Jump to content
UnevenEdge

Live Action One Piece, from sheer confusion to Season 2 renewal.


Jman

Recommended Posts

The big thing with OG One Piece is that it has so much wasted time. Like each arc has to be about 1 character, so the whole cast has to be subjugated to B-plots that contribute very little on repeat. Perhaps they serve a purpose many, many chapters/episodes later but I can only tolerate a finite amount of my time being wasted before you get to the fucking point. The live action, based on the first episode, unironically felt like a new draft with the changes being predominately positive.

They ripped out the nonstop barrage of the single B-plot of Luffy wants food that gets repeated tirelessly in favor of 1. Giving everyone something to do, and 2. Allowimg those things to directly tie into the story as it progresses at present, not some day maybe in 10 years real time.

This isn't just @Jman's sentiment of they made the pacing more brisk. It's they gave it pacing. The episode actually displayed a level of competency I wasn't expecting.

I don't know if it's genuinely "good" yet. Though, once I got over some largely aesthetic problems (outdoor shots could be a bit oversaturated with the warm color hues, costumes didn't always work well in the more grounded environments especially with how instantly main characters could be pinned in crowds of weirdly normal looking people, and, in terms of personal preference, I really never liked close-up macro face shots where they use distortions - like fish eye lenses), I just kinda vibed with it. Dialogue and characters were pretty standard fare, acting was solid, choreography was impressive to the point of somehow even making Zoro's third sword look acceptable.

I actually did like the episode. I was never a big fan of One Piece and this seemed like they put effort into cutting fat to get straight to the point. Interested to see more.

Edited by naraku360
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Baratie made for some major changes to the story progression but the only things that irked me were Sanji’s send off lacking the emotional punch of the anime scene and Luffy acting considerate and acknowledging he made a mistake. Giving Mihawk more of a reason to show up was a good change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched the last two episodes and cried at the usual times I did in the Arlong Park arc. Emily nailed Nami’s moments of desperation.

Seeing the “let’s go” scene recreated was so great. Loved the declaration of dreams scene too.

I’m mixed on various things and arguably Garp had too much focus at the cost of time to flesh out Usopp, Sanji and to a lesser extent Zoro but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and I couldn’t have believed I’d be this satisfied with what we got. They did East Blue justice and planted some seeds for future arcs and characters.

The soundtrack is also really great. I can’t stop listening to the ending song of episode 8.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it too much to hope Yu Yu Hakusho gets a similar reception?

I’m standing my prediction that once the strike is over Lionsgate will fast track Naruto for release, and Amazon will probably do the same with Voltron and Hellsing.

I’m also still relieved that the SNL One Piece skit can’t be a thing, because you bet if the late night shows were running right now, everyone from Kimmel to Oliver would be making cracks about that dumbass stretchy kid that wants to be a pirate.

Edited by Jman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Episode 4 spoiler:

Spoiler

Bruh, I'm not super far into One Piece's anime, so I got majorly spoiled on who Luffy's grandpa was. I thought I had some cushioning against spoilers past a certain point because it's the first season, but they threw that shit in hella early. :distraught: Whhhhyyyyyyy?????

Edited to add: Mihawk and Shanks, puuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrr!

Edited by DragonSinger
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh I didn't even think about that but making such a big reveal in East Blue does spoil shocking reveal that takes over 250 episodes of the anime. Some would say that's a good thing and is better for character growth but I can understand why it would be upsetting for newbies who were working through the anime or manga at their own pace.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Sketch said:

Oh I didn't even think about that but making such a big reveal in East Blue does spoil shocking reveal that takes over 250 episodes of the anime. Some would say that's a good thing and is better for character growth but I can understand why it would be upsetting for newbies who were working through the anime or manga at their own pace.

