Back in January of 2020, Netflix announced its plans for a live action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s “One Piece” manga and anime series. The action-adventure source material debuted its first chapter in 1997, and continues today with over 1000 chapters. It was also adapted into an anime in 1999, with over 1090 episodes. Directed by Mark Jobst, the first season of the live action was released on Netflix with 8 episodes on August 31, 2023, covering roughly 90 chapters, or 8.7% of the source material.
With themes of dreams, corruption, and war, the series is set in a part of the world called The East Blue. It stars Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, the main character who dreams of finding a highly valued treasure called the One Piece and becoming king of the pirates.
To find the One Piece, he first needs a map to the Grand Line. But he also needs a crew, which he finds throughout the series, made up of Nami (Emily Rudd), a thief and navigator who dreams of creating a map of the world; Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu Arata), a bounty hunter who wields three swords and dreams of becoming the world’s greatest swordsman; Vinsmoke Sanji (Taz Skylar), a chef and martial artist who dreams of finding the All Blue, a place with many high value and exotic ingredients; and Usopp (Jacob Gibson), who tells tall tales, is skilled with a slingshot, and dreams of being a great warrior of the sea. Now that Luffy has begun making a name for himself through his journey to obtain a map to the Grand Line, he has a target on his back from the Marines, bounty hunters, and other pirates.
The adaptation has been praised for its casting, costumes, and set design and has been renewed for a second season.
