One Piece Creator Reveals Why the Anime Deserves a Live-Action Series

One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda talks about why now is the time for the series to get a live-action series adaptation.

By Kofi Outlaw

One Piece has been one of the most popular and beloved manga/anime of the 21st century, but series creator Eiichiro Oda definitely thinks it "deserves" the live-action treatment that Netflix is giving it. 

Netflix's One Piece star Iñaki Godoy (who plays the series' plucky and rubbery pirate protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy) got to take a trip to Eiichiro Oda's workshop and meet the legendary mangaka himself. During their conversation, Oda conveyed to Godoy how he saw his original audition tapes for Luffy and instantly felt like the young Mexican actor was the embodiment of Luffy – thereby quickly conquering his worst fear about adapting the series into live-action: 

"My biggest worry about the live-action was whether we would be able to find someone like Luffy," Oda said. "But I was watching various audition tape, and when I saw you, I kind of started laughing... You're just like the character I draw in the manga. I intuitively thought, 'That's Luffy.'" 

Godoy walked away with the massive compliment that Oda "can't imagine anyone else playing this role," [that made the actor tear up]  and that "I'm so grateful that you were born to be just like Luffy." Oda finished with the boast that he thinks Godoy's version of Luffy will become a hit with fans: "Your energy as Luffy is going to be contagious." 

Eiichro Oda Explains Why One Piece Deserves A Live-Action Series

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(Photo: Netflix / Toei Animation)

When explaining why One Piece not only deserves a live-action adaptation – but why it deserves the series right now – Eiichro Oda's point is simple: it's only now that film technology has caught up to the wildness of his imagination: 

"Back then, 26 years ago when I started One Piece, it wasn't possible to adapt a manga like this into live-action. But, at a certain point, the quality of CG and VFX really started to improve, and you could bring anything to life. After seeing many such things, I decided to take the plunge, figuring that if we find a reliable team, we could pull this off and adapt it into live-action."

First Netflix One Piece Reactions Revealed 

The first reactions to Netflix's One Piece are now online. Here's a sampling of reactions from the ComicBook Anime team: 

Megan Peters: "The news is out. I've seen Netflix's One Piece, and while I cannot say much, I can say this before all my coverage goes live: I've watched season one several times now. It is *good* good."

Related:

Evan Valentine: "I've seen Netflix's One Piece and can confirm, it does the source material justice and then some. I think anime fans and newcomers to the Grand Line will be surprised at what the show has to offer. This is NOT Cowboy Bebop, cannot stress that enough."

One Piece premieres on Netflix on August 31st. 

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