wealth. After growing exhausted with having a constant target on his back, he dedicates years to poisoning an innocent girl and stealing her money so he can retire in luxury. He also represents the dangers of piracy — unlike Luffy, who enthusiastically welcomes any challenge and trusts his friends to help him, Kuro became paranoid and started treating everyone around him like pawns, using them to ensure a safer life for himself.
  • Arlong represents the desire for power. As a second-class citizen, Arlong plans to conquer the Blue Sea with his fellow fishmen. Unfortunately, in doing so, he became the very thing that drove him to piracy and conquest, to the suffering and misery of everyone else.
• Shirtless Scene: There is a brief scene where Sanji takes his jacket and his shirt off to rescue a drowning Luffy.
• Spared by the Adaptation: As opposed to the Uncertain Doom fate he had in the original manga, Gin, Don Krieg's Commander, is the Sole Survivor of Mihawk's massacre of their fleet, and doesn't stick around when the action at Baratie starts.
• Stock Scream: The Wilhelm Scream can be heard twice. Once when Mihawk slices Don Krieg's ship in half, and again when Zoro cuts down a fishman at the battle for Coco Village in episode 8.
• Super Drowning Skills: As in the source material, Devil Fruit users are inherently subject to this, being unable to move or use their powers while submersed in seawater.
• Theme Music Withholding: The series mostly sticks to its own original soundtrack instead of the various iconic themes from the anime (save for a brief cameo of Bink's Brew in the first episode). It isn't until episode 4 when the Straw Hats set sail on the Going Merry for the first time that one of the old songs takes center stage with a rendition of the anime's first opening "We Are".
• Time-Shifted Actor:
  • Colton Osorio plays Luffy as a child, with Iñaki Godoy portraying him as a 17-year-old.
  • Zoro is played by Maximilian Piazza as a child and by Mackenyu as an adult.
  • Sophie Ellenbogen plays Nami as a toddler, with her younger self played by Lily Fisher, and her older self portrayed by Emily Rudd.
  • Usopp's younger and older selves are portrayed by Kevin Saula and Jacob Romero Gibson, respectively.
  • Sanji is portrayed by Christian Conroy as a child in flashbacks, with his older self portrayed by Taz Skylar.
  • Nojiko is played by Elihle Modise as a toddler, by Kylie Ashfield as a child, and by Chioma Umeala as an adult.
• Trauma Button: Nami has hers pressed a few times: when she sees the town that Buggy sacked and later when hearing about Kaya's mother dying, Nami immediately has a brief Heroic BSoD, as Arlong did the same to villages near her hometown and killed her mother. Fittingly, it softens her up significantly toward Kaya too, as they have a Missing Mom in common.
• Truer to the Text: Zeff's instance of Autocannibalism, severing off his leg and eating it to not starve, is much closer to how the scene was handled in the manga, whereas the anime had Zeff cut it off underwater to save Sanji.
• Variable Mix: The theme song has different arrangements depending on which character the narrative is focused on. This is most noticeable in the finale, when the story jumps rapidly between multiple pirates as they each see Luffy's wanted poster for the first time, with the music smoothly switching in style along with it.
• "Wanted!" Poster: Every pirate worth their salt has a wanted poster issued by the World Government, with a bounty measured in berry. Unique to this adaptation, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who are pirates who have allied with the Marines and thus have their bounties frozen, keep their wanted posters, but instead of a cash prize, their poster states that their bounties have been cancelled.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Devil Fruit user's weakness to the sea is the same as in the original series. In addition to being unable to swim, merely being splashed by seawater is enough to sap them of their strength, as Arlong exploited against Luffy during their fight at Baratie.
• We Can Rule Together: Morgan offers Zoro amnesty for thrashing his men in exchange for signing on with the Marines.
• Wham Line: A major example for those watching the show without familiarity with the manga - and a minor one for those who are familiar, given that The Reveal happens much earlier here than in the source material - occurs at the climax of Episode 4, as Luffy looks through the telescope to see Garp standing on the deck of the Marine ship:
  Luffy: Grandpa?
  Zoro, Nami, and Usopp: GRANDPA?!
• Wham Shot: In episode 5, Garp claims to need no backup in taking care of the Strawhats, calmly telling Coby "We'll handle this ourselves''. He then goes to the snail phone, and calls the dreaded pirate Mihawk, who introduced with the usual dramatic Wanted poster...but his portrait shows BOUNTY CANCELLED, revealing to the viewer things between Marines and Pirates are not as clear cut as they seem.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Sham and Buchi dump still-alive unconscious Zoro into the well, along with his swords. When he manages to climb out, Sham suggests keeping his swords with them next time.
• Windmill Scenery: Windmill Village, true to its name, has a fair number of windmills.
• World of Technicolor Hair: A rare live-action example of this trope as a result of the series hewing closely to the aesthetics of the source material, which includes characters having a wide spectrum of hair colors. Even characters with realistic hair colors (like blond and red) have the vibrancy of said colors enhanced to better match this aesthetic.

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"We haven't sailed together for very long, but I know we've got each other's backs."

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