General & Others What’s Wrong with the One Piece Live Action

#1
When it comes to the One Piece live action, before the first season aired, we were all on edge because there was a long history of failed anime adaptations, and we feared One Piece would suffer the same fate. So expectations were low. And since expectations were low… we ended up liking it! The adaptation was fairly faithful to the manga, and the few changes they made—many of them (though not all)—were actually improvements. (For example, I liked Usopp’s arc more in the live action than in the manga.) Plus, there was very little "woke" content.
But now, with season 2 on the way, expectations have risen! So it’s not guaranteed that the audience will enjoy season 2 the same way they did the first.


— Another criticism people originally had about the project was that adapting One Piece’s wacky world from manga to live action would come across as too silly and childish. And the further the story progresses, the more that’s going to be the case! It already started happening. For example, Kuro’s two henchmen in the live action looked like Team Rocket! That made everything feel a bit too childish. Wouldn’t it have been better to take advantage of the change in medium (from manga to live action) to create a more mature and realistic version of One Piece? That would’ve been awesome! But I guess Shueisha wants the live action to serve as promotion for the manga in America, so maybe that’s why they want it to stay faithful… who knows.


— Another issue is the casting! Take the actress who plays Vivi and the actor playing Cobra. Nothing against them personally—they seem fine. I actually think the actress playing Vivi is a very beautiful girl. But hiring Indian actors to play characters who clearly represent Egypt or North Africa is just wrong! It’s not the same ethnicity! Vivi is not Indian!
Another potential issue with the casting is that, given the long production times (not just for One Piece, it’s now common for modern TV shows to take 2 or 3 years between seasons, just like movies), the main cast might end up looking too old within just a few seasons. So if the story goes on for too long, several roles might need to be recast over time—and there’s no guarantee those new castings will work. The current main cast works pretty well, but who knows what the future holds! The only one who might be able to keep their role forever is Chopper’s voice actor, I guess! Haha


— Finally, as mentioned before, the long production times. If it really takes two to three years for each new season, the timeline will drag on, and we’ll have to wait decades to reach the juicier parts of the story! The audience might lose interest (for example, with a three-year gap between season 1 and season 2, there's a real risk that general viewers may have forgotten about the show and won’t return for season 2—but we’ll see!). Also, given how expensive this series is, who knows how many seasons it will actually get! I think season 3 is probably guaranteed—otherwise, they wouldn’t have cast a big name for Crocodile. But what happens after season 3? Maybe we’ll reach season 5 or something like that? Or maybe the story will end right after Alabasta, and we’ll see the original ending Oda had in mind back when he thought One Piece would only last five years? Who knows!
Anyway, that’s what I think is wrong with the One Piece live action.

P.S. Another thing i forgot to mention,is the change of showrunner for season 3! As we know,Matt Owens stepped down,and they hired a new showrunner,but i guess just to take care of the post-production (he didnt have a rich resume as a writer,if i remember correctly) so maybe they will have to choose a new showrunner for season 3. Hopefully they will make a good choice,and hopefully this wont make the works for season 3 even longer than expected! We'll see.
 

Yoho

I'm Quite Dandy
#2
Its good for what it is, but if people go in expect a 1:1 perfect adaptation they'll be disappointed but it succeeded in what most other adaptation fail they didnt lose the spirit of the original story

For example Dragon Ball Evolution was basically an entirely different movie with a dragon ball skin mod
 
#3
Its good for what it is, but if people go in expect a 1:1 perfect adaptation they'll be disappointed but it succeeded in what most other adaptation fail they didnt lose the spirit of the original story

For example Dragon Ball Evolution was basically an entirely different movie with a dragon ball skin mod
Thats true,but at the same time,i personally would have not minded to see a different version of One Piece in this world,more mature and dark. It would have been interesting.
 
#5
we ended up liking it!
No we did not. I didn't even watched it and by the little takes I have no will to do it. The changes in story were absurds. And I definitely can't stand how the protagonist says Gomu Gomu No...
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But hiring Indian actors to play characters who clearly represent Egypt or North Africa is just wrong! It’s not the same ethnicity! Vivi is not Indian!
It is absurd to hire an actor because of their ethnicity just like it is absurd to complain about the ethnicity of an actor. Zoro's actor is not a swordsmen real life, should we look for one? Sanji's actor is not a cook. Etc. Etc. Acting is exactly to play someone you are not.
 
#6
No we did not. I didn't even watched it and by the little takes I have no will to do it. The changes in story were absurds. And I definitely can't stand how the protagonist says Gomu Gomu No...
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It is absurd to hire an actor because of their ethnicity just like it is absurd to complain about the ethnicity of an actor. Zoro's actor is not a swordsmen real life, should we look for one? Sanji's actor is not a cook. Etc. Etc. Acting is exactly to play someone you are not.
But Indians and North Africans dont look the same. Thats why i think in this case the ethnicity makes a difference. They may look the same to an American audience,but they are not. North Africans' skin is way lighter and they have different face traits
 
#7
But Indians and North Africans dont look the same. Thats why i think in this case the ethnicity makes a difference. They may look the same to an American audience,but they are not. North Africans' skin is way lighter and they have different face traits
One can be indian and have a ligh skin. All I'm saying is nationality is not important. If we need a Vivi who looks white like a ghost, doesn't matter where the actress was born.
 
