(Paris) Is Netflix finally making manga fans’ dream come true? The series with actors (or “live action”) adapted from the manga phenomenon One Piece on the streaming platform has recorded strong audience success, breaking the curse of previous attempts.
With a rating of 84% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and a first place in the top 10 most viewed English-language series (18.5 million views in four days), the bet indeed seems to have paid off.
Before the broadcast at the end of August of the first eight episodes of the adaptation of the manga with more than 500 million copies sold, the most pessimistic forecasts had been made by the numerous commentators on the work of Eiichiro Oda, started in 1997.
For what ? Previous “live action” adaptations of successful manga by the American giant, such as Full Metal Alchemist or Death Note (2017), were not convincing, while that of Cowboy Bebop (2021) was canceled after a season by the platform in the face of bad reviews.
Another industrial disaster in memory: the disaster of Dragon Ball Evolution in 2009, considered one of the worst adaptations in Hollywood history.
“Several manga have been translated into live action, but failures are legion. No one in Japan can cite an example of success,” Eiichiro Oda admitted in a rare interview given to the New York Times, published at the end of August.
By reaching Netflix’s top 10 in 93 countries from the start, with first place in 46 of them, this version of One Piece marks a turning point, according to observers.
“To everyone’s surprise, especially mine, the Netflix series One Piece is… good actually. Obviously, it has flaws, but I had a great time in front, when I was convinced that it couldn’t work “, for example, noted on Sunday the French-speaking youtuber Le Tropeur (179,000 subscribers) on his channel.
Among the keys to success is the fact that Eiichiro Oda himself supervised the series, which had a budget exceeding a hundred million euros according to the press – a figure not confirmed by Netflix – and was designed by fans, without the Japanese mangaka having made any concessions on the final result.
“Netflix has agreed not to air the series until I find it satisfactory. I read the scripts, took notes and acted as a watchdog to make sure the (manga) was adapted in the right way,” he said.
It is above all the performance of the characters played by flesh-and-blood actors, first and foremost Inaki Godoy in the role of Luffy, hero of the series who travels the oceans armed with his straw hat and his superpowers to become the king of pirates, who seduced.
“Netflix’s One Piece succeeds where other live-action anime adaptations have failed, by understanding its limitations and knowing how to work with them,” summarized Charles Pullam-Moore from the outlet. American The Verge.
The first season covers the entirety of the first twelve volumes of the saga, which currently has around a hundred volumes. Enough to pave the way for a sequel, already requested by fans.
