One Piece’s Creator Has Already Set Precedence For Its Live-Action Casting

Last month One Piece fans were shocked as the series creator Eiichiro Oda announced that One Piece was going to Hollywood! In the midst of One Piece’s 20th anniversary, Eiichiro signed off on a deal for his worldwide popular anime to be recreated as a live-action TV show. As a result, casting for the program is already a hot topic, especially after previous live-action anime adaptions have been criticized for their casting in the past.

Fans must remember that this won’t be an all-Japanese cast, which has been the trend in many live-action creations in the past. As a result, it is still unclear exactly who will be cast in the live-action adaptation, despite rumors Jamie Lee Curtis could be persuaded. The reason many One Piece fans and experts alike expect Curtis to be apart of the project, is largely due to her attendance at the Hollywood premiere of One Piece Film: Gold back in January.

In addition, Oda has already released the preferred national background for each of the Straw Hat Pirates. Oda ideally wants Monkey D. Luffy to be Brazilian,Roronoa Roro to be Japanese, Usopp should be African, Nami to be Swedish, Tony Tony Chopper to be Canadian, Vinsmoke Sanji must be French, Nico Robin should be Russian, Franky to be American and lastly, Brook to be Austrian.

These are the ideal casting nationalities that Oda wants representing his Straw Hat Pirate characters, in this live-action TV show. With casting being a vital part of live-action adaptations, Hollywood will want to get it right, in order avoid criticism early on. With so many One Piece fans in the world barring mixed opinions on the live-action project, criticism is inevitable. Therefore at the very least, Hollywood should get the casting right, which Oda has already provided a guide for.

Viz Media’s synopsis for One Piece can be read below:

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber—at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, Luffy sets off in search of the One Piece, said to be the greatest treasure in the world…

Eiichiro Oda began his manga career in 1992 at the age of 17, when his one-shot cowboy manga Wanted! won second place in the coveted Tezuka manga awards. Oda went on to work as an assistant to some of the biggest manga artists in the industry, including Nobuhiro Watsuki, before winning the Hop Step Award for new artists. His pirate adventure One Piece, which debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1997, quickly became one of the most popular manga in Japan.