The Big Picture
- Showrunner Steven Maeda strategically incorporates elements from future arcs into the first episodes of One Piece to make the journey more interesting and engaging, even for long-time fans.
- By introducing characters like Garp earlier than they appear in the Manga, the show adds depth and creates stakes, bringing in antagonists with impact beyond just pirate villains.
- The live-action series tells the story of Luffy in a unique way that differs from both the Manga and anime formats, making it a fresh experience for newcomers while still appealing to dedicated fans.
The good thing about One Piece only making it to live-action format over 20 years after its debut is that showrunner Steven Maeda could make informed decisions as to what elements from different arcs he could take and simply put in this first (and hopefully future) batch of episodes. In an interview with Collider's Arezou Amin, Maeda broke down the process of jumping forward 100+ manga chapters in order to find what could be used from that far ahead.
The showrunner revealed that while constructing Season 1 for Netflix, he realized that some elements from way ahead in the timeline of the manga series could be put in the very first episodes because they would make the journey even more interesting. He singles out the early participation of Garp (Vincent Regan), who only shows up later in the manga but whose importance is of extreme relevance to the core of the series:
“A manga and a TV show are both telling stories, but in a very, very different way and in a different structure. So we had to discuss pulling things forward and pushing things back and adding elements that are in the manga, but not until much later chapters. For example, the Marines, you know Garp, who is after Luffy and Koby and Helmeppo, and that story isn’t in the first 100 of chapters of the manga; it comes in around chapter 300 or something that they show up. And I thought I really wanted to have stakes and antagonists with teeth who are not just the kind of pirate antagonists that they were going to run into. So, I really wanted to push this idea that the Marines were hot on their trail, but why? It’s like, what’s the important thing about this kid?"
The Future of One Piece Becomes the Present
Pulling elements from future arcs is also an excellent way to make the viewing experience fresh for long-time fans of the franchise. Die-hard One Piece fans have already seen the story of Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) at least twice (in manga and anime format), but it was never told the way that the series does. For newcomers, of course, it doesn’t make a difference because everything is brand-new information.
The cast of One Piece also features Mackenyu (Knights of the Zodiac) as Zoro, Emily Rudd (Hunters) as Nami, Jacob Romero (Greenleaf) as Usopp, Taz Skylar (The Lazarus Project) as Sanji, Morgan Davies (Evil Dead Rise) as Koby, Aidan Scott (The Power) as Helmeppo, Armand Aucamp (Warrior) as Bogard, Jeff Ward (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Buggy and Peter Gadiot (Yellowjackets) as Shanks.
You can stream all eight episodes of One Piece on Netflix.
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