Movie One Piece Live Action

[Rein Avara]

Season 2 Episodes	Rating	Likes	Dislikes	Additional Comments
1: "The Beginning and the End"	/10
2: "Good Whale Hunting	/10
3: "Whisky Business"	/10
4: "Big Trouble in Little Garden"	/10
5: "Wax On, Wax Off"	/10
6: "Nami Deerest"	/10
7: "Reindeer Shames"	/10
8: "Deer and Loathing in Drum Kingdom"	/10
Overall rating

 

[Riku]

Show was below average (within my expectation).
My friend who started reading One Piece recently didn't like it either (so it's not just me). I wonder if it can attract new fans, let's see.

General reception seems to be good though, RT and IMDB being around 80%. Seen already a handful if curious newbies in Reddit and Discord, and it's lovely. Will take some time though to tell how many new fans it actually gets.

 

[McNuss]

Spoiler

Merry actually died. No fake out deaths. So far.

Spoiler: Spoilers OPLA

Naah, this is killing for the sake of killing. It has no narrative impact and is a very bad habit especially found in American shows, the death crave is getting on my nerves.

Oda was asked why no one dies, and he said he doesn't want to end arcs with a bad feeling. Killing Merry is only to create bad feelings. Imho it's a really morbid way of thinking, that death must be neccesary. It clearly does not make a story more realistic or anything.

We are led to believe people must die from too much media exposure. I think it's a culture also at least partially co-created by the gun lobby and the arms industry.

One reason why I got into One Piece in the first place and actually detest most other Manga is that Oda has a clear cut outlook on Death. I think series like Naruto or Bleach are completely sick in the head.

 

[SanaNeOlm]

Holy sh... i really like the live action. It is different but still tons of fun. Who would've thought we will get one this good? I still need to acclimate to the "Gum Gum" war cry but it works. Honestly Zoro is so cool. With every episode his character comes out more. I love how they did Arlong, i would imagine them looking like this if they were real. I also do not mind the story changes. Contrary to the "popular" belief that Oda wrote the whole story day 1 and everything being planned ... let's be real, like come on. I'm sure if he could go back he would change some things in the east blue arc or other things. This seems to be the perfect opportunity for it. And even if the changes are only arbitrary, meaning only done for a more compact viewing experience for a more wider new audience, i'm with it. I wouldn't mind rewatching the series as this live action adaptation. The series seems very well financed, the sets are good. I think what i like most is how everyone rips their wanted posters. Such a cool addition.

 

[DeadlyBeast]

Finally got the chance to start watching it and definitely a lot better than I expected. There are a fair bit of changes from the manga/anime but they all still serve the same general plot and spirit of the original so no biggie. Some things like people actually dying makes a lot of sense. I'm only 3 episodes in so far and super hyped to see Mihawk ship moment.

Of the episodes I've watched so far I'd rate:

1. Ep1: 8/10
2. Ep2: 9/10
3. Ep3: 8/10

 

[Riku]

Spoiler: Spoilers OPLA

Naah, this is killing for the sake of killing. It has no narrative impact and is a very bad habit especially found in American shows, the death crave is getting on my nerves.

Oda was asked why no one dies, and he said he doesn't want to end arcs with a bad feeling. Killing Merry is only to create bad feelings. Imho it's a really morbid way of thinking, that death must be neccesary. It clearly does not make a story more realistic or anything.

We are led to believe people must die from too much media exposure. I think it's a culture also at least partially co-created by the gun lobby and the arms industry.

One reason why I got into One Piece in the first place and actually detest most other Manga is that Oda has a clear cut outlook on Death. I think series like Naruto or Bleach are completely sick in the head.

Spoiler

Naah, you are wrong.

Merry dying is an important plot point. It displays that Kuro is ready to really do everything to inherit the dock. It installs fear in Strawhats, Kaya and the viewer.

I understand Odas views, but also if death isn't permanent or a thing that never happens in these sort of fiction stories, the tension starts to dissappear as there is nothing at stake. The characters can do everything or anything, risk everything all the time, and there is no consequence. That eventually gets bland. Also characters sacrifices lose meaning. And whole credibility of the series suffers, if you can survive a bomb that's supposed to level a whole city. And it's not like Oda doesn't use death in the series. He does.

