Review of the live action One Piece adaptation

This feels like such a sin to start off this blog post with, but, if we’re going to lay out all the cards and be honest here, I have never seen the anime adaptation of One Piece. It feels so shameful to admit that, especially considering when I was in middle school I watched all the anime out there, but never One Piece.

I’d known that a live action adaptation of the series was dropping on Netflix for a hot minute now due to my job at MovieWeb, but in the beginning, when it first came out, I still had no interest in seeing it. You’re probably really scratching your head at this, but there’s an ironic reason I ended up watching this.

So I was having a bit of a “who is Mackenyu” phase after seeing him on a trailer for Knights of the Zodiac at a local AMC, and then I decided to watch that movie (which, quite frankly, is terrible) when it dropped on Netflix.

I was scrolling one day and realized that all the girls I knew thirsting over Zoro in this live action One Piece adaptation were actually thirsting over a green haired Mackenyu. I died laughing when I made that connection, that’s for sure.

And that was how I ended up watching all the episodes of this show before I headed off to Malaysia in January 2024. Let’s get into the review!

Monkey D. Luffy decides he’s going to find the treasure left behind by the King of the Pirates.

Now, if you’re used to the animated version of One Piece, something really important to note about this live action series is that there’s no way they cam do all of the anime in one season. This is one of the longest running anime and mangas for a reason, and the Netflix live action series is only eight episodes long.

That said, a lot of the episodes are setting up for something greater. In episode one, we meet Koby, a cabinboy who was forced to work for the female pirate Alvida. He doesn’t really want to be living the life of a pirate, but when he meets Monkey D. Luffy, who has been inside of a barrel, Luffy rescues him from his situation on the ship.

Koby and Luffy, who has the ability to stretch like rubber, end up on an island with the Marines, where they run into Nami and Zoro. Zoro is a bounty hunter with one of the biggest reputations on the seas for what he does, and Nami is a young woman whose past seems mysterious—we learn more about her in the later episodes.

All three of them—Zoro, Luffy, and Nami cross paths in the Marine base, as it contains a secret involving the great treasure that Luffy has been seeking out. Luffy busts Zoro out of his torture device, and ends up getting his hands on a ship to escape with all four of them—he now sees this group as his crew.

Koby backs out, though, and decides that he’s going to achieve his dream of becoming a Marine. He watches the boat sail into the distance, and that’s the setup for the rest of the season.

In each of the episodes to come, Luffy and crew are going to learn how to actually be a crew, as well of the pirates who are lurking on the seas with similar initiatives to them. Lots of fights to come, and our protagonists might not win each fight, and there might be some moments of betrayal sprinkled in there as well.

One of the parts I liked though is how each episode focuses on a different member of the crew and how they came to be with Luffy, and considering how well done the series is, it sets it up quite nicely for a second season.

However, if they even want it to be as satisfying as the anime probably is, these actors might need to be in it for the long run.

Overall Thoughts

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised with the series. I know live action series and movies tend to get a really bad rep, but I think this one is tasteful. That said, I also have not watched the original anime, but I enjoyed this adaptation despite that.

While I can’t vouch for authenticity, I think the series finds a nice balance between serious and lighthearted, which is something that can be really difficult to achieve when it comes to television in general.

I’m glad I watched the One Piece adaptation because of that. I found myself smiling throughout certain moments of the show, and while I didn’t know the lore going into it, I thought that it became pretty accessible with time.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.