Given Netflix’s infamous handling of such live-action adaptations as Death Note and Cowboy Bebop, it comes as no surprise that fans have been concerned with just what the streaming service will do to the behemoth of a series that is Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece.
As such, when a leaker claimed that the upcoming Netflix series had tested horribly with audiences, many fans felt that their worst fears had actually been realized.
“One Piece tested horribly,” claimed a Twitter user named @DivinitySeeker1 on April 13th. “The CGI looked bad and the story didn’t make sense to non-fans, and they’re rewriting entire eps.”
“On #OnePiece: in the first episode the first half is completely all flashbacks/features a Young Luffy,” they further relayed. “Before we jump to the present and rush through introductions to Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji all within the remaining 15 minutes, a major deviation from the source material.”
They further claimed that “As for the tone of the show: it’s not really working. The makeup/look of some of the cast look off, and the show jumps between being over the top goofy to being serious, and it’s jarring and inconsistent. They also built a giant set for Baratie for Episode 3.”
“This is all I know!” @DivinitySeeker1 eventually confirmed. “I know nothing about the original source material so I’m just repeating some of what I think may be of interest to a source connected to Netflix projects and execution of their roadmap.”
“I’ve only seen a few screen caps of the cast of OP and it looks fine to me?” they added. “Nothing spectacular, they just look like normal humans but some of their hair colours looked unnatural (one of the guys has green hair, another has a really unflattering blonde and a girl has orange)
Unsurprisingly – particularly given Netflix’s aforementioned habit of absolutely butchering a given piece of source material when adapting it to live-action – soon after its publication, @DivinitySeeker1’s tweet went viral, spreading like wildfire across the internet.
However, the fire didn’t rage long, as its rampage soon drew the attention of the official One Piece columnist for Shueisha’s V Jump magazine, Greg Werner.
Leaping into the fray on April 17th, Werner assserted “That test audience article [a reference to one of the many articles which reported on @DivinitySeeker1’s claims] that you don’t need to read, click, or share is entirely true.
Though Werner did not provide any concrete evidence to support his rebuttal, his insight is lent credibility by the fact that he is an active member of Shueisha’s One Piece media team.
While little information regarding Netflix’s live-action One Piece has been revealed outside of its casting, an alleged leak of the first episode’s script previously provided exclusively to Bounding Into Comics suggests that the series will closely follow the anime while also expanding on scenes, such as those concerning Zoro’s past, that were only hinted at in the manga.
As of this writing, Netflix is rumored to be eying One Piece’s live action adaptation to set launch onto the stream platform on August 31st.