What you claim about gun violence is totally off topic and tin foil, but I'll just say it's the same logic that "video games should be banned because they make people violent". Call of Duty is the most played game in the world and murder mysteries the most popular genre since Sherlock Holmes. Yet we don't see anymore percentual gun violence among gamers or true crime fans than general populous. I personally actually think that the fact that people in pop fiction can take such unnatural amount of beating is more dangerous than death in fiction, because people start to lose the understanding that in real life just one hit to the head can be fatal or have life lasting effects.

But fiction is always fiction. Fiction reflects real life. And death is a natural part of life. Characters dying is completely fine.

 

[Aki1991]

My list after the first watch through.

Episode		Rating
1: Romance Dawn		8/10​
2: The Man in The Straw hat		10/10​
3: Tell no Tales		5/10​
4: The Pirates are coming		6/10​
5: Eat at baratie		8/10​
6: The Chef and the Chore boy		7/10​
7: The girl with the Sawfish Tattoo		8/10​
8: Worst in the East		7/10​
Overall rating		7.5​

I loved Buggy, as you can see by my ratings. He was amazing and nailed the character.

I think the show was good and I look forward to season 2 but there are some things I didn't like.

- Did not like the changes around Namis backstory and Arlong.

- Some costumes and wigs were cringe.

- Ben Beckman was a terrible casting...

- To much time spend on Garp and Koby. Although I liked them, but they used time, which could be used otherwise.

- Zoros Flashback was good but timed bad. Should be shown during his fight with Mihawk.

 

[McNuss]

Spoiler

Naah, you are wrong.

Merry dying is an important plot point. It displays that Kuro is ready to really do everything to inherit the dock. It installs fear in Strawhats, Kaya and the viewer.

I understand Odas views, but also if death isn't permanent or a thing that never happens in these sort of fiction stories, the tension starts to dissappear as there is nothing at stake. The characters can do everything or anything, risk everything all the time, and there is no consequence. That eventually gets bland. Also characters sacrifices lose meaning. And whole credibility of the series suffers, if you can survive a bomb that's supposed to level a whole city. And it's not like Oda doesn't use death in the series. He does.

What you claim about gun violence is totally off topic and tin foil, but I'll just say it's the same logic that "video games should be banned because they make people violent". Call of Duty is the most played game in the world and murder mysteries the most popular genre since Sherlock Holmes. Yet we don't see anymore percentual gun violence among gamers or true crime fans than general populous. I personally actually think that the fact that people in pop fiction can take such unnatural amount of beating is more dangerous than death in fiction, because people start to lose the understanding that in real life just one hit to the head can be fatal or have life lasting effects.

But fiction is always fiction. Fiction reflects real life. And death is a natural part of life. Characters dying is completely fine.

Spoiler: Spoiler OPLA

Tension arises from the global circumstances, that unfolds from peaceful Windmill Village into a quite dystopian, and certainly totalitarian, and irremovable dictatorship.

I am also not of the opinion that death is unneccessary, there are moments where it can yield satisfaction. Neither Merry, nor Kuro are relevant characters at all though. They play no role in what the characters can do or can't do or wether there is tension or not. This is killing for the sake of killing, because the audience thinks killing is cool. What it does though is turn Syrup village from a comedy into a tragedy. Just imagine had it played out like that in the Manga, and every coverstory where Kaya appears, instead of now living a happy live we'll see her at Merry's grave...
It would be a drastic change in tone.

Also, while death is part of life, it is a rather uncommon occurence, unless in your country people get shot on the streets. Which isn't even true for most of America, but certain lobbies want to create that impression, so people keep their guns.

In a democratic society, various lobbies will vouch for their interests, including the gun lobby and the arms industry, which both are huge and rich in capital. Everyone has networks, and of course theirs expands into media, just like the ones of varius industries and brands, NGOs, political parties, churches, etc etc etc.

About the Pell stuff...actually this is pretty important. This is the territory into which I can not get here, though. I guess this is ending the conversation prematurely, but let's just say the community is far better at discovering the most silly patterns than it is on discovering their meaning, or to quote my favorite scientist, Willy Gallon: "Everything men can imagine is real".

