I can’t do this unbiasedly, I discovered the One Piece manga in high school and have loved it ever since and learning Netflix was gonna make a live-action series after the Cowboy Bebop and Resident Evil shows my expectations were at rock bottom. Not to mention other anime live action adaptations like Dragon Ball Evolution.
So whoever reads this, believe me this show is actually pretty damn good. No it can’t really replicate the source material visually (bye-bye long nose and eyebrow) but like the best adaptations it still understands what people about like the series. Though Oda himself doing some rewrites might’ve had something to do with it.
The cast, particularly the five shine and keep the show together. Iñaki Godoy's Luffy had probably the hardest task and I feared it would be like live-action Ed but he struck a great balance of Jack Sparrow’s charm and Peter Pan energy and is a delight to watch. Mackenyu's Zoro looks, sounds and fights the part even if I found his edginess a little try hard and distracting at times. Emily Rudd’s Nami I liken to MCU Black Widow in that she has to bring a bodacious femme fatale to life but adds realism to it, she reacts in annoyance to flirtation rather than going along with it. Jacob Gibso's Usopp while I know people will make “cowardly black guy stereotype” accusations was fun, cool and heartfelt with his Kaya stuff. Taz Skylar's Sanji though distracting to see both eyes was legitimately cool and charismatic, I know they had to tone down the horniness but the character’s loser qualities contrasted with his badassery is what makes him my favourite character.
The pacing was alright for the first half but did feel choppy around the Baratie, the omission of the Don Krieg arc with Gin just tacked on, was painful as that was the first arc I read in the library at high school. The choreography was awesome even if some of the effects and costumes were ropey (*cough* fishmen). Buggy being a hot topic Joker took something getting used to. Garp, Zeff, Shanks and Mihawk were fantastic though. Overall I’m excited to see how far they can go with this.
Kung-Fu Hustle Pirates edition.
I can’t do this unbiasedly, I discovered the One Piece manga in high school and have loved it ever since and learning Netflix was gonna make a live-action series after the Cowboy Bebop and Resident Evil shows my expectations were at rock bottom. Not to mention other anime live action adaptations like Dragon Ball Evolution.
So whoever reads this, believe me this show is actually pretty damn good. No it can’t really replicate the source material visually (bye-bye long nose and eyebrow) but like the best adaptations it still understands what people about like the series. Though Oda himself doing some rewrites might’ve had something to do with it.
The cast, particularly the five shine and keep the show together. Iñaki Godoy's Luffy had probably the hardest task and I feared it would be like live-action Ed but he struck a great balance of Jack Sparrow’s charm and Peter Pan energy and is a delight to watch. Mackenyu's Zoro looks, sounds and fights the part even if I found his edginess a little try hard and distracting at times. Emily Rudd’s Nami I liken to MCU Black Widow in that she has to bring a bodacious femme fatale to life but adds realism to it, she reacts in annoyance to flirtation rather than going along with it. Jacob Gibso's Usopp while I know people will make “cowardly black guy stereotype” accusations was fun, cool and heartfelt with his Kaya stuff. Taz Skylar's Sanji though distracting to see both eyes was legitimately cool and charismatic, I know they had to tone down the horniness but the character’s loser qualities contrasted with his badassery is what makes him my favourite character.
The pacing was alright for the first half but did feel choppy around the Baratie, the omission of the Don Krieg arc with Gin just tacked on, was painful as that was the first arc I read in the library at high school. The choreography was awesome even if some of the effects and costumes were ropey (*cough* fishmen). Buggy being a hot topic Joker took something getting used to. Garp, Zeff, Shanks and Mihawk were fantastic though. Overall I’m excited to see how far they can go with this.