by Patrice Downing, Contributing Writer
Do you enjoy mashups? Nothing tickles me more than seeing two things I enjoy merged together into an even better melange of awesomeness. Chocolate and peanut butter. Peanut butter and jelly. Jelly in donuts. Donuts glazed with coffee. Coffee named after pirates (Filthy Pirate Coffee Company exists and is awesome!). Pirates and Harry Potter? Harry Potter decides to make friends and go pirating is exactly how I’d briefly describe Monkey D. Luffy’s quest to find a crew, explore the Grand Line, and become king of the pirates. So if you’re questioning that last mashup it may be because you’ve yet to indulge in Netflix’s newest live action adaptation, One Piece.
Full disclosure, despite having been developed from around 20 years and over 1000 episodes of anime and manga source material (far and away the longest list of references I’ve ever seen on a Wikipedia page), I was completely new to the world of One Piece and the exploits of Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates. But I gotta tell you, after binging all eight episodes of the inaugural Netflix season, I am definitely keen to start checking it out. And just to be clear, this is in no way associated with Harry Potter in any way shape or form, I just get strong HP vibes (especially with the moving wanted posters and living snail phones) from some of the visuals starting from the very first scene and lasting throughout the series.
Visual interpretations, from set dressings and costuming to the backgrounds and cuisine, all look like they jumped directly out of the animated world and into the live action one. The rich and colorful aesthetic is easily this series’ most intriguing quality. Every scene is draped in a mixed array of textures and patterns, colors and fibers that blend into a seamless amalgamation of anime awesomeness. As eager as I was to continue along Luffy’s adventures to find the One Piece and become Pirate King (we’ll get back to that), I found myself stopping to look up every new character that was introduced, along with specific places and ships to check out the anime version that inspired it. Towns and villages, ships, docks, islands, restaurants, and bars… boy, was I impressed! It really paid off visually for so many of the locations to be fleshed out with enormous set pieces (the ships in particular) for the actors to interact and play off of. It helps immerse the audience into the world in a way a predominantly CGI world cannot. And speaking of the actors, It could not have been an easy task to cast to fill the animated roles of characters with such a long history and loving fan base, but from what I could glean from some Googling, they are all spot on. It’s also interesting how while embodying their anime counterparts perfectly, the seven main cast members all hail from different countries and backgrounds (much like a true pirate crew).
But finding the perfect people to portray pirate protagonists is only part of what it takes to breathe new life into an already beloved IP. The storyline and plot structure need to reflect the same tone and events if your aim is to appease current fans of the source material, while making it accessible enough to earn new viewership from those unfamiliar with the property. One Piece walks this line without leaning too far in either direction. Like I said, I’m coming into this series with zero knowledge of characters, plots, motivations, or past events, and I had a blast! The world we are plunked into from the very beginning is rich with enough exposition, delivered in an exciting and short enough time, to be fun for either type of viewer. It doesn’t take an entire first episode to set up the main plot of what’s going on, but each episode does build upon the characters and events of the last to expand upon how this world works. This is actually the first time in a while I’ve been interested from beginning to end of an inaugural episode of a new show. In general, I find them a little tedious trying to jam a bunch of backstory and character introductions into a short time, but one of the biggest strengths of this show is the fact that it takes time to spread out and give every character their own space to be explored as the series progresses.
I don’t want to go into too much detail, because for me each new addition of a character’s motivations or a nefarious subplot are a welcome discovery, but here are the basics (as I understand them): The world of One Piece takes place across an expansive ocean (referred to as the the Grand Line in the anime version), consisting of four seas: North Blue, South Blue, East Blue, and West Blue. The only pirate to have completely explored the entire Grand Line was the infamous Gold Roger (Michael Dorman), the late King of the Pirates. Before his death, he exposed the existence of a vast treasure he hid somewhere along the Grand Line sailing route, marked by a map that will make whoever discovers its location the new King of the Pirates. One Piece takes place about 20 years after his death in a time when thievery and cutthroat piracy are more prevalent than not.
The series is centered around Luffy, a young, overly enthusiastic, straw hat-wearing pirate with unique abilities he acquired in childhood after unwittingly eating a cursed Devil Fruit. Luffy doesn’t have a crew, a map, or even a seaworthy vessel, but is determined to fulfill his dream of finding the One Piece and becoming King of the Pirates. He gets picked up by a passing pirate ship, run by notable ruthless pirate captain Alvida (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino), and tossed in the brig. While incarcerated below deck, he befriends mistreated cabin boy, Koby (Morgan Davies), and the two manage to slip away during a battle. They set sail for a nearby Marine (the law enforcement body of the four seas) base, where the map is being secured and guarded. It’s during their attempt to steal the map that Luffy and Koby encounter pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), and career thief and amateur cartographer Nami (Emily Rudd). Together, the future friends manage to obtain the map, escape the base, and set sail for the Grand Line. Koby, however, remains behind as he explains to Luffy (now a proper captain having found a crew) that it’s always been his dream to join the Marines so he can protect people from suffering abuse at the hands of pirates the way he had.
From there, each episode somewhat centers around the newly formed Straw Hat Pirate crew (led by Captain Luffy) and their encounters with various other pirate crews. We also get a glimpse into background on our main characters through flashbacks along the way, adding clarity to their motivations and behaviors. Some are short glimpses into a particular event, others are more of a montage leading up to one; all work well within each episode to progress the plot by fleshing out why a particular character chooses their course of action. Luffy, Zoro, and Nami pick up a couple more additions to their crew in the form culinary creative, Sanji (Taz Skylar, who somehow looks more anime than his cartoon counterpart), and the exaggeration prone Usopp (Jacob Romero), as well as a significant ship upgrade in their acquisition of Going Merry.
Another tick in the Pro column is the amazing job that was done creating some of the larger set pieces, the Going Merry in particular. The ships, docks, marina, Baratie (floating restaurant featured later in the series), and towns (Arlong Park, specifically the dungeon) are spectacular. You can feel the difference in the performances when the actors are themselves immersed in the setting, surrounded by rich depths of colors and textures and the entire series benefits from it. There is a really great behind the scenes picture of Godoy sitting on top of the enormous sheepshead of the Going Merry, docked in the marina, that gives some wonderful perspective on just how big the set pieces actually are. In a time when using CGI is readily available, it’s refreshing to see the time and care put into building practical set locations to bring this franchise to life.
That said, the CGI used throughout the series serves to accentuate the visuals and doesn’t detract from it. The moving wanted posters (reminiscent of Harry Potter newspapers) peppered throughout each episode are one of these details. These posters have become such a recognizable part of the series, a plethora of personalized wanted poster generators are available online to create your own One Piece paraphernalia. The ever-changing opening credits are another use of CGI that tweak a tiny detail to enhance the experience, and I found myself looking forward to spotting the difference between each new episode.
I could keep gushing on the merits of this series all day. Honestly the only negative is that it has just a little too much fighting and a couple of scenes get a smidge too bloody to have been able to watch it with my youngest child the first time around, but those instances are sparse enough that after having watched it through, we can all view it together next time. This series really hits all the sweet spots for me (action, fantasy, quirk), and I couldn’t be more excited that it seems pretty clear we’re getting a second season. If you’ve been on the fence about whether or not to take the plunge into the whimsical world of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate Crew, dive in now! It’s a worthwhile watch with its expansive world of vast oceans and plunderous pirates, do goods as well as double crosses, and plenty of other twists and turns along the way.
Rating: High Side of Loved It
One Piece is currently streaming on Netflix
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