Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ embracing a long-established manga trope is a cheekier nod than you may realize

When it comes to manga and anime, especially the fantasy side of it all, there are many places we have to suspend our disbelief in order for it to work. Anime like One Piece very much falls into this category, and though the story has plenty of unique details, it does do one thing that is very commonly found across many anime of a similar genre, and the live-action has opted to keep it in too.

One of the biggest tropes found in fantasy manga/anime is the need for characters to call out their moves in the middle of a fight, which in real life would be a horrendous fighting method as it tells your opponent what you are about to do, allowing them to counter it. One Piece has many of its own, and, given just how daft the series can be, some of them are pretty out there.

Our protagonist Luffy, shouts out many that are related to his rubbery-like body. One such attack is Gomu Gomu no Pistol (ゴムゴムの銃ピストル) which literally translates to Rubber Rubber Pistol/Gun. When adapted for live-action, many anime drop this trope as it can often slow down the action scenes, but the One Piece live-action opted to keep it in, with one key exception.

The Netflix adaption has been one of the best-received live-action adaptions of an anime in a long time. For many, this has to do with the fact that it kept much of the story’s heart and silliness, never taking itself too seriously paying homage to the anime as a whole rather than cherry-picking. The characters call out their moves and the fight scenes are over the top and crazy, which we love to see from such a fun, energetic series. The exception then, comes in the form of Zoro, a character who, in the manga, is the biggest culprit for calling out his moves, with some ridiculously long names, but in the live-action prefers to just attack his opponents straight on.

Over on Reddit an OP started a conversation on this topic, asking fellow fans what they thought.

This user doesn’t care what other people say, in the One Piece world this is right.

This could serve as a gateway for non-anime fans, or Western audiences in general, to get on board with this style of storytelling.

Many are very on board with Zoro not calling out his attacks, especially given how weird they would sound in English.

There are other difficulties as well, which this user points out.

Another shared one of Zoro’s infamously long attack names, and honestly… this could potentially slow down the pacing. Just a little.

Being self-aware also helps in getting the gag across.

Whether you like it or not, it appears to be a part of the live-action just as much as it is in the anime and manga. Let’s all just revel then in the silliness of One Piece.