Pennywise

• One Piece’s postmodern take on the pirate genre has characters dressed in neat business suits, and contemporary t-shirts.
• But it is the general mix of the manga’s fun, action and drama that the series captures so well.

From Manga to Anime to Live-action

• In 2020, anime streaming service, Crunchyroll, released the anime across its platforms in Europe and the Middle-East.
• While manga and anime such as Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon have long attracted a global audience, One Piece is aimed at a slightly older audience.
• One Piece’s journey from manga, through anime to live-action has precedence across all genres in Japan, not just in children’s cartoons.

Keeping it ‘real’

• If you’re not sure how passionate fans can be, here’s one spirited review of the series, that he’s thoughtfully limited to just under one hour.
• The remake copped a Variety review claiming that it was marred by its “charmless heroine, leaden storytelling and dime-store production values”.

Casting the crew

• Perhaps one of the keys to this series immediate success is its international casting.
• Luffy is played with ineffable joy by Mexico’s Inaki Godoy, who captures the wild-eyed optimism of the original manga character.
• The excellent casting in One Piece tops off the series’ ability to remain breathtakingly fun.

Secret to success?

• How did they create an adaptation that captured the excitement of both the manga and anime and doesn’t, well, suck?
• Many of the props, including some of the boats, were actually built, so the actors aren’t just green-screening their performances.