One Piece live action - first trailer reaction!
The trailer is out!
I woke up on Saturday morning to something I have been expecting for a few weeks; the first full trailer of One Piece! And I kept watching it on a loop!
In other words, it was glorious; I loved this trailer as it continues to provide the sense of the manga the way that I perceived and loved it, showed a lot of new content, great world building introduction and a perfect representation of interactions between our favorite pirate crew! Ultimately, it is quirky and this is part of the experience, this is One Piece.
General thoughts about the trailer and the show
We kick things off with the perfect introduction, a great live action (faithful) adaptation of the intro with Gol D. Rodger giving all people permission to become pirates: the era of the pirates started!
“Wealth, fame, power. I found everything this world has to offer. Free yourselves. Take to the seas. My treasure is yours to find.”
The trailer shows quite a bit of content, from the main protagonists and their interactions, to many other protagonists (mentors and villains) and this trailer strikes an interesting balance between live action and quirkiness. One of the reasons this manga (and mangas in general as a medium) is successful is the ability to draw over the top characters, identifiable by their silhouette. And this live action story needs to deliver this element of otherworldly effect; and I think the show captures it quite nicely. It makes the show a tad cartoonish? Maybe yet, to me, this is one of the reasons One Piece is so uniquely appealing.
One last thing about the trailer in general: I appreciated the balance between the uplifting strong tones of the story (because this is mostly a lighthearted story) and the darker and emotional moments of the story. It seems that they are visually represented by a darker room and they pack an emotional punch!
I also love and continue loving, the fact that this is a story of the seas. I don’t spend enough time, reading or watching, stories about sailing and this show (and manga) just puts a smile on my face (sailing has been an important part of my life for many years and it has always been an element of attraction to One Piece).
All main protagonists get space to show who they are and how they interact with others in the team, with the exception of Usopp and I am looking forward to seeing what they do with him. In fact, we will get a lot of Usopp as we see Kuro’s blades in a couple of shots and Merry himself! Usopp might be one of the most difficult characters to bring to life; ultimately, he does not have incredible skills that others in the straw hat crew have. He is quite the opposite, where his brains and his cowardice are what define him. It might be the reason he is not front and center in the trailers; let’s see what the show has to offer in connection with Usopp!
More detailed focus on certain elements of the story
We experience Luffy at his best in this trailer: we get both the happy, over the top, personality who loves life and loves adventure. I also loved Luffy’s answer to Koby’s question: “Why would anybody be a pirate?” And Luffy, in his happy tone replies: “It’s the best thing there is.” Not to mention his pride in showing his take on the Jolly Roger, making them The Straw Hat crew.
And then the serious side, the one that comes out when he really needs to defend his friends and family. In particular, I found his interaction with Arlong very intriguing.
The trailer shows Nami’s vulnerability. She was never my favorite character (in the manga and still is not) but her background story is quite tragic and we glimpses of it in this trailer and the feelings came through! I might change my mind on Nami with the live action show.
Another element that came across clearly is goofy side of this crew; we see Sanji and Zoro interacting. For anyone who read the manga or watched the anime, there is nothing surprising here but the done of this came through in the trailer alone and I am looking forward to see more of this “feud” becoming their daily interaction.
We also see mentor-like figures, with Shanks (and I love everything about this character also in the live action), Mihawk (although technically not a mentor he is the man who pushes Zoro to be a better version of himself; and his sword is epic) and Garp (who again, not really a mentor figure but will certainly become in the future).
Last but not least, we get a perfect second of Koby: scared of pirates, big glasses, pink hair and buddy of Luffy.
Villains get their time on screen
While Arlong might be the one to beat in this trailer, having every element of this adaptation embodying the character (from the make up and prosthetics to his attitude and the deep voice), Buggy keeps being king of villains, with scary abilities (and a quirky personality; I wonder if they will introduce the joke about his nose and how it makes him mad). We also get a better glimpse into Alvida and her fighting style (let’s see how much of her manga personality comes across in this story, as I wouldn’t mind having this character changed).
Difference from the manga?
One more thing that might have happened here is that the story introducing Nami might be different than in the manga; I have the impression that she will join the crew in the same village where Luffy meets Zoro for the first time. I am curious to see what they do to improve this moment!
It also might be that the fights against Arlong and his crew are not happening in the same timeframe as the manga does (there is a shot of Sanji fighting against Kuroobi is indoors and I wonder if it is in the Baratie; it actually seems confirmed in the first interaction between Arlong and Luffy). Have they decided to remove the unworthy pirate captain Don Krieg and just introduce Arlong there? This seems interesting!!
From the trailer we also see Arlong Park so it is even more interesting to understand how the show decided to adapt the manga. I truly cannot wait to see what this show has to offer!
Final thoughts
Truly, this is interesting; I clearly do not have a producer or a director eye on these things. I think I am excited about seeing imaginary friends of 20 years coming to life and I feel that the core elements of the story come across in the trailer and I am just looking forward to what this adaption has to offer!
Have you watched the trailer? Do you plan to watch One Piece live action? Do you plan to read the manga moving forward?
