Your thoughts on the live action adaptation of One Piece

[Echimera]

First of all, Luffy's wearing boots? What? Boots really ruin the image of a carefree dude Luffy is. They don't match well with the rest of his costume at all.

From what I've heard this had to be changed because they wouldn't have been allowed to shoot with the sandals, but it's fairly minor to me.

Then there's the Alvida scene. In the original, Koby is supposed to finally muster up his courage at the end of his arc and ready to die at any moment despite being scared to death. He's supposed to have been inspired by Luffy's resolve at that point. The live action has the same moment... at first, but then when Alvida gets pissed, he reverts back to being a coward again. It ruins the impact, man.

Another thing I don't like is that they cut out the scene where Cozy says goodbye to Luffy and Zoro. In the original, the marines salute the Straw Hat, thanking them for saving their town from Morgan's oppression. It's one of the moving scenes at the beginning of the story that makes a lot of impact.

Both of these are things that could have been kept truer with close to no effort, especially the Alvida scene.
For the departure with the Marines saluting, they'd probably have to do some setup with showing Morgan being absolutely brutal as soon as something doesn't go his way, but that should have been possible at all.
There are more, like Usopp not having his moment of courage during his arc, which might actually be the worst offender.

That's the kind of stuff I really don't like in the show, but to me it's still a positive overall.
I've definitely seen other shows, be they original or adapted from different source material (basically all of it way easier to adapt) that ad worse first seasons.

 

[Sabruness]

obviously don't expect it to be a 1:1 of the anime. They take a ton of liberties to streamline the plot and expand and introduce certain arcs early.

while i havent watched it (and dont plan to because One Piece isnt my thing) i think this is a key thing to remember. from what i've heard, this is definitely one of the better live action adaptations (in general) and one of the best adaptations of an anime. also remember that the mangaka had a fairly high involvement in it (for an adaptation and the mangaka's high level of keeping private) and approves of it.

no adaptation will be ever as good as the source so people really should moderate their expectations a bit and be glad that it went well above the low bar set by the many very shitty adaptations made so far by staff who either dont give a shit or actively disdain the source material (think Cowboy Bebop or The Witcher)

 

[Agentt]

It was funny, I think they tried their best to translate the goofy ness of One Piece.

 

[Alfir]

It stayed too faithful to the manga. This is just an opinion, but I felt like it could have been better if they made it more realistic. The cast was amazing but the screenplay feels wrong. The most realistic part of the changes was the piracy thing being more brutal and explicit, but some things still felt off. For example, they could have gotten rid of naming special moves and shouting them. Screenplay in motion pictures is just different from manga. Hearing Luffy cry gomu gomu feels awkward in live action unlike when I am reading them or watching them from the manga. As a TV series, it is good, but I wished it could have been more because One Piece has such amazing world-building almost the likes of Tolkien world fantasy settings. The show was gritty, but it could have been grittier, and bloodier. It is pirates after all.

 

[bulmabriefs144]

I owed it to myself to keep watching because it was One Piece brand, even though I hate what they had done to it. Let's review:

