Netflix’s One Piece Exec on Why Some Anime Deserve a Live-Action Makeover

Netflix’s One Piece was able to beat some major odds and walk away as a success for the streaming service. With live-action anime adaptations having a rough track record in the past, many anime fans didn’t necessarily expect the Straw Hat Pirates to buck the trend. Recently, we here at ComicBook.com had the opportunity to chat with showrunner Steve Madea about the live-action series and live-action anime adaptations in general. 

Madea started the conversation by stating the special aspects of anime that make it a good fit for the world of live-action, “I love anime and I love animated shows in general, but I’ve always worked in live-action and there’s something that is very textural and grounding about seeing actual people perform the roles of characters that and love or characters that you’re just being introduced to and seeing those come to life. If there’s something I find incredibly rewarding and incredibly grounding about that, every show does not demand a live-action. That is for sure.”

Steve then continued, discussing One Piece and how there were some scenes that were made for live-action, “I think with One Piece in particular for me, I just wanted to see some of those scenes. I wanted to see those sets and I wanted to see those ships and those moments and have that emotion. The first time I saw the Shanks Luffy Straw Hat scene, which is a big part of the second episode, it teared me up and I was like, “Okay, we’re doing something right.”

“At least to me, it felt like there was something really special that we had tapped into. And so I think that, again, not every show needs to have a live-action adaptation. Not every underlying manga or anime needs to be brought to live action. That being said, if you can figure out a way to do it, I think you are broadening the audience for it and bringing people into the other versions of it, which people should read the manga, they should watch the anime, but also here’s a version of it that is done with love and care and a lot of money maybe to introduce you to the world for the first time.”

Do you think that the Straw Hat Pirates have paved the way for more successful live-action adaptations in the future? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Grand Line.