Live-action anime adaptations don’t exactly have the best track record, leaving fans of One Piece shocked that the adaptation is worth watching.
Finding a way to stick the landing with a live-action adaptation of anime shows has been an ongoing struggle for many. Outside of questionable Japan-produced attempts like the infamous movie adaptation of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki and Attack on Titan’s live-action film, Netflix’s track record isn’t squeaky clean either.
Cowboy Bebop and Death Note both had middling reception at best, leaving expectations from fans fairly low going into the release of One Piece’s live-action adaptation.
However, fans of the series have been blown away by the quality of the show so far, praising it for capturing the energy of One Piece rather than coming across as a live-action copy that misses the mark.
One Piece fans blown away by live-action adaptation
One Piece is the best selling manga of all time by a pretty wide margin. With over 500 million volumes sold, it’s the most popular manga series ever created if we’re going purely by sales volume. Not to mention how big the anime is.
So, it should come as no surprise that Netflix greenlit a live action One Piece adaptation to get a piece of the pie. Anything with that name attached to it is bound to do well based on name recognition alone.
However, now that the series is out in the wild, fans of the source material are genuinely impressed by the adaptation.
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They actually did it!! This is the GOOD live action anime adaptation we’ve been waiting for!! Oda has broken the curse! pic.twitter.com/p7Z9LaYD0H
— Andy ✝️🇺🇸 (@TheAmer1canMan) September 1, 2023
Anime YouTuber and Trash Taste member Gigguk started a conversation by voicing his pure disbelief that the live action show actually works.
“Just watched the first few episodes and those sons of b*tches. They really did it. They made live action One Piece actually work.”
His fans agreed, saying that One Piece has “broken the curse” laid upon other live action adaptations that came before.
The One Piece reddit has been nothing but a wall of positivity about the show, with one user sharing a story about the adaptation bringing them closer to their son.
Despite some fans of the source material expecting this adaptation to fail, the community has quickly embraced it. Now, many of those who have been reading and watching One Piece for years are ecstatic that a new audience has the opportunity to get invested in the universe.
Ultimately, this has been a pleasant surprise for fans of One Piece new and old, and many are looking forward to seeing if One Piece’s live action series gets a second season.