One Piece Trailer: The Straw Hats Arrive On Netflix For Some Live-Action Piracy
Eiichiro Oda's manga "One Piece" is (in)famous for its titanic length. The series has been consistently published in Weekly Shonen Jump since 1997, with 105 volumes and over 1000 anime episodes telling the story so far. The only thing more enormous than the length of "One Piece" is its popularity — it's the best-selling manga series of all time. It's not surprising that Netflix set its sights on the series for a live-action adaptation.
"One Piece" is the story of the Straw Hat Pirates, who are in search of the titular treasure left by the late pirate king, Gol D. Roger. Their captain is Monkey D. Luffy, who wants to become the new king of the pirates. Thanks to eating a "Gum-Gum Fruit," Luffy can stretch his body like rubber, but he can't swim, which is especially hazardous when you're sailing the seven seas. The Straw Hat crew expands as the series goes, but this live-action version is focusing on the first five members (more on that soon).
The series, which was shot in Cape Town, South Africa, was originally to begin shooting in summer 2020, but this was pushed back to March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At Tudum 2023, with the series' cast in attendance, Netflix revealed "One Piece" is scheduled to premiere on August 31, 2023, and debuted a 90-second trailer.
All for One (Piece)
The trailer opens with establishing shots of ships at port, focusing on one ship with a goat masthead in particular. This is the Going Merry, the ship of the Straw Hats. Then we meet Luffy (played by Iñaki Godoy), who narrates, "Ever since I was a kid, the sea's been calling." After he meets the Going Merry, he meets his first recruit: the swordsman Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu, the son of Sonny Chiba and a veteran of manga adaptations).
The third Straw Hat and the group's navigator, redheaded Nami (Emily Rudd), expresses skepticism about going to the Grand Line to search for the One Piece. Her fears include sea monsters and other pirates — one of the latter is Buggy the Star Clown (Jeff Ward). The other two Straw Hats — the marksman Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson) and lecherous cook Sanji (Taz Skylar) — don't get as much focus, but they're present for the group chant at the end. The trailer ends with Luffy stretching his arm way back before punching an opponent in the face, exclaiming "Gum-Gum" as he does so — "All great fighters call out their finishing moves" (Zoro: "No, they don't").
The first season of "One Piece" will consist of 10 episodes. It was developed by Steven Maeda and Matt Owens. Oda also served as an executive producer on the project, alongside, Maeda, Owens, Marty Adelstein, and Becky Clements. If nothing else, he presumably had more influence than Shinichirō Watanabe had on Netflix's live-action remake of "Cowboy Bebop."
"One Piece" premieres on Netflix on August 31, 2023.