One Piece (2023 TV series)

One Piece (stylized in all caps) is a fantasy adventure television series developed by Matt Owens and Steven Maeda for Netflix. The series is a live-action adaptation of the manga series of the same name by Eiichiro Oda, who serves as creative consultant for the show. It is produced by Kaji Productions and Shueisha, who also publishes the manga. The series stars an ensemble cast including Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Jacob Romero Gibson, and Taz Skylar as the members of the Straw Hat Pirates, centered around (Godoy's) Captain Monkey D. Luffy.

The first season was released on Netflix on August 31, 2023, receiving positive reviews from critics and fans alike, praising the performances, writing, visual effects, and general fidelity to the source material. Several outlets have characterized the production as one of the best live-action adaptations of a manga or anime series. Two weeks after its release, Netflix renewed the series for a second season, which began filming in June 2024.

Premise
The series follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as they quest in search of the "One Piece", a fabled prestige treasure that might elevate their captain, Monkey D. Luffy, to be "The King of the Pirates".

Main

 * Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with rubber-like abilities imbued from eating the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit. Luffy quests to find the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates.
 * Colton Osorio as young Monkey D. Luffy.
 * Emily Rudd as Nami, an enigmatic thief and cartographer in search of the map to the Grand Line, the rumored location of the One Piece.
 * Lily Fisher as young Nami.
 * Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, master swordsman and bounty hunter, employing the "Three Swords Style". Zoro aims to become the world's greatest swordsman.
 * Maximilian Lee Piazza as young Roronoa Zoro.
 * Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, a boisterous marksman, compulsive braggart, and son of the infamous pirate Yasopp. Usopp prizes fame and friendship above all else.
 * Kevin Saula as young Usopp.
 * Taz Skylar as Sanji, an abrasive-yet-charming master chef and martial artist mentored by Head Chef Zeff. He quests for the All Blue, the legendary connection point of the Four Seas—a culinary cornucopia.
 * Christian Convery as young Sanji.
 * Vincent Regan as Monkey D. Garp, Marine Vice Admiral, Luffy's estranged grandfather, and Koby's mentor.
 * Jeff Ward as Buggy the Clown, the circus-themed captain of the Buggy Pirates; Buggy's power to split his body into pieces and control each remotely derive from the Chop-Chop Devil Fruit.
 * Morgan Davies as Koby, a one time cabin boy of the Alvida Pirates; Koby pursues his dream of being a Marine.

Recurring

 * Aidan Scott as Helmeppo, the son of Captain Morgan who uses his father's status as a Marine Captain to bully others into doing his bidding. Helmeppo becomes a marine cadet following the defeat of his father.
 * Peter Gadiot as Shanks, the captain of the Red-Haired Pirates who was Luffy's childhood hero and inspiration to start his own crew.
 * Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Alvida, the ruthless leader of the Alvida Pirates who fights with a large spiked iron club.
 * Langley Kirkwood as Axe Hand Morgan, a corrupt self-obsessed Marine Captain who imprisoned Zoro, and the abusive father of Helmeppo.
 * Tamer Burjaq as Higuma, a sinister bandit who tried to kill Luffy in his youth.
 * Kathleen Stephens as Makino, a bartender from Windmill Village, Luffy's home town.
 * Armand Aucamp as Bogard, a Marine officer and Garp's right-hand man.
 * Sven Ruygrok as Cabaji, an acrobat who is an officer of the Buggy Pirates.
 * Stevel Marc as Yasopp, an officer of the Red Hair Pirates and Usopp's father.
 * Ntlanhla Morgan Kutu as Lucky Roux, an officer of the Red Hair Pirates
 * Laudo Liebenberg as Benn Beckmann, an officer of the Red Hair Pirates.
 * McKinley Belcher III as Arlong, a strong, ruthless fish-man who is the leader of the Arlong Pirates and ruler of Arlong Park.
 * Celeste Loots as Kaya, an orphaned heiress and Usopp's close friend.
 * Alexander Maniatis as Kuro, alias "Klahadore", the captain of the Black Cat Pirates posing as Kaya's butler.
 * Bianca Oosthuizen as Sham, an officer of the Black Cat Pirates and Buchi's partner.
 * Albert Pretorius as Buchi, an officer of the Black Cat Pirates and Sham's partner.
 * Jandre le Roux as Kuroobi, a fish-man who is an officer of the Arlong Pirates.
 * Brett Williams as Merry, an attorney and legal guardian of Kaya's assets.
 * Craig Fairbrass as Chef Zeff, a former pirate and the current head chef and owner of Baratie, a floating restaurant, and Sanji's father figure.
 * Steven Ward as Dracule Mihawk, a pirate regarded as the world's greatest swordsman and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
 * Len-Barry Simons as Chu, a fish-man who is an officer of the Arlong Pirates.
 * Chioma Umeala as Nojiko, Nami's adoptive older sister.
 * Kylie Ashfield as young Nojiko.
 * Grant Ross as Genzo, the sheriff of the Coco Village.
 * Rory Acton-Burnell as Nezumi, a corrupt Marine Captain who covers up for Arlong's misdeeds.
 * Callum Kerr as Smoker (season 2)
 * Matthew Leck as young Smoker (season 1, guest)
 * Julia Rehwald as Tashigi (season 2)
 * Daniel Lasker as Mr. 9 (season 2), a member of Baroque Works.
 * Camrus Johnson as Mr. 5 (season 2), a member of Baroque Works.
 * Jazzara Jaslyn as Miss Valentine (season 2), a member of Baroque Works.
 * Brendan Murray as Brogy (season 2)
 * Werner Coetser as Dorry (season 2)
 * Clive Russell as Crocus (season 2), a doctor and lighthouse keeper.
 * David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3 (season 2), a member of Baroque Works.
 * Rob Colletti as Wapol (season 2)
 * Ty Keogh as Dalton (season 2)

