the ONE PIECE live action does a million things right. so here’s a top 15 cinema wins that they pulled off.
look at igaram’s hair. or mr. 9′s facial structure being the exact 3D version of the anime. the clothes. just immaculate. everything is. the series has become perfectly tactile. from mr. 3′s wax acrylic nails to the den den mushi snail telephones. it all feels like you could touch it through the screen. you could pluck robin’s petals right out of the air.
curse of modern day cinema color grading? gone! FINALLY. they know their palettes. it’s all so bright like the anime and oda’s illustrations. from the reflections on robin’s gown to crocodile’s green lighting. humans love vibrant colors, not endless game of thrones night-time grey. 10/10.
even supporting characters like dr. kureha are presented with love and all-in accuracy. no slacking. the wapol actor had a whole water cooling system for his heavy 80 pound/37kg costume that would always heat up to 20 degrees above body temperature and still did most of his stunts all while acting so well he’s basically purple trump. joe (croc actor) said it’s because the makers - unconventionally - didn’t hide that they wanted to “hire for one piece/ask if the person knew one piece” first. that’s how all the actors who are fans came running and got in. bingo.
the powers that be are actually going evil all the way, which ties to our current world (dis-)order, too. OPLA is extremely relevant. it doesn’t mince this. the audience can clearly see those figures don’t benefit the collective, hoard all their influence, but something is actually done to stop them, which is cathartic. if the screenplay makes all of the villains - and one piece truly has a ton - heartfelt sob stories that we can cherish, we’d become more prone to tolerate the faces on the news i fear. so they’re not playing games about authority and wrongdoings. OPLA also succeeds in putting morally ambiguous characters up to debate and highlights the marine = police/military side. so, TL;DR: it’s politically savvy and gives people hope. that is came out in 2026 is no coincidence.
meanwhile, oda can also orchestrate the changes he regrets not having done decades ago. unless it’s overworking everyone involved, that’s a net positive as well. we get to see an alternative.
the makers know everything matters in the story. which means we won’t come too far compared to the anime, but the journey is the goal here, and not having immediate cash-grabbing spinoffs. this one is a safe bank. even the sequel curse was avoided by improving the graphics and keeping some hard-hitting top tier side characters like mihawk.
adapting over time. if a character is supposed to be an airhead, they will be: zoro’s portrayal is inching closer to the original with every episode. charithra also has a huge progression with her acting. we have so much to anticipate, god.
the landscapes are all stunning. people worked hard as hell on those island opening tiles. the CGI is well-placed almost everywhere. and many backgrounds are huge and handmade. those giant wax splinters? all real.
oda said he picks the cast by looks and gut feeling only (hm… is he using haki?), not spoiling it by meeting them and seeing their non-acting personality face to face. he only imagines the finished actor. being more superficial and imaginative like this pays off over being realistic because the cast is a 99% carbon copy of the original now. us OP folk are visual creatures, it’s so satisfying e.g. to see the textures of chopper, luffy’s hat, or spot nami by the orange hair from afar.
the camp factor. double cigar, usopp’s rubber bands, cut crease makeup. dr. hiriluk with his huge hair that holds the hat in place. you can see the faux snow flakes being scrumptiously fake and it’s just fun to look at. OPLA is like anime drag race to become the pirate king of crazy hair.
prop game unmatched. oscar for the costume department, these people sleep with the anime and manga under their pillows. even the extras must have felt significant in their contribution (hire me!)
due to um… very stubborn bigotry, oda regularly alienates half of his fan base and more (thus decimating revenue, even from a marketing perspective on his part this is maximum stupidity), so it’s been a wise change to de-fang creep characters, let female directors tackle things, bring in handsome guys and homoerotic/sapphic undertones for even measure, and cast POC actors at every corner of the naturally diverse pirate world. it suits one piece so much better, attracting the big audience the franchise deserves, reflects and thrives on. i guess casting real people made oda realize every female body has to be shown differently and not like a 6′2 clone barbie, usopp actually speaks AAVE and has a normal nose, vivi as a desert princess and igaram + kobra have actual melanin, koby doesn’t have to match traditional gendered aesthetics, and so on. i hope oda could see that giving up his discriminatory ways benefits everyone and makes OP more successful. the change that the crew members don’t heavily abuse each other physically all the time like in the anime/manga was very much needed.
we get plenty of foreshadowing and details that manga readers will enjoy. they’re not dumbing it down or addressing a completely new audience entirely. but even if you don’t know one piece you can enjoy this big colorful world imo.
i think hardly anybody on that film set hates being a part of this. they are goal-oriented and in love with one piece: i hope this goes on for many seasons. most actors not being famous beforehand helps to fuse them into the project as their priority.
getting serious with action. OP typically doesn’t romanticize blood, violence, death, and abuse. we can actually see characters immobilized, worried, stabbed, sliced, shot, coughing, nose battered, swollen, collapsed, sick. it’s done realistically without slapstick so we can feel with them, not laugh at them (!), because OP is always about the grave repercussions of power. ironically, even a joyful anime adaptation with ridiculously strong characters everywhere is more believable and human than a typical hollywood production there. more of that, please.
(add other cinema wins if you want!)
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