It’s Monday, which means it is time for this! Welcome back to Don’t @ Me! The place where, like the cast of That 70s Show. I sit in a circle and give my thoughts, views and opinions on the anime and manga world. This week I speak about the new live action One Piece picture. Let’s get into it after the cut.
- So a new promo image for the Netflix One Piece came out and if we are being fair. It looks good. It seems true to what the series is trying to be, a few changes as you’d expect, but not bad. Luffy not having sandals doesn’t fucking matter.
2. And I’ve always been someone who gave the live action attempts at anime a fair shake. Despite having zero faith and zero track record of success. I know that eventually, the law of averages will make it so that one adaptation will come out that is halfway decent. What happens then is anyone’s guess, but I always try to keep an open mind.
3. That said, what gets me about this attempt, aside from the fact that adapting One Piece is a VERY risky move. (It’s too high concept in many ways), is that Netflix is doing it and if you look at their track lately.
4. I mean, if this show is going to bomb (which is highly likely) there is no way that Netflix will keep it going. Even if it is successful will it really get a season 2? Or a 3, or a 4? Can fans who expect to see big scenes even as close as say Alabasta expect that to happen? I don’t think so.
5. It just reeks of a drive-by by a big corporation eager to fill up their streaming service with ‘content’. As much as the writers and people making it say they care (and credit to the casting which is in line with what Oda wanted), the suits in charge don’t have that feeling and they are the first and last call on whether a series survives. Why should we care? Why should we not dread what is going to happen?
6. But then again, I will always keep an open mind despite all the evidence to the contrary. I won’t indulge in that negative attitude that doesn’t wait to see what it is. But for the company that couldn’t manage the easy win of Cowboy Bebop (Anime Firefly) or Death Note (Any police procedural). I don’t got much hope. Let’s just get this fucking over with.
Shallow Dives in Anime 
It’s hard to say you have an open mind when you continually walk your opinion back and forth.
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I’m not condemning the series outright. I’ll watch it. I’ll give it an open mind and a fair chance.
But look at the track record and history. I don’t feel like the confidence will be there to support this.
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I had the same view towards Cowboy Bebop, I actually really dug the initial trailer and the homage opening. I was more than willing to give it a shot, it then just proceeded to shit all over itself.
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The last time I watched a live action of an anime, it would’ve been Yuru Camp△ and Your Lie in April. The Makanai is currently on my to-watch list. I think that live action adaptations are hit or miss precisely because of the nature of the source: things that are clearly fantasy benefit from the animated format because it offers more freedom, and live action may therefore come across as limiting. On the other hand, series that depict slice of life or drama tend to fare better because one could easily see the events as happening to real people.
I think your point, about being fair to One Piece, is probably the biggest takeaway from your post. There’s a chance this one might work out and be enjoyable, and should that happens, it could set a good precedence for the future. If not, it’s not like a bad live-action adaptation will physically harm viewers, even if it did take away some of our time. Being open-minded has led me to some interesting experiences with live-action, and in the case of Yuru Camp△ and Your Lie in April, it helped me to appreciate the original anime more: live action does some things better, and other things worse, in turn accentuating different parts of the stories.
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