#8
Indian actors to play characters who clearly represent Egypt or North Africa is just wrong! It’s not the same ethnicity! Vivi is not Indian!
Americans do this all the time so they don't have to cast actual Arabs. US bias at it's finest.
They may look the same to an American audience,but they are not. North Africans' skin is way lighter and they have different face traits
Not only this, they are two entirely different cultural areas that are nothing alike. I think it's very problematic.
 
#9
I for would say cast the actor that performed the best.Then the next step is ask myself does this actor resemble the character looks?

For example the life action little mermaid. Do we know what real mermaids will look like? No.. therefore the director can choose what ever race to choose as Ariel and who performed the best.

Now a bad example is the life action snow white. Does Rachael resemble Snow white? Heck no. And with other reasons.. the movied bombed so hard that disney is in panic mode.

So dont set the actor for failure no matter what is what i trying to say. Cough cough a black Snape from the life action Harry potter series.WTF were they thinking. Still salty.

Next step is age, will they be young or old enough to continue playing this character?

So i dont really think race should be a big negative until it goes against what the author envision of his or her story. Therefore no washing of the character or doing something for an agenda..

And iirc Oda is the one that choose all the mains actors. So he envision that these people are the best actors for the show.
 
#10
I for would say cast the actor that performed the best.Then the next step is ask myself does this actor resemble the character looks?

For example the life action little mermaid. Do we know what real mermaids will look like? No.. therefore the director can choose what ever race to choose as Ariel and who performed the best.

Now a bad example is the life action snow white. Does Rachael resemble Snow white? Heck no. And with other reasons.. the movied bombed so hard that disney is in panic mode.

So dont set the actor for failure no matter what is what i trying to say. Cough cough a black Snape from the life action Harry potter series.WTF were they thinking. Still salty.

Next step is age, will they be young or old enough to continue playing this character?

So i dont really think race should be a big negative until it goes against what the author envision of his or her story. Therefore no washing of the character or doing something for an agenda..

And iirc Oda is the one that choose all the mains actors. So he envision that these people are the best actors for the show.
The main cast is fine,they chose very well. But with years and years between the seasons,they will probably need to recast soon,maybe even for season 5 already if we will have 3 years between every season
 
#14
The main cast is fine,they chose very well. But with years and years between the seasons,they will probably need to recast soon,maybe even for season 5 already if we will have 3 years between every season
I wouldnt see it as an issue unless say person gets upset because they will be sad that their actor will be leaving the show. However who knows what if the actor can come back and do another semi important character?

People are always replaceable and it give new chances or spins off of the character.
 
#15
Its good for what it is, but if people go in expect a 1:1 perfect adaptation they'll be disappointed but it succeeded in what most other adaptation fail they didnt lose the spirit of the original story

For example Dragon Ball Evolution was basically an entirely different movie with a dragon ball skin mod
Both OPLA and Dragon Ball Evolution have some bad mistakes but these mistakes on OPLA only consists a tiny portion because of the sheer amount of characters and stories, while for Dragon Ball Evolution it's 80% of the whole movie. It's the same for other anime adaptation, the reason why OPLA succeed is because of the sheer scale of materials. Some mistakes will just be enough to derail the other anime adaptation.
 
#16
I can't judge properly cause I didn't watch it as a whole, checked out some parts and read articles/opinions on reddit.

Obviously, it's impossible to adapt OP in live action format without cutting it drastically, but the fact they cut out Chouchou's story, Gaimon, Jango, Jhonny and Yosaku makes me go eeeeh :'( Tho can't really blame them, they had only 8 episodes.

Also, characters like Luffy and Buggy are meant to exist in cartoony form. Their actors did pretty great judging by what I watched, but something is missing, I can't comprehend them as Luffy and Buggy.
 
#20
For example the life action little mermaid. Do we know what real mermaids will look like? No.. therefore the director can choose what ever race to choose as Ariel and who performed the best.
This is very dumb strawman argument, im so tired see this deflection anywere. they not making a mermaid documentary, they making a live action little mermaid by disney starring by ariel, she has red hair ,white skin ,blue eyes, green fish tail, and purple shell bra, is that hard to follow that? No, it just them want the good press for inclusivity point.
Therefore no washing of the character or doing something for an agenda..
Cmone, we all now about arab and holywood.
And iirc Oda is the one that choose all the mains actors. So he envision that these people are the best actors for the show.
This also another industry practise, oda would not directly saw the whole casting process, they just give oda the currated option and make the choice from that list, they get the good deflection "if you dont agree then youre not real fans because oda hand picked the talent!" While oda get the illusion of choice.
 
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