Two years after the project’s announcement, the live-action adaptation of the popular manga/anime series by Eiichiro Oda One Piece has finally begun its production. The news was confirmed with a tweet, which shared behind-the-scenes photos of the cast along with a caption announcing that production has finally begun.
There isn’t any word about when the show will be aired, but the streaming service has said that it will have 10 episodes. Netflix first announced its live-action project of One Piece back in 2020, but production and development have been pushed back no thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. News about the live-action adaptation had been too little, with the last being the East Blue Five cast drop last November 2021.
ATTENTION! #Netflix live-action "#OnePiece" @onepiecenetflix
The cast of “them” traveling the “East Blue” has been decided!!
Luffy: @InakiGodoy
Zoro: @Mackenyu1116
Nami: @emilysteaparty
Usopp: @itsbookofjacob
Sanji: Taz SkylarOda-sensei’s message in English is… → pic.twitter.com/JhvU2l68Jl
— ONE PIECE スタッフ【公式】/ Official (@Eiichiro_Staff) November 9, 2021
https://twitter.com/onepiecenetflix/status/1458192148642234371?s=20&t=5HCne89tdCd223WT446m0g
The manga’s author, Eiichiro Oda, will be serving as one of the live-action adaptation’s executive producers. Netflix’s live-action adaptation was said to begin with the East Blue arc and will “broaden from there”, according to Marty Adelstein, the show’s producer back in Jump Festa 2017.
One Piece follows the story of Monkey D. Luffy, an aspiring pirate whose body gained the properties of rubber after unwittingly eating a Devil Fruit. Together with his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy is in search of the world’s ultimate treasure, called the One Piece, in order to become the next King of the Pirates.
The manga is still ongoing; it currently has 1,015 individual chapters which are all compiled into 101 tankōbon volumes as of December 2021. One Piece has been serialized in Shueisha’s “Weekly Shonen Jump” since July 1997, and its anime series produced by Toei Animation has been airing since October 20, 1999. The manga has also been hailed as the “best-selling manga series” in history.
The stakes are high for this anime live-action adaptation since the adaptation for Cowboy Bepop had garnered criticisms for its writing, SFX, editing, and action scenes, which led to its cancellation after a 10-episode run.
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