One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has seemingly taken on an active role in the development of the live-action Netflix adaptation of the series.
Western live-action adaptations of anime have historically been fraught with issues ranging from a complete disconnect from the source material to strange alterations for western audiences.
One Piece may break that curse with the close inclusion of Oda in the development of the series. In a recent letter from the creator, he explained that the crew even reshot scenes based on his decision-making.
This put an unprecedented amount of control in the hands of the original creator of a live-action anime adaptation. you can read his statement here:
After the launch, I’m sure I’ll hear about some people pointing out how this character is missing or that scene is omitted, or this bit is different from the manga. But I’m sure they’ll come from a place of love, so I intend to enjoy even those comments! LOL the story will span 8 episodes and take us up through you-know-where!!
Even after the shoot was over, there were numerous scenes the production agreed to re-shoot because I felt they weren’t good enough to put out into the world. On the other hand there were also some lines that I thought didn’t feel like Luffy on paper… But when I saw the filmed scenes, I went, “It works when it’s Inaki performing it as Luffy! As a matter of fact, it works great!!” (Inaki is the actor who plays Luffy.) There were so many things that had to be done to keep things from looking too unnatural in live action.
Oda’s comments and involvement are a far cry from the infamous Cowboy Bebop adaptation where anime director Shinichiro Watanabe called the Netflix adaptation: “Clearly not Cowboy Bebop”.
The One Piece live-action series is set to premiere on August 31st, exclusively via Netflix.