Yeah video games like Call of Duty should certainly be banned and they are 100% responsible for more violence in society. Gamers are like the most uncritical media consumers you can find in the entire galaxy. Again, it's about how certain things are conferred, not about wether they exist at all.
But something like Call of Duty or the likes, it's always against muslim terrorists, latino drug gangsters, evil crime warlords, russians, etc etc etc, the typical stereotypes, and all in a realistic fashion.

It's a shame actual criticsm does not exist and it always comes down to pretentious politicians who have no clue themselves and who are only fishing votes from geezers. But ideologically, most video games are 100% bullshit.

There's nothing wrong with stupid action movies like idk van Damme or something, but whenever a movie goes into the territory of depicting realistic warfare, most of the time it is going to at least have slightly anti-war tendencies.

In video games? Actual soldiers train with software pretty much based on games. Critical media is nigh non-existant, it always just comes down to having "fun" even with the most morbid stuff, like murdering innocents at an airport while going undercover at terrorists. Totally the recipe to brainwash a society, if you ask me.

And comparing Call of Duty with Sherlock Holmes is pretty rad, but I get your point.
What I should point out though is: It is specifically American crime shows where the cops will murder the culprit in self-defense or a lot of the time in self justice, too (because he was such a sick psycho and stuff). No one is ever taken to a court. Think Criminal Minds and stuff.
German crime shows are always (nigh no exceptions) stupid non-serious comedies, where overweight cops solve cases based on coincidence.
That's a huge cultural difference, that probably comes down to a set of reasons (and one of them certainly is legal guns in society, which in turn is pushed by the gun lobby, also through media).

In order to bring this back to One Piece..these are exactly the tone changes that I feared the most. Maybe this will help people to understand my point of view more.

 

[weixiaobao]

@McNuss you really need to dumb things down a bit. They need to work under the assumption that this show maybe cancel. So this, " Tension arises from the global circumstances, that unfolds from peaceful Windmill Village into a quite dystopian, and certainly totalitarian, and irremovable dictatorship." May not play out at all. It was just simply did it work to get NETFLIX subscribers to watch another episode. And if it did, it works.

The show did made some of the stories and plot beat too stereotypical including the Nami's plot.

ONE PIECE • FlixPatrol

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From take the top spot in 59 countries and improve to 84 countries. Though I wonder if the release strategy will hurt it. Arcane release it series at 3 different point. And it peaked 3 times. If One Piece don't inspire too many rewatch and doesn't catch new fans after the initial reception. The chatter may died out. It need to do superwell consider how high the budget is. If just moderately well, I could see the executives deciding to cancel the show.

--- Double Post Merged, Sep 2, 2023, Original Post Date: Sep 2, 2023 ---

I see a ton of really established media source write about One Piece like Forbes, NYT, USAToday, Rollingstone, CNN, BBC, Time. Though what lacking right now. At least for the English speaking sphere is that the big mainstream movies/tv shows review youtube channels haven't review One Piece. I guess they don't have early screeners or something. These guys and gals are super influential.

 

[Royami]

Spoiler: Spoilers OPLA

Naah, this is killing for the sake of killing. It has no narrative impact and is a very bad habit especially found in American shows, the death crave is getting on my nerves.

Oda was asked why no one dies, and he said he doesn't want to end arcs with a bad feeling. Killing Merry is only to create bad feelings. Imho it's a really morbid way of thinking, that death must be neccesary. It clearly does not make a story more realistic or anything.

We are led to believe people must die from too much media exposure. I think it's a culture also at least partially co-created by the gun lobby and the arms industry.

One reason why I got into One Piece in the first place and actually detest most other Manga is that Oda has a clear cut outlook on Death. I think series like Naruto or Bleach are completely sick in the head.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Honestly, in this case, I kind of agree. With Kaya, she's already lost her parents, the surrogate father figure she found in Klahadore ends up being a remorseless pirate only after her money, Usopp's probably one of the only friends she has that actually cares about her and he leaves at the end of this arc. While Merry surviving was a bit illogical, I appreciated it because it meant that Kaya had at least one person who was still looking out for her. Also Merry surviving kind of reflected Kuro's flaw of becoming impatient and overconfident in his abilities.

 

[weixiaobao]

Also scrolling through reddit, someone caught pandaman...

