One Piece Showrunner Shows Behind The Scenes Look At The Live-Action Snails

One Piece's live-action series created some of its most fantastical elements with practical effects.

By Evan Valentine

One Piece's Netflix live-action adaptation is a success, as the streaming service has already confirmed that a second season is in the works. Now that both the strikes for the WGA and SAG have come to an end, work on the live-action Straw Hats' future endeavors is continuing. To share new tidbits with anime fans on the creation of the live-action series, showrunner Steve Maeda gave viewers a new peak at how the snail phones were created in Netflix's One Piece. 

The "snail phones" were a perfect example of how the creative minds behind One Piece's live-action series were able to bring to life some of the fantastical elements of the Grand Line. Rather than using computer-generated animation to portray the method of communication in Eiichiro Oda's shonen series, Netflix's creative team used practical effects when it came to the snails to pay homage to the source material. This method will surely have an impact on the future of the series, as fans have been wondering for some time how characters such as Tony Tony Chopper, Brook, Franky, and more will be adapted to the live-action series. While not confirmed if Chopper will be brought to life using practical effects, the reindeer doctor seems like a surefire bet for the second season.

One Piece's Practical Snails

Showrunner Steve Maeda shared a new look at the early stages of bringing the snails to life, using technology to capture the strange creatures. As the live-action series continues, expect to see more snails should it continue sticking with the source material from creator Eiichiro Oda.

Earlier this year, ComicBook.com had the opportunity to chat with showrunner Steve Maeda, who discussed how One Piece was the perfect story for our present time, "I think that One Piece is, as I said, a perfect story for our times, but also technologically, it was possible to do One Piece now the right way, spending a good amount of money, but not to have it be ridiculously expensive or unmakeable because of the level of effects, because there is so much that needed to be done. And it's also a travel show, which means it's very unlike a lot of television where you go back to the same sets for an entire season or even multiple seasons. So in order, it had to be the right place, the right time, the right studio and network and the right people being involved with it as well from all levels. So the writers, the directors, the cast, everything. I feel like it was some good timing."

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