Final week, Netflix’s One Piece live-action present landed large reward throughout the board from previous followers and new viewers alike. As somebody who hasn’t ever encountered One Piece, and has not, in actual fact, ever felt any need to choose up both the manga or any a part of the anime (the manga, it should be said, started serialized publication in 1997), I used to be skeptical of this new iteration. Different Netflix live-action variations of beloved manga have not likely gone over properly, on both a technical stage or as excerpting beforehand cohesive tales, so I approached One Piece tentatively. In any case, I had been burned by Cowboy Bebop simply final 12 months.
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As somebody with no thought what to anticipate, I’ll totally admit… it took me a pair episodes to get into it. However as soon as I tailored to the aesthetic fashion of the sequence (extra on that later), I discovered myself actually having fun with the present! The plot is tight and strikes by the shojo villain-of-the-week format rapidly. Virtually all the characters are properly rounded and polished from their manga origins till they grew to become plausible and comprehensible, even with the over-the-top combat scenes interspersed all through the sequence. It’s good! Genuinely, actually, the sequence is nice, and that’s the largest shock of all.
The eight-episode season is predicated on the primary arc of the One Piece manga, known as the East Blue Arc. Eiichiro Oda was apparently closely concerned within the sequence, and he gave the variation his full approval upon its launch. We get the basic backgrounding of each predominant protagonist, giving us a view into their early lives and serving to firmly set up them on this world and this story–and giving the viewers a extra developed understanding of the world and the construction of the present.
At first, the largest hurdle for me with One Piece was the tone. The goofy absurdism felt infantile—however this isn’t a youngsters’s TV present. Glitter bursts out of cannons, a person fights with a sword in his mouth, a marine wears zebra print pants… it’s actually wild to have a look at, particularly when supplied alongside brutal combat scenes, disturbing youngster abuse, and coarse dialogue. There’s additionally plenty of framing that felt to me just like the present was trying to mimic comedian ebook panels, including to the jarring distinction between presentation and story. It’s the most aesthetically complicated present I’ve ever watched.
I feel for me, both as a result of I’m a basic Western viewers member, or as a result of I used to be merely unfamiliar with the manga, this was the toughest half for me to cope with, whilst I used to be having fun with the present. There was a degree early on the place the group will get captured by a clown that may chop himself up and it was after this reveal that I obtained slightly scared off the remainder of the present. If this was going to be the entire thing, possibly it wasn’t for me… however I saved going, and I’m genuinely glad I did. Whereas there’s a distinct dissonance between the tone and the content material, it comes off as goofy and earnest in equal measure. There’s a stylistic barrier to this present that feels prefer it by no means fairly crosses into totally comprehensible, however about midway by I obtained into it. The absurd earnesty is the purpose.
The one a part of the present that I might by no means totally get into or recognize was its predominant character. Monkey D. Luffy is a specific form of shojo protagonist–excitable, singularly centered, excessive, and devoted to his pals, even when it appears more and more irresponsible to take action. There are iterations of this character throughout profitable anime—Uzamaki Naruto, My Hero Academia’s Midoriya, Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh, and Shoyo Hinata from Haikyuu!!—and regardless of having watched and loved this specific model of shojo hero, I discovered Luffy more and more increasingly more annoying.
Picture: Netflix
Luffy is so loud! He yells a lot! He’s a little bit of an fool! He appears to haven’t any actual path past his personal single concentrate on the One Piece and being King of the Pirates and there’s no actual motive given for that–what does being King of the Pirates imply past a title? Whereas in the direction of the top of the sequence his dedication to rescuing Nami was admirable and I used to be rooting for him, I cared a lot extra about Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and even Koby (Usopp, I’m sorry you have been so boring, possibly subsequent season?) than I ever did about Luffy. I feel my greatest downside is that I believed Luffy was emotionally manipulative and a little bit of an asshole, whilst he tried to do proper by his pals.
However the present is nice! Surprisingly good! The combat scenes specifically are wonderful, even with Luffy stretching all over and screaming “Gum Gum Pistol!” like a idiot. All of the fights had narrative weight, and the characters meant one thing to me; I didn’t wish to see them damage (besides Luffy, he might have stood to be damage slightly bit extra). The present was clear. It was slick. All the things match collectively, and on the finish of the season, regardless of Luffy yelling once more, I wished a second season. And if anybody out there’s taking notes… undoubtedly take Zoro’s shirt off extra typically. Thanks.
This piece was written in the course of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. With out the labor of the writers and actors at present on strike, the present being coated right here wouldn’t exist.
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