One Piece
Miriam Herrera
Recap
"Wealth, Fame, Power..."
Those words capture many children in 1999, and the story began there, showing the pirates that would travel through the sea, filled with adventures and fighting against the marines and the World Government. As a young girl who was introduced to the manga first by her older brother, and then watching the anime with them. The world became a vast sea filled with stories that I couldn't help but want to get my hands on. Following the anime my whole life, and making claims of being the Queen of the Pirates. I will be diving into the Live Action of One Piece and see what this world has to offer one more time.
So join me on my ship, become my crew for the next eight days as we sail together in this adventure.
Review
While playing the first episode of the Live Action of One Piece, the changes are very noticeable. The adaptation is more somber than I had expected, while the manga does show a much uncensored part of One Piece, unlike the anime in the older version. I can see those bringing in more people as they see the darker aspects of being a pirate. However, while the Live Action is pushing out one-hour episodes for us to dive into the depths of the world of One Piece, the changes they have made takes a small amount of what we love about One Piece away from it.
The speeches sound choppy and the costumes that they have for the characters seem very downgraded in a way. While the transitions from the flashbacks for the characters are smooth and something I did enjoy, the interaction between the actors seem to be a hit or miss, while some have the chemistry, and others do appear to be forced. The small jokes give a chuckle here and there, but not the belly laugh we would have all desired. The action to the Live Action is enjoyable and does put you on the edge of your sit. Especially, when Zoro appears very quickly and his three sword style.
Yet, there are some quells in this aspect as well, the loyalty that Zoro’ would have displayed to Luffy seems to be downplayed. Nami’s cowardice doesn’t seem to have existed and came in very soon after in helping Luffy. The thing I did enjoy was Koby’s shyness, and being very cautious during the first episode, that did touch into the character of Koby that I liked so much.
Luffy’s goofiness and determination does show during the first episode. The aspect of seeing such a large smile on Iñaki Godoy’s face as he plays Luffy is very touching. Mackenyu does a good job in catching Zoro’s stoic manner and confusion when things come to head. Emily Rudd plays Nami and she does a good job on playing on Nami’s acts on being confident and showing the rare bravery she would usually display in the anime and manga,
Final Thoughts
While Netflix has been notorious in not hitting the mark with live action adaptions of anime. There will always be some hope that one day they will get it, unfortunately, this is not the day. While this is one episode out of eight, I hope that things will progress better in the other episodes to come. I am still holding out hope that the rest of the episodes will be much better and the chemistry between the actors will mesh better. I do, however, enjoy this darker side of One Piece, the gritter and dirtier side of it all. While I do love the goofy and laughable moments in the anime/manga. This darker aspects really shows just how things can twist and turn for One Piece. While I will always be a One Piece fan, this adaption is different, while it does go with the plot, but the changes are seen and shown. I do understand that many would love to have this close to the source material, but sometimes it just doesn't happen and things can either change for the better or for the worse. And we will always hope for the better when it comes down to One Piece.
One Piece: A View from the Self-Proclaimed Queen of the Pirates (PART ONE)
- Writing - 8/108/10
- Storyline - 7/107/10
- Acting - 5/105/10
- Music - 10/1010/10
- Production - 7/107/10