1. Nami is an out of the box badass. This ruins her character, because she's supposed to be a stealth hero, and fight with brains not brawn. Instead, after sneaking into the Navy/Marines, she proceeds to completely win against large numbers of trained military.
2. Nami is also a "strong woman" (read: angry feminist/deadpan Captain Marvel type). There have been Youtube videos about this exact character type and how the lack of vulnerability actually detracts from connecting to the character. Real Nami was indeed very spunky but she also was capable of some very touching moments.
3. Speaking of which, they lobotomized Nami's Arlong Island Arc. It has way more character depth and they kinda rushed through it. Of particular note was that Luffy actually destroyed Nami's maps and I believe threw out a desk which made her choke up. In the live action, he just wrecks the building. Weak...
4. Coby is obnoxious here. He is perpetually a "I don't think we should do this" or "Luffy is not like that" type. This, plus the unnecessary added scenes, got to be majorly annoying. More importantly in some cases, all this revision stripped from moments that could have been used to you know develop the MAIN characters?
5. Usopp's arc had several major and annoying changes. We didn't get to see his "army of thousands." And more importantly, the most badass scene was actually when Usopp and Nami fight on the hill is wiped to instead also make Kaya a "strong woman." But it strips a scene where Nami actually is strong to have both of them hiding in a house. Laaaaaaame! Also, they have twenty or thirty warriors in the anime on the hill, and there's Django. The live action has about two warriors and the fight versus Captain Kuro is less dramatic. What were they thinking? While on that subject, Sanji's arc was serious screwed over by editing Don Krieg as a quickly defeated warrior. For example, the guy he feeds actually betrays everyone. The entire arc is oversimplified and it just kinda feels too merged together.
6. Majorly stripped down exploration. Reordering things that should have been done by flashback or were spoilers. Nerfing Usopp's nose, most of Zoro's three sword wielding, and Luffy's crowd fighting. The Straw Hats were kinda weak. Zoro seldom got lost. Usopp's friends were gone.
7. They manage to butcher Zoro's development too by falling into the MCU trap off focusing on badass scenes. His defining moment is that he protected a girl from Helmeppo's dog. They also don't let Luffy fetch his swords, so there isn't the exchange about not knowing which of the three swords belongs to Zoro. Like Nami, in the rush to make him "awesome" (starting with sorting his introduction to the Baroque Works), they lost his character to a close facsimile. The real Zoro is perpetually lost, seems aloof, but is willing to fight with his heart and ask questions later (you see this in his reaction when he sees a town laughing at a person dying, and again where he almost kills the World Noble himself).

It's terrible.

 

[KoolAidDogan]

Wouldn't know; didn't watch. The trailer alone made me cringe too hard to even consider watching it. I'd rather just... either watch or read the original again if I was interested.

 

[chocomug]

It’s super enjoyable!

There are fans who dislike it, but those are the type of people that have no idea how adaptation works. There are some genuine criticism that makes sense, like too much Garp and Toby plot line. However, most criticism from fans stem from unrealistic expectations. (Also, why are some of you even criticizing when you haven’t even watch the show? No images of Chopper have been shown, only fakes.)

Production have to balance the fantastical and whimsical nature of One Piece that fans adore while grounding it enough to make it palpable for the general audience. They have just the right amount of realness (I like the decision to remove the long nose) and campiness. Of course, they don’t plan to please everyone, but they have pleased enough fans and non-fans to guarantee another season.

The pacing is just the nature of drama production. I wish it was longer, but the studio executives isn’t going to approve more episodes/ funding if there are no guarantee that they will get their money back. Apparently it’s ~15 million an episode.

 

[Sleds]

All of the replies remind me that people here have really shit taste.

It's good! I recommend it, but obviously don't expect it to be a 1:1 of the anime. They take a ton of liberties to streamline the plot and expand and introduce certain arcs early.

Well apparently you're one of us since you have shit taste too.

I owed it to myself to keep watching because it was One Piece brand, even though I hate what they had done to it. Let's review:

