Netflix’s One Piece Hasn’t Convinced This Dragon Ball Star About Live-Action Anime

There is no denying One Piece is on the up and up. The series is thriving with its manga and anime per usual, of course. Now, Netflix’s live-action adaptation of One Piece has ignited a new Straw Hat craze. Fans across the globe are now reevaluating whether Hollywood is finally ready to handle anime adaptations after a slew of infamous misses, but it seems one of Dragon Ball’s stars is not convinced.

The update comes from Sean Schemmel as the longtime voice of Son Goku spoke with Bleeding Cool recently. It was there the English dub actor admitted they weren’t impressed by One Piece and that Hollywood hasn’t learned its lesson from Dragonball Evolution.

“It’s weird because I’ve kind of got an insider view, and I’ve watched Hollywood try to understand anime my entire career, and they still don’t get it. It’s not until you see, and I’m not entirely sure the anime genre trends will ever translate well to live-action. I’m not entirely convinced,” Schemmel explained.

“I’ve only watched part of the live-action ‘One Piece’ (from Netflix), and I frankly think it’s terrible. The (2009) ‘Dragon Ball Z’ live-action movie was also terrible for a different reason, though. They had switched directors halfway through before they even started production. It’s interesting to watch Hollywood trying to grab onto it and try to get in that space…. I feel as a public figure, I feel so nervous about like even saying, ‘I don’t like the ‘One Piece’ live-action very much.’ That’s not necessarily the crew and cast’s fault.”

Clearly, Schemmel is still in the camp of fans who aren’t happy withlive-action anime adaptations. While Japan has rolled out a number of solid adaptations, Hollywood has struggled to find footing with the medium. While Speed Racer and Alita: Battle Angel were successful, a slew of notorious bombs have shadowed Hollywood. The successful launch of Netflix’s One Piece has started to turnover that reputation, but there are still holdouts like Schemmel. But one day, the actor says he might be persuaded otherwise.

“Once you have somebody like that [a fan] helming something, the test will then finally be, we’ve got the right person in the slot. Will this genre translate to live-action? I’m not convinced it will yet, but I could be wrong for sure,” the actor revealed.

If you have not given Netflix’s One Piece a shot, you can jump aboard the Going Merry ASAP. The live-action series is now streaming only on Netflix. Last week, the show was granted a seasons two order much to the delight of fans. So if you haven’t checked out the Straw Hat crew yet, you better get to it!

What do you think about Schemmel’s take on live-action anime? Do you think Hollywood is still at the drawing board with anime? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!