I watched the One Piece live action and it’s not cliche to say what a ride! I was entertained, intrigued, laughing, crying the whole thing and by the end I wanted more.
Not only of the Straw Hat crew, I’ll follow them to the Grand Line or anywhere else they want to go now. But even Garp and the older “pirates” I’ll take a prequel. Honestly One Piece is top 3 of enjoyable, emotional entertainment experiences this year.
God I’ve even become one of those girls who are into the clown!
Where I Ramble…
Actually I think episode 2- Buggy the Clown’s (Jeff Ward) big show was when I was first sold. Not that I didn’t really enjoy episode one and the cast introduced there but I was impressed because so many things could have failed with Buggy. Or they could have held back.
And they didn’t and it worked (again in huge part due to the fearless performances) props here to for Inaki Godoy who plays main character, would be future pirate King Luffy. This should be a star making turn but it was episode 2 where it was obvious he was going to have chemistry with and bounce off everyone.
The entire cast was fantastic though! Though I admit it took some time for a handful to grow on me but that worked because they were loosening up with each other in the story as well!
I’m impressed to that this was streamlined in such a way where it kept the show moving briskly but we really got to know the characters backgrounds. And the flashbacks worked and fleshed them out instead of being intrusive. Actually the pacing was impressive because usually where a show will drag for me this just continued to fly with a big moment at the end of episode 4 leading into two of my favorite episodes!
Practical vs. CGI
The production design here was top notch and they built a lot of the sets and that really shows. I can see that more and more these days the difference between something like One Piece or so many of the big budget offerings that can’t get away from shoving everything CGI down our throats ugly or not and then saying, oh, it’s supposed to look that way. (Looking at you Flash.)
Hell even within Marvel you can see the difference in something like Guardians 3 which blended as much as it could between practical and CGI and the rest of the crap it barfed out…
Hey let’s absolutely waste Olivia Colman for this big stupid fight so we can give Emilia Clarke a Drax arm! Oh boy!
I’ve digressed again.
Music
Also one last thing the musical score was top notch. I even loved the song they threw in at the end. I picked up the album and it stands on it’s own to.
Minor Nitpick
The last two episodes felt a little rushed. But heck I also didn’t want them to end so there’s that too! I wanted more and I’m going to have a very long wait ahead of me if it even comes back.
To Manga or Not to Manga?
I’m going back and forth on whether to pick up the manga. I think part of the fun of watching the show was that I was amazingly unspoiled and I know if I like the manga I won’t be able to help myself. (To be honest from what I’ve seen of it I don’t think the anime will be my cup of tea.)
The first season of One Piece is based on the East Blue arc so I think I’ll wind up picking it up. Maybe by the time I finish I’ll be able to patiently wait for season two!
Recommend: Yes.
The live action One Piece is an absolute delight you can watch without any knowledge of the material… but it’s probably going to leave you wanting more.