 

[Rein Avara]

Also scrolling through reddit, someone caught pandaman...

Yeah he's in the scene where zoro is just coming out of the well.

 

[wing_gundam]

After finishing the season i enjoy it for what it is. I think it's made for fans, you have to know a bit of the story as it's abridged. I think it's cute they're so into the lore and maintaining character actions though Luffy's arms up cheering just don't quite work for me in LA. I'd say Luffy's actor is my least favourite but he's growing on me. Again, certainly trying but it feels forced and that's his only issue. The whole team did a great job overall. I think they really nailed the marines into realism (probably the easiest), Baratie itself and the islands were done well.

I'd give the whole thing an 8.6. Got pretty decent production value and decent enough acting to make this a likeable LA. They need to speed up the pacing of dialogue some times. It seems like the actors don't entirely have their lines or aren't quite into the role (but that's just a personal quip). If obviously wasn't so rushed and forced it could probably do better. I have no idea how they're going to manage so much content and how far they want to go because 8 eps every couple of years is too little.

I've heard its hugely expensive at $18M / episode. They've obviously developed a lot of assets already so S2 could be more efficient. I mean they dont even have to go very far - most people would be happy getting to the time skip but even that could take a decade at this rate. I don't see S2 going past Arabasta unless they streamline it but that would be extremely rushed. Still need Loguetown and going over Reverse mountain + Laboon (1-2 eps), and there's no way even if they skip #10-3, which would be insane, you can't put the main thing in 1-2 eps unless you severely cut out all of it. I'd rather see a slower pace and get through this stuff. Too bad you can't get a standard 24 ep season.

The biggest issue in my opinion if this goes on slowly is just keeping the actors around for continuity. You may lose them to conflicts and other things plus just getting older. Emily Rudd is already 30. Sure they can use digital "de-aging" but the point being are we really going for 40 year olds playing 16 year olds? Hello fellow kids.


Also why the f does Arlong Park have a waterslide? Even if it's based on Shabondy I can't see Arlong or any fishman saying "it's my turn on the slide bitches!"

 

[weixiaobao]

One of the first that I consider a more mainstream big reviewer. These folks would do great for the show. Especially consider their reach. They really need to get the gamer, the superheroes, starwars, harry potter, meme pop culture people.


Also AEW champion got some sarcasm about One Piece.

 

[Riku]

Spoiler: Spoiler OPLA

Tension arises from the global circumstances, that unfolds from peaceful Windmill Village into a quite dystopian, and certainly totalitarian, and irremovable dictatorship.

I am also not of the opinion that death is unneccessary, there are moments where it can yield satisfaction. Neither Merry, nor Kuro are relevant characters at all though. They play no role in what the characters can do or can't do or wether there is tension or not. This is killing for the sake of killing, because the audience thinks killing is cool. What it does though is turn Syrup village from a comedy into a tragedy. Just imagine had it played out like that in the Manga, and every coverstory where Kaya appears, instead of now living a happy live we'll see her at Merry's grave...
It would be a drastic change in tone.

Also, while death is part of life, it is a rather uncommon occurence, unless in your country people get shot on the streets. Which isn't even true for most of America, but certain lobbies want to create that impression, so people keep their guns.

In a democratic society, various lobbies will vouch for their interests, including the gun lobby and the arms industry, which both are huge and rich in capital. Everyone has networks, and of course theirs expands into media, just like the ones of varius industries and brands, NGOs, political parties, churches, etc etc etc.

About the Pell stuff...actually this is pretty important. This is the territory into which I can not get here, though. I guess this is ending the conversation prematurely, but let's just say the community is far better at discovering the most silly patterns than it is on discovering their meaning, or to quote my favorite scientist, Willy Gallon: "Everything men can imagine is real".

Yeah video games like Call of Duty should certainly be banned and they are 100% responsible for more violence in society. Gamers are like the most uncritical media consumers you can find in the entire galaxy. Again, it's about how certain things are conferred, not about wether they exist at all.
But something like Call of Duty or the likes, it's always against muslim terrorists, latino drug gangsters, evil crime warlords, russians, etc etc etc, the typical stereotypes, and all in a realistic fashion.

It's a shame actual criticsm does not exist and it always comes down to pretentious politicians who have no clue themselves and who are only fishing votes from geezers. But ideologically, most video games are 100% bullshit.

