Eiichiro Oda’s reassurences that ‘One Piece’ fans need not fear Netflix does nothing to assuade rock bottom expectations

Rest assured, Straw Hats – Eiichiro Oda is here. As the new live-action depicting the story of misfits at sea finally looms near, the author himself has come forward to reassure fans who are still doubtful about the upcoming One Piece Netflix series.

From the moment news set to sea regarding a new live-action hitting the streaming platform, avid fans of the pirate story immediately raised suspicion. With a history followed by numerous failed attempts at creating a successful live-action series (i.e Death Note), Netflix decided to — once again — put their efforts into bringing a new attempt to the table, this time using the best-selling manga of all time. Naturally, due to past experiences, fans all across the globe quickly questioned the need for the new live-action – especially as an anime is currently airing depicting the very same story.

Putting fans’ minds to rest, however, Oda – who is also the executive producer of the series – has grasped the opportunity to share a note with the audience awaiting the Netflix show with skeptical eyes.

Shared by Netflix itself, the note reads in Oda’s usual font – a comforting message assuring that the upcoming series is entirely supervised by Oda himself, who has kept a keen eye on each and every process occurring behind the scenes. Moreover, the author and illustrator of One Piece added that, when he was first introduced to the idea in 2016, he immediately agreed to the project, in hopes of bringing this unprecedented phenomenon to all corners of the globe.

One more reassuring aspect was added to the note: the series will not be launched until Oda is fully satisfied with the outcome. As all One Piece fans who have been following Luffy’s story from the start must know, Oda is known for being a perfectionist and workaholic at heart, aiming to bring the best possible additions to the story as possible. Needless to say, this little note was enough to ease fans’ minds, even leaving some hope that the live-action will bring a positive twist to this tumultuous reception.

In addition to the hand-written note, Netflix also brought one more gift to all those wishing to get acquainted with the treacherous waters of One Piece. An article depicting the exact intricacies of the story, as well as an introduction to Oda, was also added to their website, perhaps hinting that the series may be coming sooner than we think.

At the time of writing, there is still no release date for the One Piece live-action. The anime, however, is still available on Crunchyroll for any fans wishing to watch the lengthy story before it arrives on the Netflix screen, currently airing the Wano arc.