One Piece live-action Part 1 review
I knew about the series One Piece ages ago long ago. And when FUNimation originally licensed the anime, they sent me the first DVD set to review. However, this series is not my favorite, even though there are elements I like. Then, when the live-action series was announced, I read the 95 chapters (11.5 episodes) adapted by Netflix. And that's okay, but it also makes me bored. So, despite positive reviews from others I trust, I'm not sure if I like the live-action adaptation or not.
* * * SPOILERS ! ! ! * * *
Story summary
A teenage boy named Monkey D. Luffy is on a boat at sea. He ended up boarding the pirate ship Alvida. After a confrontation with the pirate, Luffy left the ship with one of her crew, named Koby. Since Koby wanted to join the Marines, Luffy took him to a base. There, the pirate hunter Zoro is imprisoned in the courtyard. Inside, a girl named Nami is looking for a map of the Grand Line. Luffy eventually freed Zoro and helped Nami, so they joined him.
The trio arrives on an island controlled by the pirate Buggy the Clown. After dealing with him, the crew set off to find a better ship. Meanwhile, Admiral Garp begins searching for the Straw Hat Pirates (Luffy) and Koby joins Garp's crew. Back with Luffy, they meet a guy named Usopp, who knows the woman who owns the shipyard. After discovering her former pirate butler's plot, Usopp joins Luffy's crew on their new ship.
Luffy took them to a restaurant on the docked ship for a meal. Since Luffy has no money, he has to work. There, he meets sous chef Sanji. Garp hires pirate lord Dracule Mihawk to capture Luffy. Zoro challenges Mihawk and loses. Later, fish-man pirate leader Arlong visits the restaurant with Buggy's living head. They leave with Nami, so Luffy decides to get her back.
Sanji joins the crew and they go to Arlong's base. Luffy learns that this island is where Nami grew up and that its human inhabitants were terrorized by Arlong's group. In the end, Luffy's crew defeated Arlong. However, they were captured by Admiral Garp, Luffy's grandfather. After Garp “checked” on his nephew, he let them go and they made their way to the Grand Line.
Have a spirit of loyalty
There are three types of adaptation. The first is a faithful adaptation, where there are little or no changes to the source material in the adaptation. Anime Spy x Family fall here. The second part is an adaptation that takes characters and situations from the source material, but tells a slightly different story because the adapter has to “make it their own.” Current Shogun of FX falls here. The third is an adaptation that is faithful to the spirit of the source material, but changes are made for whatever reason. Movies Lord of the Rings fell in here and I believe that One Piece Netflix's too.
Initially, I'm not going to lie, I had some concerns about some of the modifications the live-action adaptation made. However, I remembered the amount of bloat in the source manga, and since Netflix only had eight 45-minute to 60-minute episodes to work with, I decided that I didn't mind Luffy meeting Nami and Zoro in the same adventure . The spirit of the manga was there so I was fine with that.
And that's something manga fans will have to understand when watching the live-action series. Packaging 95 chapters of material into eight TV episodes meant that content would be cut. BUT (and I can't speak to Garp's content because he's not in the first 95 chapters), in my opinion, Netflix's adaptation of One Piece is faithful to the spirit of the manga. And they definitely captured the feel of the manga world. And for the most part, the cast is perfect.
Changes I don't like
Like in the manga, Alvida is the first Pirate that Luffy encounters in One Piece by Netflix. I mention her because while I had no problem with the casting, there was one element that was changed that I didn't like. In the manga, Alvida only focuses on beauty. She's fat and ugly, but she doesn't see herself that way. I have a strong feeling that Netflix changed this to make Alvida “powerful” because of “dogma.” I knew Alvida back in the manga, she was slim and attractive. Honestly, I can't imagine Netflix would allow that.
Another change I'm not really a fan of is Buggy the Clown. Again, I think Jeff Ward did a great job portraying the character. And Netflix got this character right in both appearance and strength. However, in the manga, Buggy is not the ringleader of the circus. He's just a pirate. In the live-action version, Buggy has captured the entire town and turned them into spectators in his circus. I guess it's either absurd that Buggy is just an evil pirate who looks like a clown who offended Netflix or they just can't understand it. That said, this change isn't a game-breaker for me.
I don't like the casting of Nojiko. It's a case of casting that doesn't feel right enough to tick the box (no offense to Chioma Umeala).
As I said before, I can't really talk about a change in the story for Garp's movement to continue in the story. Normally, moving a story element introduced later to an earlier point would be something I dislike. That's the only reason I mention it here. For all I know, it might actually work better at the beginning of the story. Certainly the way Netflix presented it made it work well enough.
Changes that I'm okay with
I've mentioned this before, but I'm fine with the compression of the live-action adaptation One Piece. That means Don Krieg only has a fan-service cameo rather than a full arc, which would take up another episode. So Don's item (Baratie Arc) was transferred to Arlong. Honestly, I didn't remember Don until I finished the series and thought, “Wait. Someone has been overlooked.”
Another change in the story that I didn't mind was the role of the Navy and Marines. In the manga, Ax-Hand Morgan is a Marine captain. The Marines are said to be the “good guys” of the series. However, in the manga, Morgan is no different from any of the pirates that Luffy and his teammates have to deal with. Indeed, the Marines under Morgan's command celebrated when Luffy defeated him because it freed them from his tyranny and abuse (including murder).
In the live-action version, Morgan is still tough, but he doesn't act like a pirate. His actions seem more logical, thus making the Straw Hats' conflict with Morgan more like pirates versus law enforcement than pirates versus pirates. I like this change.
Final thoughts and conclusions
I have a lot to do, so let me finish my review on One piece. While there were some changes to the source material that I didn't like, there were also some that I did like. Aside from one character, the casting is perfect. Netflix has captured the look and feel of the strange world of One Piece perfectly. And they even managed to make the attack name shout work without seeming cringy. So when all is said and done, I think this adaptation is faithful to the spirit of the source material. And I definitely enjoyed it.
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