The main character Monkey D. Luffy, portrayed by Inaki Godoy, does a brilliant job of bringing Luffy to life. The silliness of Luffy is so naturally exuded by Inaki, it doesn’t feel forced or cheesy. All of the actors bring their characters to life perfectly, from the background, secondary, and to main characters.
Typically action animes are poorly done, from bad costumes and CGI to acting in general. They tend to lack in every way and oftentimes look cheap. However, The One Piece live action is unlike this. Graphics, actors, costumes everything is high quality and extremely entertaining.
The efforts put in by the actors to learn to fight in their respective styles to further enhance the quality of the show is brilliant. Taz Skylar (Sanji) learned and practiced Tae-Kwon Do in an effort to fully immerse himself in his characters and to better his fight scenes. Zoros actor Mackenyu Maeda also accomplished similar feats. Due to Zoro’s unique 3 sword style, he wields a sword in both hands as well as his jaw. He would go through jaw training in order to strengthen his muscles to allow him to perform this uniquely strange technique. He also has experience doing sword shows in the past helping him to accurately bring everything that encompasses Zoro to life.
The minor villains are stunning as well in terms of acting and design. Buggy the Clown, an absolute icon in the One Piece fandom came to the stage a thousand times more sexy and terrifying than he did in the anime. Despite his overall goofiness throughout the anime, which is perfect for setting up the terror fans felt when first meeting him in the anime before finding out more of his back story. In fact, the live-action arguably portrayed his evilness better than the original manga and anime did.
Buggy is so unsettling and his whole mini arc is so well done, showing, despite the overall goofiness of One Piece as a whole, there is a dark side, the political side. Buggy’s part in the beginning is just foreshadowing for what’s to come. This is excellent for first-time viewers who don’t quite understand what’s in store, and for returning fans, it adds a level of excitement and anticipation for what’s next.
Aside from Buggy’s arc the Syrup Island arc was perfect, the tension once the kuro was revealed to be a villain, as well as the scene where Nami has to hide while the black cat pirates haul Luffy off, is absolutely amazing. Seeing Koby come and console a frantic Ussop was heartwarming, yet gave an unwelcome false sense of hope. I felt myself wanting to cry along with Ussop, knowing he couldn’t save his friends without help. Seeing him visibly regret all of his lies once he realized no one believed him tore me apart.
By the end of the season, watching the crew go from absolutely hating each other to trusting each other and having one another back was so moving. I could really connect with them and their feelings. It felt like I was there and a part of the crew.
Whether new to One Piece or long-time enjoyers of the animanga, this show is perfect for all people. It maintains the quality and character of the original despite a drastic cut in the length of each arc. The pacing is definitely better in the live-action compared to the anime which is great for people who wanted to get into the anime but couldn’t due to the anime having 1000+ episodes. Overall watching the story come to life is incredibly fulfilling