Spoiler

I was in denial at first too like, 'Maybe he's calling him grandpa because he's old,' but then Luffy doubled down and I was DISTRAUGHT! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Sketch said:

Oh I didn't even think about that but making such a big reveal in East Blue does spoil shocking reveal that takes over 250 episodes of the anime. Some would say that's a good thing and is better for character growth but I can understand why it would be upsetting for newbies who were working through the anime or manga at their own pace.

I can't imagine a reveal in One Piece to be remotely worth 250 episodes.

😐

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While the series hasn’t done Wednesday or Squid Game numbers, it’s doing well above numerous big budget releases like Sandman and The Witcher in less time.  Hopefully they announce a season 2 soon.

For reference, One Piece had over 10 times the viewing hours Bebop did in its first week.

Edited by Jman
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hopefully I can finally catch some of it when I'm by family that has Netflix

Still kinda crazy to me how they hella managed to pull it off, actually interested to check it out to get in the loop

sorta says to me the showrunners/writers for Bebop just didnt have the mojo, don't remember if Watanabe or anyone besides Yoko Kanno was involved from the original show because some of those cringe moments we all know just should not have happened if they knew what they were doing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, viperxmns said:

Hopefully I can finally catch some of it when I'm by family that has Netflix

Still kinda crazy to me how they hella managed to pull it off, actually interested to check it out to get in the loop

sorta says to me the showrunners/writers for Bebop just didnt have the mojo, don't remember if Watanabe or anyone besides Yoko Kanno was involved from the original show because some of those cringe moments we all know just should not have happened if they knew what they were doing

Watanabe wasn’t involved with Netflix Bebop and did an interview earlier this year where he flat out called it crap, saying he couldn’t stomach more than a few minutes of the first episode.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Daos said:

The critical reviews are in, it's good. Even the Critical Drinker likes it.

Who the hell cares about the opinion of a guy who hates every movie with women, or should I say "wahmen" tm in it, unless it was made before 2010 because older movies with women and minorities in them get a free pass for him for some reason. Fuck that guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, MCPissPants said:

Who the hell cares about the opinion of a guy who hates every movie with women, or should I say "wahmen" tm in it, unless it was made before 2010 because older movies with women and minorities in them get a free pass for him for some reason. Fuck that guy.

About 1.8 million people so far I guess? You don't have to like him. He's hard to please, so seeing him give a positive review to a live action One Piece is something I never thought I'd see, but he likes plenty of movies with female leads. "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and "Arcane" are two he recommends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, viperxmns said:

Still kinda crazy to me how they hella managed to pull it off, actually interested to check it out to get in the loop

One simple word, Oda. You have the script writers and actors there with Oda to ask questions. Is this characterization correct? Is the story flow acceptable? Are these plot points small enough that we can omit them? And so on and so forth. It really seems like that’s all it takes. You also have Oda there to put a swift stop to bad things. Should this character spew memes? No. Should we change story elements to push an agenda? No. Should a character say “welcome to the ouch”? No. 
 

For a secondary factor, I feel like the entire staff of this genuinely likes One Piece and wants to make a product Oda will be proud of. Compare with Bebop where it seemed like some of the staff just resented anime in general. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, EmpressAngel said:

Hear me out. Whoopi as genderswap Crocus.

KrVQWqz.png

Hear me out.

Whoopi as Dan Dan. Yeah they might not get to Marineford but since Ace is introduced in Alabasta we might get some glimpses into Luffy's childhood with Dan Dan.

But hey I'm good with Crocus instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/5/2023 at 8:06 PM, Top Gun said:

Heh, I actually thought of Dadan too. Whoopi could pull off that big "gruffly yelling at small children" energy.

Hell yeah she could!

I got my parents to watch the first 2 episodes and they like it. My folks are in their 60s.

My father saw a bit of the anime and didn’t like it but genuinely likes this version.

My mother picked up on Shanks using some kind of power on the sea king and thinking it was a Devil Fruit power. I told her it wasn’t one and it was more a power of will thing that won’t get explained for a while.

I’m so excited to share my favorite fictional story with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...