The worst thing about TV shows in this television era is that we never know if a new title will manage to stick around for as long as we would like it to. When it comes toOne Piece, we already know that no matter how long it lasts, huge chunks of the 105-volume (and counting) story of themanga seriescreated byEiichiro Odawill be left out. So how do you decide what makes it to the screen? It’s not an easy decision, as showrunnerSteven Maedatold Collider’sArezou Aminin an interview.
Maeda revealed that he obviously had to make tough decisions, and he ended up deciding that it all comes down to feeling. Even thoughhe is a fan of the series, Maeda couldn’t be too precious about the things he wanted to see on the screen because the main story, stronger character arcs and emotion had to trump everything else:
“My big goal was to make sure that we show the uniqueness of the world and what a spectacle it is, and what a brilliant creation by [Eiichiro] Oda-san to come up with these characters and this world, but at the same time, not to lose the emotional underpinning of these characters. When I read the first 100 chapters, and read the whole rest of the manga, quite frankly, there are so many wonderful emotional moments in it, and it’s like, ‘Okay, this is really clever, it’s inventive, it’s cool. It’s exciting, but oh, they just broke my heart a little bit with that character’s backstory.’ I wanted to make sure all of that was in there, and it all comes with a cost. But that was the best way to tell the story, and thankfully they agreed.“
Change Is Good – Especially When Adapting a 1,000+ Chapter Series
Long-time fans ofOne Piecewill be quick to notice thatthe structure of the live-action series’ first episodes already makes some changes to the story. Even though the structure and some characters' presence may be a little surprising, they end up not harming the overall arcs that the show contemplates. Though Maeda didn’t say which moments specifically caught his attention, the inclusion of key moments like the Straw Hats' backstories, and the faithfulness to the uniqueness of the world tells Manga fans which elements of the story he decided to adapt over.
The next couple of weeks will be crucial for fans to discover ifOne Piecehas a future with Netflix. Even though the fanbase of the franchise is certainly monumental, the streamer has been followingpretty strict guidelineswhen it comes to renewing or canceling its IPs. So, depending onhow the pirate adventure faresover this weekend, we’ll already have a pretty good idea if we’ll get to see more of Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his friends in more seasons.
