Netflix’s One Piece live-action series gets rave review from Eiichiro Oda
The creator of the popular manga series One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, has given his approval to the live-action adaptation by Netflix, which will be premiering its 8 episodes today.
In a video message shared by the official One Piece Instagram account, Oda expressed his admiration for the cast and crew of the show, especially the actors who play the Straw Hat Pirates. He said they captured the essence of his characters perfectly and urged the fans to enjoy watching them in real life.
Oda’s face was not shown in the video, but his voice was heard through a snail phone, a device used in the One Piece world, which was given to him by Inaki Godoy, the actor who plays Monkey D. Luffy.
Oda is known for being very protective of his work, which he started in 1997 and is still ongoing with 105 volumes published so far. He has been closely involved in the production of the Netflix series, which was developed by Matt Owens and Steven Maeda, and produced by Tomorrow Studios and Shueisha, the publishers of the manga.
According to Emma Sullivan, one of the directors of the show, Oda had the final say on everything, from the script to the visual effects. He did not hesitate to request reshoots and changes if something did not meet his standards.
“You want them (fans) to be happy, you know, but I think the only way we can do that is to make (Eiichiro) Oda happy. When he saw stuff that he didn’t like, we redid it,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan also acknowledged the concerns of the One Piece fanbase, who are passionate about the manga and want the show to respect its source material. She said that the only thing that mattered was that Oda was satisfied with the outcome, since he was the inspiration behind the series.
“He’s the leader, really, and I think if Oda says he’s happy with it, then the fans will be happy. But you know, we just hope we did our best,” Sullivan added.
One of the aspects of the Netflix series that Oda was most impressed with was the casting of Inaki Godoy as Luffy, the main protagonist and leader of the Straw Hat Pirates.
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Godoy met Oda at his studio in Tokyo, Japan, where he received a warm hug from the manga creator. Oda told him that he was the perfect choice for Luffy and that he loved his energetic performance in his audition tape. He said that he could not imagine anyone else playing his beloved character.
