One Piece Creator Reveals How Much Influence He Has on Live-Action Series’ Story

One Piece is now in action on Netflix with the second season of the live-action series, and the creator behind it all revealed how much influence he actually has over how it tells its story. One Piece‘s second season sees Luffy and the Straw Hats heading into a dangerous new region filled with unique new locations with tons of more characters who make their debut. But one thing that surprised fans the most was the way that the live-action series changed some of the story beats from the anime and manga.

Some of the more notable changes was the fact that One Piece: Into the Grand Line was able to sneak in some teases for future events of the series long before they happen, and offers a whole new perspective on it. When series creator Eiichiro Oda was asked about moments in the live-action series that made him reflect on the story in a new way during Netflix’s official companion podcast for the series, Oda revealed that he’s actually “not in the position to force my preference on this live-action adaptation.”

One Piece Creator Reveals His Influence on Live-Action Story

“The staff did a fantastic job of bringing the story to life, so I’m enjoying it,” Oda began. “I’m enjoying the angle of One Piece that everyone thinks of. I’m not in the position to force my preference on this live-action adaptation. Rather, my role is to support the vision of the staff members who’ve read One Piece and to help them bring it to life. So, I enjoy that part.” But while Oda might not be directly influencing the kinds of stories that the live-action series is telling, the creator has been behind one of the biggest changes of the season.

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The second season goes into more of the wacky world of One Piece, and it turns out that Oda had told the team for this new season to lean more into the fantasy elements of the franchise compared to the first season, “In Season One, the live-action team was focused on bringing out the human side of the characters instead of leaning into the extreme fantasy elements. It was about grounding the story in humanity.” But knowing what’s coming next as the Grand Line takes shape, Oda noted that the series should get fans used to the wild tone of the world now.

One Piece’s Changes Have Been Great for Live-Action Series

“For Season Two, I told the team that as we proceed with the story in the manga, we need to start unleashing those fantasy elements so Luffy can begin plausibly taking on formidable opponents,” Oda explained. “We need expose viewers to the more outlandish aspects of the manga now. That’s an intentional shift.” Oda has been influential in many of the production choices for the live-action One Piece series, but it seems like he doesn’t have as much direct influence over the way it’s actually telling the story.

But this has also been one of the most appealing aspects of the live-action One Piece series too. These shout outs to future events and characters are fun Easter Eggs for fans that prove that those behind the scenes are also huge fans of the manga, and it’s helped to further emphasize that Oda has been setting up some of these events for three decades. As the series continues, we’ll likely see much more of that.

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