(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 an 84% rating on review aggregator “Rotten Tomatoes” and a first place finish in the top 10 most-watched English-language series (18.5 million views in four days), the bet seems indeed successful.
Before the broadcast at the end of August of the first eight episodes of the adaptation of the manga to more than 500 million copies sold, the most pessimistic forecasts had been made by the many amateurs and commentators of 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 a flood of bad reviews.
Another industrial disaster in memories: 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 the top 10 in 93 countries from its start, with first place in 46 of them, the Netflix version of One Piece therefore 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, with a budget exceeding a hundred million euros and designed by One Piece fans, without the Japanese mangaka having made a concession 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 the media’s Charles Pullam-Moore. American The Verge in his review.
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.
