My thoughts on One Piece live action…
The casting is fantastic. Every actor put their all into it. If I had problems with characters, it was the writing and not the performances.
Taz Skylar as Sanji. Very charming. Cooler than his dorky manga counterpoint, but not too much. That smile is killer and the way he approached the womanizing aspect was perfection. Funny but not gross.
Jeff Ward as Buggy. Everyone is right, he killed it. Hard to do an evil(ish) clown and not bring up thoughts of the Joker. He somehow managed it.
Steven John Ward as Mihawk. I confess, I am utterly uninterested in the anime and manga Mihawk, but this guy played him like a more butch Vincent Price with his tits out. It’s the kind of drama and scale I look for in an OP character. Thoroughly enjoyed him.
Emily Rudd as Nami. My absolute favorite by far. She is an incredible Nami and gave the show direction and emotional depth. Loved her dynamic with all of the crew. Her thieving was fun to watch. So so good.
Even some of the minor characters stood out to me. Lucky Roux and Yasopp. Nojiko. Kaya.
The sets are amazing. They really built their own world. Incredibly artistry there. The music was as epic and pirate-y as it needed to be. I loved seeing all kinds of people in the main cast and the extras. Racial diversity but also nationality and body type.
THE FIGHTS. Wow, the choreography was breathtaking. Of course, Mackenyu kills it as Zoro, but they also did a fantastic job on Luffy’s CG rubber moves and Nami’s staff fighting. I had a great time watching every brawl. They may have been my favorite parts of the show which is weird for me.
I was expecting the fish men to be cheesy and not scary, but they looked and sounded great actually.
Why this pacing? I was bored stiff during the unnecessary marine storyline and then they go and rush other stories meant to build on the camaraderie of our main cast and underline OP’s theme of freedom. The manga and anime regularly make me weep, but I was fairly unmoved by the sappy stuff here. It wasn’t earned.
Usopp got shafted. I get that they had to tone him down, but he disappeared for me. He wasn’t even the starring character in his own arc. He’s my favorite, so I was bummed despite the great acting.
Confused by some of the wig and makeup choices. Stylized and cartoony isn’t a bad approach, but some of these wigs would be mocked for crustiness at a local drag show. You can do a wacky orange but make it look like nice hair. Mihawk’s contacts looked like painted plastic to me. Why did they draw a random line of eyeliner on Sham’s nose?
Some of the camera angles were overdone and made me think of 90s fantasy shows like Xena and Hercules. All the low angles and fish lens.
Shanks and Garp lost most of their charm. Again, not because of the acting, but because they wrote the humor out of them. Shanks is scary because he covers his power with that sardonic goofiness. Garp is a senile doofus to hide his strength and threat to authority. The contrast is where the sweet stuff lies.
Like most shows these days, boy was this show dark. Not metaphorically. I could not see many scenes very well with my mid-thirties eyeballs.
Inaki is so sweet and cute as Luffy. He’s got his enthusiasm and his love for his people down. But he’s more naive than stupid and way more considerate than manga Luffy who never second guesses his decisions. I like them both, but they feel totally different to me. Live action Luffy is gonna be a lovable but slightly more traditional hero than my boy in the manga.
Deadpan Zoro is a lot of fun, but I do wish he were less cool and laughed more. Again, manga and live action Zoro are both great, just different. You can tell one of the show runners is gaga over Zoro. He got a lot of development.
I liked it, but didn’t love it. Not much desire to watch it again save for maybe a few scenes.
However, I definitely want it to keep going.
It has so much potential, and they can develop these characters more over time. A first season is often tough. Also, Alabasta is an excellent arc to adapt. It’s self-contained, lots of interesting enemies. Live action Crocodile has the potential to be amazing. And Robin!!
I hope this strike gets settled in favor of the workers and Netflix invests in more of the show. The roots are decent and can grow into something great. Please watch it to help that happen.
