One Piece Live Action exceeded everyone’s expectations. To be fair, people did not have a very high expectation from the show, especially the hardcore One Piece fans. They were excited about the new series but not excited. This is because past anime adaptations were disasters and were not up to the mark. Anime is not alone in this regard; video games are also victims of live actions.
But somehow, One Piece Live Action broke that curse and included itself in the elite list of hit anime and adaptations. It should be known that it is impossible to portray 100% of the anime in a live-action. This was the case with another live-action adaptation of a cult video game. One Piece Live Action just followed their footsteps.
One Piece Live Action Followed HBO’s Last Of Us
One Piece is not the only one to break the anime/video game live-action adaptation. The Last of Us achieved this feat earlier this year. The Last of Us is a video game made by Naughty Dog and is exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation. It was released in 2013 and won “The Game of the Year” title. A couple of years back, HBO announced the live adaptation of the game. The Last of Us Series premiered on 15 January 2023.
Also Read: Two Straw Hat Pirates Who Didn’t Make it to Season 1 Will Be a Nightmare for Netflix One Piece S2
People were having mixed views before its release. But after they saw it, they believed it was one of the best series ever. The Last of Us Series starred Pedro Pascal in the lead as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Elle. The series was made based on the video game, but they added a few of their own elements, which proved to be the cause for the commercial success. One Piece Live Action followed the footsteps of Pedro Pascal’s The Last of Us, and they too became a commercially hit series.
One Piece Live Action producer Steven Maeda said it was not easy. Moreover, it is impossible to pick up every detail as One Piece has more than 1,000 episodes. So, they took the liberty of changing a few things. The road ahead was tough, but they managed to crack the code. Steven Maeda said,” The challenges were huge. And certainly, manga and anime to live-action adaptations do not have the greatest track record, and of course, we were very aware of that. But again, it was saying to ourselves, you know what?”
He added,” There’s no reason why manga should not be adaptable to live-action if it’s the right manga and if it’s presented with the right love and care for the source material, but then also not afraid to expand out and do some things differently if it helps the show, this TV series part of the show, without being inconsistent with anything in the underlying intellectual property. So that was the real challenge, is trying to figure out how best to adapt, and it’s tough.”
Did The Live Action Fulfil The Anime’s Legacy?
Netflix’s One Piece season 1 has fulfilled the anime’s legacy. One Piece is known worldwide for its manga, anime, and movies. Now, with the live-action, it will become a household name in the adaptation department. One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda was part of the production team. He helped to build the story arcs. Steven Maeda revealed that they told Inaki Godoy to portray Monkey D. Luffy according to the way it is written. But he changed some of the surroundings and left a few secrets for the viewers.
Overall, the fans are ready for season 2. The Last of Us showed the path, and One Piece followed it. This will surely open the adaptation road for other anime/video games, too. For the moment, let us enjoy One Piece, a masterpiece of Eiichiro Oda.
Source: Collider