There's nothing wrong with stupid action movies like idk van Damme or something, but whenever a movie goes into the territory of depicting realistic warfare, most of the time it is going to at least have slightly anti-war tendencies.

In video games? Actual soldiers train with software pretty much based on games. Critical media is nigh non-existant, it always just comes down to having "fun" even with the most morbid stuff, like murdering innocents at an airport while going undercover at terrorists. Totally the recipe to brainwash a society, if you ask me.

And comparing Call of Duty with Sherlock Holmes is pretty rad, but I get your point.
What I should point out though is: It is specifically American crime shows where the cops will murder the culprit in self-defense or a lot of the time in self justice, too (because he was such a sick psycho and stuff). No one is ever taken to a court. Think Criminal Minds and stuff.
German crime shows are always (nigh no exceptions) stupid non-serious comedies, where overweight cops solve cases based on coincidence.
That's a huge cultural difference, that probably comes down to a set of reasons (and one of them certainly is legal guns in society, which in turn is pushed by the gun lobby, also through media).

In order to bring this back to One Piece..these are exactly the tone changes that I feared the most. Maybe this will help people to understand my point of view more.

Spoiler

Still wrong.

They actually are building up the World Government sucks thing, WG is mentioned a lot more in this series than in the manga at this point.

But you need to think by episode to episode basis in a series. In this this particular episode we need to be afraid of Kuro, not the big world out there that we at this point of the story. Also in the next episode we need to be afraid for Zoros life because a gash along his torso and after that he is out for like a full episode, day in universe time. Would that be believable or have tension, if just in a previous episode someone who got punctured thorough the gut 5 times survived after being unattended for roughly 12 hours, while being dragged and thrown around?

The rest of stuff I won't touch, since off topic. All I say it's just wrong, and has been studied and proven time and time again, that horror/action fiction or games don't add violence. It's a myth.

--- Double Post Merged, Sep 3, 2023, Original Post Date: Sep 3, 2023 ---

Spoiler: Spoiler

Honestly, in this case, I kind of agree. With Kaya, she's already lost her parents, the surrogate father figure she found in Klahadore ends up being a remorseless pirate only after her money, Usopp's probably one of the only friends she has that actually cares about her and he leaves at the end of this arc. While Merry surviving was a bit illogical, I appreciated it because it meant that Kaya had at least one person who was still looking out for her. Also Merry surviving kind of reflected Kuro's flaw of becoming impatient and overconfident in his abilities.

Spoiler

This take I do understand, and is a very valid point. Though it's not really what McNuss is saying.

Kaya really has it hard here. However, I could counter-argue that this version on the story places a lot more emphasis for Kayas need to grow independed and trust her or capabilities, instead of being controlled and pampered by figures trying replace her parents. For that purpose, Merry surviving and things continuing pretty much as they were, is really most supportive in storytelling means.

 

[SanaNeOlm]

[...] I think it's cute they're so into the lore and maintaining character actions though Luffy's arms up cheering just don't quite work for me in LA. I'd say Luffy's actor is my least favourite but he's growing on me. Again, certainly trying but it feels forced and that's his only issue. [...]

I think especially Luffy is the most difficult character to display in a Live Action. A monumental task. He is such a goofy and cartooney character, so for the translation into a living human being, stuff will get lost.

Btw. did you guys hear the jap dub for Luffy? Even the original Seiyuu takes it down a bit compared to the anime Luffy. The directors clearly understand the difference. Weirdly though, i will watch it in english. When i watched it in japanese, i clearly felt two worlds clashing inside my head.

 

[Erinyes]

ep 3and 4 were weaker imo the overall atmosphere had more Tim Buton style's vibes than op lmao, the Kaya x Usopp kiss looks so un-op-ish, I dont remember a single kiss in 1091 chapters
But OMG episode 5 was the best, Sanji was impressive, loved him, the smile, the style, the dialogues everything was on point, the scene with Nami in Baratie was hlarious. Seeing Usopp blending in well was great too. Mihawk entrance was perfect, even if there are plenty differences they kept the iconic lines in Zoro vs Mihawk.

