Netflix announced today that its “One Piece” live-action series would be available to stream sometime in 2023.
The company tweeted the announcement alongside a new poster of the upcoming series. The poster shows the main character, Monkey D. Luffy (played by Iñaki Godoy), with his back turned.
A specific release date for the live-action series has yet to be revealed. It was first announced in January 2020. Other cast members include Emily Rudd as Nami, Mackenyu Arata as Roronoa Zoro, Jacob Gibson as Usopp, Peter Gadiot as Shanks, Morgan Davies as Koby, Vincent Regan as Garp, and Taz Skylar as Vinsmoke Sanji.
“One Piece” is centered around Luffy, an impulsive and optimistic teenager that has the power to make his body act like rubber, allowing him to bounce, twist, and bend away from his enemies. Luffy is on a journey to find a mythical treasure called the One Piece, so he can become the King of the Pirates.
Based on the long-running pirate manga and anime, Netflix’s “One Piece” is an adaptation that millions of viewers will likely be excited to watch. “One Piece” is arguably the most popular manga series, with over 500 million copies sold. For comparison, “Dragon Ball” has sold more than 300 million copies.
However, many fans on Twitter are skeptical that Netflix can pull off a live-action anime. “One Piece” is being produced by Tomorrow Studios, the same company that produced Netflix’s “Cowboy Bebop” live-action series, which was canceled after one season. Netflix also released a “Death Note” movie in 2017, which was also considered a flop.
In general, live-action anime shows and movies are widely disliked by fans, whether it be because the original story gets ruined or the adaptation fails to bring the characters to life. Netflix likely feels the pressure to do right by this fan-favorite anime.
‘One Piece’ live-action series set to arrive on Netflix this year by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch
