The much anticipated release of the live action adaptation of One Piece has arrived. Trailers received mixed feelings given the track record anime love action adaptations have, but I believe true fans of the franchise felt it was ok and enjoyed the casting.
I have finished watching this and can tell you it is good for an anime adaptation. There was some liberties taken with the script and plot points that purists would dislike for the sake of not being true to the original, such as introducing Garp so early and cutting the Don Kreig character off pre-Baratie, but many of these changes are understandable, danced around or complimented with different storylines, and I actually found many of the script changes clever such as Zoro being responsible for giving Helmeppo his dorky haircut when he started the series as the long-haired spoiled brat pretty boy son of a Marine. The adaptation had Oda's personal involvement with it so likely any changes to the script were read by him. Luffy only occasionally uses his fruit powers which is fine because this isn't an anime. Sanji's send off wasn't as emotional as it was in the Anime which is a complaint I see many people having, but you can only fit so much into hour-long episodes. The acting was pretty good. The worst might be Luffy, but he has a hard job of making such a goofy character appealing to normies which seemed to be the of this adaptation, to bring fans and people unfamiliar with One Piece on board (pardon the pun). When you go too true to the original with anime characters you get unbearable cringe like the live action Cowboy Bebop.
Live action Nami got me all 🥴
6/10 for a series. 8/10 for an anime adaptation.