--- Double Post Merged, Sep 3, 2023, Original Post Date: Sep 3, 2023 ---

Sanji is so damn cool, wow, funny and charming, i was not sold when i saw the cast before it started. Loivng his scenes so far, Zeff is great too !

 

[weixiaobao]

Sanji is so damn cool, wow, funny and charming, i was not sold when i saw the cast before it started. Loivng his scenes so far, Zeff is great too !

Young Sanji is Sweet Tooth main actor. If he stuck at the age of Sweet Tooth for the next 10 years, he would made a good Chopper.

 

[McNuss]

@McNuss you really need to dumb things down a bit. They need to work under the assumption that this show maybe cancel. So this, " Tension arises from the global circumstances, that unfolds from peaceful Windmill Village into a quite dystopian, and certainly totalitarian, and irremovable dictatorship." May not play out at all. It was just simply did it work to get NETFLIX subscribers to watch another episode. And if it did, it works.

The show did made some of the stories and plot beat too stereotypical including the Nami's plot.

I know how Netflix works. Still this is One Piece. Netflix has pulled off far more unrealistical attempts at success, when comparing costs spent to potential audiences, stuff like Altered Carbon for example. and even that got a second season.
One Piece, the biggest current fictive media, is not likely to get cancelled after one season. Acquiring the license alone rules that pretty much out.
So they should have more faith in the source material.

Spoiler

Still wrong.

They actually are building up the World Government sucks thing, WG is mentioned a lot more in this series than in the manga at this point.

But you need to think by episode to episode basis in a series. In this this particular episode we need to be afraid of Kuro, not the big world out there that we at this point of the story. Also in the next episode we need to be afraid for Zoros life because a gash along his torso and after that he is out for like a full episode, day in universe time. Would that be believable or have tension, if just in a previous episode someone who got punctured thorough the gut 5 times survived after being unattended for roughly 12 hours, while being dragged and thrown around?

The rest of stuff I won't touch, since off topic. All I say it's just wrong, and has been studied and proven time and time again, that horror/action fiction or games don't add violence. It's a myth.

We'd be as afraid of Kuro without him murdering someone. The sheer amount of people reasoning how this was neccesary kinda proves my point, that people are misguided by media that death is always a neccesity.

And there are no serious studies in relation to gaming and violence. None at all. Of course gaming magazines claim that this stuff is totally harmless, who's to blame them, no one would undermine what feeds him.

Again, I am not against violence in games or media per se, that'd be like flower-induced brainwash. No, but games are not all the same. And games like Call of Duty are certainly toxic, as is the ideology behind them. There is no media without ideology and that is a position well established in social sciences (Frankfurt school, Siegfried Kracauer, Slavoij Zisek, etc.).

Spoiler

This take I do understand, and is a very valid point. Though it's not really what McNuss is saying.

Kaya really has it hard here. However, I could counter-argue that this version on the story places a lot more emphasis for Kayas need to grow independed and trust her or capabilities, instead of being controlled and pampered by figures trying replace her parents. For that purpose, Merry surviving and things continuing pretty much as they were, is really most supportive in storytelling means.

[/QUOTE]

No, this is exactly what I am saying. They turned it from a comedy into a tragedy.
Your explanation below proves you didn't understand me here.
Changing the message of something changes the ideology behind something.
We had a comedic story about lies and depressions in the Manga.
And in the show we have a tragic story about lies and depressions, now with added neoliberal bullshit for the conclusion.

 

[Organizized]

(Episode 1: Romance Dawn - 7.5/10
Episode 2: The Man in the Straw Hat - 8/10)
Episode 3: Tell No Tales - 6.5/10
Episode 4: The Pirates Are Coming - 7/10

As one of the approximately 6 people who finds Syrup Village underrated and actually enjoys it quite a bit in the manga, there was a lot I missed in this. The Usopp pirates, especially the disbanding thereof, to me is a highlight of the East Blue (I know I'm in the minority there). The hilarity of Jango... The (for me) iconic way Usopp joined... But oh well. I'm trying to stay unbiased, and in the end all the changes make a lot of sense.

