Has Netflix finally managed to make manga fans’ dream come true? The series, based on the manga phenomenon One Piece, is enjoying great success on the streaming platform and breaking the curse of previous attempts.
With an 84% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and a first place spot in the top 10 most-watched English-language series (18.5 million views in four days), the bet seems to have paid off.
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Before the airing of the first eight episodes of the adaptation of this manga, which has sold more than 500 million copies, at the end of August, critics had made the most pessimistic predictions about Eiichiro Oda’s 1997 work.
For what? For example, previous live-action adaptations of hit manga from the American giant, Full Metal Alchemist and Death Note (2017), failed to win over the masses. Cowboy Bebop (2021) was even canceled by the platform after one season due to poor reviews.
Another industrial disaster to remember: the 2009 disaster of Dragon Ball Evolution, widely recognized as one of the worst adaptations in Hollywood history.
Several manga have been adapted into live action, but the failures are numerous. No one in Japan could provide an example of success, Eiichiro Oda admitted in a rare interview with the New York Times at the end of August.
A turning point for the industry
This version of One Piece has been in the top 10 most-watched series of the day on Netflix in 93 countries since launch, reaching number one in 46 of them. It marks a turning point.
Keys to the success of this adaptation include the fact that Eiichiro Oda oversaw the series himself, with a budget of more than a hundred million dollars, according to the press – a figure Netflix does not confirm – and its conception by fans, without which The Japanese mangaka makes no concessions regarding the final result.
Netflix agreed not to release the series until I found it satisfactory. I read the scripts, took notes and acted as a watchdog to make sure [manga] was properly adjusted.
I was particularly impressed by the portrayal of the characters. Note the work of Inaki Godoy in the role of Luffy, the hero of the series, who, armed with his straw hat and his superpowers, travels the oceans to become the king of the pirates.
Netflix’s One Piece succeeds where other live-action Japanese anime adaptations have failed because it understands its limitations and how to work with them, summarizes Charles Pullam-Moore of The Verge.
The first season covers the entire first twelve volumes of the saga, which currently consists of around a hundred volumes. Enough to pave the way for a sequel already desired by fans.