1. Nami is an out of the box badass. This ruins her character, because she's supposed to be a stealth hero, and fight with brains not brawn. Instead, after sneaking into the Navy/Marines, she proceeds to completely win against large numbers of trained military.
2. Nami is also a "strong woman" (read: angry feminist/deadpan Captain Marvel type). There have been Youtube videos about this exact character type and how the lack of vulnerability actually detracts from connecting to the character. Real Nami was indeed very spunky but she also was capable of some very touching moments.
3. Speaking of which, they lobotomized Nami's Arlong Island Arc. It has way more character depth and they kinda rushed through it. Of particular note was that Luffy actually destroyed Nami's maps and I believe threw out a desk which made her choke up. In the live action, he just wrecks the building. Weak...
4. Coby is obnoxious here. He is perpetually a "I don't think we should do this" or "Luffy is not like that" type. This, plus the unnecessary added scenes, got to be majorly annoying. More importantly in some cases, all this revision stripped from moments that could have been used to you know develop the MAIN characters?
5. Usopp's arc had several major and annoying changes. We didn't get to see his "army of thousands." And more importantly, the most badass scene was actually when Usopp and Nami fight on the hill is wiped to instead also make Kaya a "strong woman." But it strips a scene where Nami actually is strong to have both of them hiding in a house. Laaaaaaame! Also, they have twenty or thirty warriors in the anime on the hill, and there's Django. The live action has about two warriors and the fight versus Captain Kuro is less dramatic. What were they thinking? While on that subject, Sanji's arc was serious screwed over by editing Don Krieg as a quickly defeated warrior. For example, the guy he feeds actually betrays everyone. The entire arc is oversimplified and it just kinda feels too merged together.
6. Majorly stripped down exploration. Reordering things that should have been done by flashback or were spoilers. Nerfing Usopp's nose, most of Zoro's three sword wielding, and Luffy's crowd fighting. The Straw Hats were kinda weak. Zoro seldom got lost. Usopp's friends were gone.
7. They manage to butcher Zoro's development too by falling into the MCU trap off focusing on badass scenes. His defining moment is that he protected a girl from Helmeppo's dog. They also don't let Luffy fetch his swords, so there isn't the exchange about not knowing which of the three swords belongs to Zoro. Like Nami, in the rush to make him "awesome" (starting with sorting his introduction to the Baroque Works), they lost his character to a close facsimile. The real Zoro is perpetually lost, seems aloof, but is willing to fight with his heart and ask questions later (you see this in his reaction when he sees a town laughing at a person dying, and again where he almost kills the World Noble himself).

It's terrible.

I approve all of what you said but you forget to disect the arlong park part

 

[BlackKnightX]

From what I've heard this had to be changed because they wouldn't have been allowed to shoot with the sandals, but it's fairly minor to me.

Both of these are things that could have been kept truer with close to no effort, especially the Alvida scene.
For the departure with the Marines saluting, they'd probably have to do some setup with showing Morgan being absolutely brutal as soon as something doesn't go his way, but that should have been possible at all.
There are more, like Usopp not having his moment of courage during his arc, which might actually be the worst offender.

That's the kind of stuff I really don't like in the show, but to me it's still a positive overall.
I've definitely seen other shows, be they original or adapted from different source material (basically all of it way easier to adapt) that ad worse first seasons.

I haven't watched the entire show yet, but I do realize they intend it to be a bit different. A lot of impactful, iconic moments in anime aren't as impactful in the live action, but maybe they're building up to something else? Dunno. Have to watch it first.

 

[Kamelingil]

It's good! I recommend it, but obviously don't expect it to be a 1:1 of the anime. They take a ton of liberties to streamline the plot and expand and introduce certain arcs early.

I've seen people complaining about the plot difference between Anime and Live Action

 

[SailusGebel]

All of the replies remind me that people here have really shit taste.

 

[J_Chemist]

Return to Sender.

 

[HellerFeed]

Ussop has always had a weak story even in the manga. His entire backstory is a huge stereotype, black kid who's father leaves his baby momma to join a gang.

That might be, but Ussop stood before Kalhodore when the pirates tried attacking the village in the anime. He was also previously wounded and beaten up and still tried to hold Kalhodore by grabbing his legs.

Meanwhile in the live action Ussop during the entire syrup arc just shot one ball from his slingshot which did nothing.
The portrayal of Ussop was relatively weak as to why he was able to join the straw hat crew.

Ussop fights were relatively lackluster compared to the anime portrayal.

 

[Vnator]

I've seen people complaining about the plot difference between Anime and Live Action

Fair, but with the complaints against Coby and Garp, they now have expanded roles in the east blue which makes it necessary. I personally like the differences because otherwise it'd be like a full rewatch rather than a slightly fresher experience.

 

[forli]

One piece was designed to be a manga/anime, a live-action adaptation could never work as well as the original. Before the show came out I was wondering what these people were even thinking, turning something so cartoony into live-action seemed like an impossible task.

That is why I am in awe that this managed to work on any level at all, that people are actually discussing the writing decisions and the portrayal of the characters instead of just pointing and laughing at it like with so many other anime adaptations.

You can find many things to complain about, I have several problems as well, but the fact that they managed to even partially succeed at what by all logic should have been an impossible task is just mind-blowing to me.