The success of the Japanese anime medium has seen Hollywood try to emulate it and adapt it countless times over. Historically, it never seems to go down well, especially with hardcore anime fans, but it looks like the latest attempt, One Piece, has bucked the trend. The reviews are in for this latest live-action adaptation, so let’s take a look.
One Piece has to be one of Japan’s most successful long-form anime of all time. The manga, written by Eiichiro Oda, has been running from 1997 to the current day, and earned the title of best-selling manga for 11 consecutive years, from 2008 to 2018. Like many successful manga, One Piece received an anime adaption back in 1999 which is also running to this day.
It is fair to say, then, that given its long and illustrious history, the One Piece franchise has amassed quite the fandom, so Netflix was really sticking its neck out when it came to wanting to adapt it for live-action.
Now the reviews are in, and it seems to have won over the hearts of critics as many praise the show’s energy and heart. We here at We Got This Covered were also won over, thanks to the fact the show avoids the major pitfalls that saw other adaptions stumble so badly. Though Rotten Tomatoes does not yet have a score on its Tomatometer, the audience score currently sits at 94 percent, though given it’s only been available for the last few hours, this could likely change as more watch the show.
Over at Variety, critic Alison Herman praised the show for being so fun and upbeat, writing “At its best, One Piece is a candy-colored confection with a childish glee to match its straightforward coming-of-age arc.” Though she believes the show is a decent adaption of its source material and the blessing of the creator, she acknowledges that it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table.
Many critics praised the charm of leading actor Iñaki Godoy, who takes on the role of Luffy, with The Hollywood Reporter commenting on “Godoy’s exuberant physicality” selling the more ridiculous nature of the series. Overall, it would seem that the series’ determination not to take itself too seriously was a winning move.
Empire has given the series a respectable four out of five stars, praising showrunners Steven Maeda and Matt Owens on the pacing of the show,
“Even with so many arcs covered in just one season, the story never feels rushed or stretched out, Luffy-style. Time is given to expand Oda’s vast world while still paying attention to the character details that bring this crew together as a family.”
The magazine seems to think that the show has the ability to go the distance, though we doubt it could ever go on as long as the manga and the anime have been going, aging in the real world really does exist. As long as the show pulls in an audience, it could avoid Netflix’s deep urge to cull anything that doesn’t quite hit its high rating standards.
If there is one thing that many of the critics believe the show stumbled on, it’s that it perhaps tried to stick too closely to the source material, with IGN describing the series as “An entertaining adaptation hindered by a desire to recreate every major event in its source material.”
Well, at least they can all agree that the adaptation is entertaining. One Piece sails onto Netflix on Aug. 31.