Spoiler

It made sense to make Kaya a shipyard heiress, and having Usopp work there. I liked the emphasis on Luffy "picking" the Merry and him saying it would be like one of the crew.
Jacob as Usopp is great, and Kaya felt more like an actual character here than she ever did in the manga.
Child Usopp unfortunately was a little eh, and the scene where his mom dies felt even more rushed than in the manga, did very little for me (again a pacing thing, I think that scene hit in the manga because of how it's placed right at the end).
Sham and Buchi... eh, they're in bottom tier of characters in the manga, and they're pretty uninteresting here as well. Didn't care for them much, but I guess they're better in comparison.
Kuro's plan being less convoluted is of course a good thing, was always one of my main criticisms of the arc.
Zoro getting stuck in a well instead of on an oily slope is sooooo much better. Also the first flashback to feel perfectly placed, and paced. Very effective way to reveal what drives Zoro.
Also... "hey, haircut", maaaan Zoro and Helmeppo's dynamic is hilarious.

Klahadore/Kuro was a bit much for a while with the scraping against the walls and the almost parodical "menacing" voice (Kaaaayaaaa... Kaaaayaaaaa.... come out come out wherever you are type beat). But other than those sequences he was fine as well, and once he actually got mad, he was menacing for real.

BTW... WE ARE!? As they sail on the Merry the first time!? I got goosebumps.

I think these episodes were ingenious for selling new people and Syrup Village-haters on the arc. And it's a cool way to show the versatility of this story, how it can go from pure adventure to pure thriller in the space of an episode.

Also, I'm in the camp that's not mad at Merry staying dead. Not because he's even nearly a fake-out I was ever the most upset about, but because it gives us hope those worse fake-outs will be redeemed as well.

 

[weixiaobao]

We'd be as afraid of Kuro without him murdering someone. The sheer amount of people reasoning how this was neccesary kinda proves my point, that people are misguided by media that death is always a neccesity.

Up to ep 8 spoiler for the people still watching.

Spoiler

I am merely said, there is a much more simple reason than whatever convoluted reasoning you are giving. Like the anti woke who see wokeness in everything. Or the people who studied certain theories and now see xxx in everything. Or only able to see the world through those lens.

I also see a lack of trust in the audience as another explanation. Beside the amount of complaint about fake out deaths within the fandom could be a reason. There is a lot of hand holding for this live action adaption. And modified it into a more familiar story. What add extra depth about Usopp got removed such as his lies came truth. That he was indeed a hero for once and choose not to disclose it. Or that Nami had to tell Luffy that the cuff is for her. Robbing Luffy of a moment where it show he actually very emotional intelligent. Or taking the agency of the Cocoyashi villagers away by taking away their knowledge that they knew about Nami. That they wish Nami abandon them. Or even Sanji's story. That he would feed the Krieg pirates even when his own cooks turning against him. Showed the core of his principles.

A lot of these changes, I don't think save much time or resources. It is more like they don't trust the general audience as much. And who know. If they got renewed for a second season. Especially if this is a big hit. They were able to take a bit more risk.

One of the OG

Another mainstream reviewer

https://www.youtube.com/@DanMurrellMovies

--- Double Post Merged, Sep 3, 2023, Original Post Date: Sep 3, 2023 ---

I know how Netflix works.

Spoiler

I didn't read your entire post when I realized instead talking about the show, you ventured into politics. Something I am super dreading as One Piece got popular it would turned into a cultural war like every other series. I am not talking about One Piece itself but the fandom. But then again, you probably also didn't read ANY OF MY POSTS in review of this show. ESPECIALLY you didn't read my posts about the Captain Kuro episode. So fair is fair. I pointed out the consequence of Merry's death and Kaya being along without Usopp pirates there.

Btw, I don't talk about politics don't meant I don't know politics. Tagged me in the American politic thread. I met you over there. Since you mentioned a ton of American politics topic as opposed to Germany stuff. Let's not derail this thread.

--- Double Post Merged, Sep 3, 2023 ---

Crossover with the meme/videogame audience. I can't wait to see more of these big channels coming out. Right now, even if Netflix executive greenlit a second season. They probably can't publicly negotiate with the cast/crew yet. I am sure everyone want a bigger pay, especially the main cast. I do wonder if they retain thee same budget, would that meant less go to the production if more of the budget goes to the actors. I can't see the budget staying at the same level. They need to increase it. They can't even use much of the set they build in season 1, outside of the Going Merry.