What the trailer for Netflix’s One Piece live-action gets wrong

❘ Published: 2023-06-20T13:13:59

An image from the One Piece live-action series

Netflix

The One Piece live-action trailer is creating quite a buzz on the internet as viewers get a glimpse of the epic tale of Luffy’s adventure. However, despite the good reviews, the true essence of the series seems lacking in the trailer.

One Piece is a popular Shonen anime and manga series that has recently been adapted for a live-action Netflix series. The series will cover the manga and introduce real-life versions of our favourite characters.

It will officially drop on Netflix on August 31, 2023. Netflix’s One Piece live-action series will have ten episodes in its first season, covering the events from the “East Blue Saga.” The trailer is already gathering good reviews from viewers worldwide.

It’s often challenging to reimagine anime into reality, and one can tell from the trailer how much effort has gone into its production. Here’s my opinion on Netflix’s One Piece live-action trailer and how it didn’t meet certain expectations.

What’s wrong with Netflix’s One Piece live-action trailer?

The charm of the series’ protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, lies in his cheerfulness which seems lacking in the trailer. Luffy is a happy-go-lucky pirate who dreams of becoming the Pirate King. The series starts with Luffy setting out on his own as he tries to gather a crew.

Without any experience, he seems immature in a rather playful way. Iñaki Godoy’s adaption of this character is great, especially the first shots in the trailer and the “Gum-Gum Pistol” scene. However, he gives a more mature vibe than Luffy was at the beginning of his journey.

All in all, we just prefer our goofy protagonist instead of a mature one. Furthermore, the One Piece live-action trailer is incredibly unfair towards Sanji, who only appears in brief shots for about 2 seconds. Those who don’t know about One Piece wouldn’t even realize that the blonde character is supposed to be one of the main crew members of the future Pirate King.

It’s incredibly unfair compared to Zoro and Nami, who have several dialogues in the trailer. Compared to the hot-headed Nami of the original adaptation, the live-action version looks a lot calmer. Nami’s short temper is used as a sort of comic element in the story. Judging by the trailer, it could be lacking in the live-action series.

What did we like about the trailer?

The VFX and CGI are actually not bad, considering it’s a live-action version of an anime. Compared to several other series, the visual effects in One Piece don’t seem lacking. Ignoring the weird sea monster, all the locations are shown beautifully. The Going Merry is simply beautiful.

Furthermore, the brief shot of Buggy the Clown creates a bit of suspense about this potential antagonist. It’s way more scary looking than the anime, but that’s all the more reason to look forward to it. Buggy is an important character in the first saga.

Like the trailer, Buggy is introduced as a scary character who is then revealed to be rather simple-minded and funny. The unexpected change in his character is something we can expect from the One Piece live-action after watching the trailer.

Bringing cartoonish characters and scenery to life is not an easy task, especially for a series like One Piece, which is not only beautifully written but is well-received across the globe. Therefore, a completely different adaptation is sure to attract mixed reviews. Nonetheless, we have high expectations from the live-action.

The One Piece anime can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll. In the meantime, check out our other anime coverage below: