Netflix's One Piece Teases Its Diverse Cast Inspired by Creator Eiichiro Oda

When it comes to One Piece, fans have long wondered how the anime could be done in live-action. [...]

When it comes to One Piece, fans have long wondered how the anime could be done in live-action. The anime medium perfectly suits all the actions of the Straw Hat crew but translating their adventures into the real world is no easy task. Even creator Eiichiro Oda has struggled to imagine such a project in the past, but Netflix is eager to give the adaptation a shot. It turns out the live-action series will borrow inspiration from Oda's previous live-action pitches, and that means the One Piece series will have a diverse cast.

The call came after one of the adaptation's staffers hit up Twitter horning Nami. Steven Maeda got the conversation rolling when he asked followers if they had an actress in mind to play Nami. It did not take long before the user YukiPri_Art pleaded for the show's cast to be a diverse one. After all, Oda set a precedence for this when he assigned nationalities to each of the Straw Hats... and it seems Netflix is using that list for its own casting measures.

The official page for One Piece posted a string of flag emojis representing the countries that Oda named years ago. All of them added up to a pirate flag, so it seems like Netflix is doing the most to ensure its leads are cast as faithfully as possible. And with Oda acting as an executive producer on the project, fans are all the more assured by what will come from this show.

As for how the leads' nationalities breakdown, Oda said he pictures Luffy being from Brazil. Zoro and Japan go together while Nami is thought to hail from Sweden. Usopp is from Africa, Sanji comes from France, and Tony Tony Chopper belongs to Canada. Finally, Robin is said to come from Russia, while Franky represents America and Brook does the same for Austria. And with this roadmap in hand, Netflix is hoping it can do the impossible by pulling off a stellar adaptation of One Piece in live-action.

Do you have any casting picks for One Piece? How hyped are you to check out the series' full cast? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

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