Guest

 * Michael Dorman as Gold Roger, the former King of the Pirates
 * Ben Kgosimore as Mr. 7, a swordsman sent to meet Zoro by a criminal organization named Baroque Works.
 * Nicole Fortuin as Ririka, a bartender in Shells Town.
 * Chanté Grainger as Banchina, Usopp's mother.
 * Audrey Cymone as Shimotsuki Kuina, Zoro's childhood friend and skilled swordswoman.
 * Nathan Castle as Shimotsuki Koushirou, a master swordsman who was the teacher of Roronoa Zoro.
 * Brashaad Mayweather as Patty, a cook of the Baratie.
 * Milton Schorr as Don Krieg, a pirate fleet's captain who wears an armor filled with hidden weapons.
 * Litha Bam as Gin, a combat commander of Don Krieg's crew, who was fed by Sanji.
 * Genna Galloway as Bellemere, a former Marine who adopted Nami and Nojiko.

Additionally, Ian McShane voices the narrator in the first episode.

Development
In July 2017, Weekly Shōnen Jump editor-in-chief Hiroyuki Nakano announced that Tomorrow Studios (a partnership between Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios) and Shueisha would commence production of an American live-action television adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga series as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebrations. Oda would serve as executive producer for the series alongside Tomorrow Studios CEO Adelstein and Becky Clements. The series would reportedly begin with the East Blue saga. Adelstein also said the production cost could set new records.

In January 2020, Oda revealed that Netflix had ordered a first season initially consisting of ten episodes. In May 2020, producer Marty Adelstein revealed that the series was originally set to begin filming in Cape Town at Cape Town Film Studios sometime around August but had been delayed to around September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also revealed that, during the same interview, all ten scripts had been written for the series and they were set to begin casting sometime in June. However, executive producer and writer Matt Owens stated in September 2020 that casting had not yet commenced.

In March 2021, production started up again with showrunner Steven Maeda revealing that the series codename is Project Roger. In September 2021, the series revealed its first look at the logo for the series. That same month, it was reported that Marc Jobst will direct the pilot episode of the series; he was approached to direct the pilot by Netflix executives due to their positive relationship after Jobst helmed episodes for Netflix series such as Daredevil, Luke Cage, and The Witcher. Jobst agreed to work on One Piece due to the script's optimistic tone. In February 2022, it was announced that Arisu Kashiwagi will be the creative director and designer for the show's brand identity, where she will be creating and designing logo and title sequence etc. In March 2022, alongside the release of additional casting announcements, it was said that head writer and executive producer Matt Owens would serve as co-showrunner alongside Maeda. In June 2022, Emma Sullivan was revealed to have directed episodes of the series.

On September 7, 2023, Tomorrow Studios CEO Marty Adelstein revealed that the scripts for the second season are ready but filming could not begin until the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved. Tomorrow Studios president Becky Clements stated that once they can begin filming, they expect the season would premiere approximately 12–18 months later. Netflix did not formally announce that the series was renewed for a second season until September 14. Clements commented that they've had "thorough conversations" on the second season with Netflix, Shueisha and Oda and "less extensive conversations" on seasons three to six. Adelstein and Clements commented that with over 1,080 manga chapters, there is at least twelve seasons of material so just six seasons would only cover half the total manga chapters. On April 23, 2024, Joe Tracz joined the second season as writer, executive producer and co-showrunner alongside Owen who is returning as co-showrunner.

Changes from the manga
In a July 2023 open letter, Oda stated that there were numerous scenes he felt "weren't good enough to put out into the world", so the film crew re-shot them. Oda also felt some of Luffy's lines did not feel like the character on paper; however, he changed his opinion after seeing Godoy's performance of them. In an interview with The New York Times, Oda highlighted that the live-action show has more dialogue than the manga as the latter needs more space for illustrations. When asked if he was worried about the One Piece adaptation given that other similar adaptations have been unsuccessful, Oda said, "thankfully, Netflix agreed that they wouldn't go out with the show until I agreed it was satisfactory. I read the scripts, gave notes and acted as a guard dog to ensure the material was being adapted in the correct way". Costume designer Diana Cilliers was directly influenced by Oda's Color Walk compendiums when creating the show's designs. She made small changes to the original designs to either "spice up scenes with variation" or adjust due to safety concerns when filming the live action.

The adaptation made several structural changes with Oda's approval, such as focusing on Garp and revealing his connection to Luffy much earlier as well as moving Arlong's introduction up and swapping him with Don Krieg's storyline. Maeda commented that they wanted to make Arlong the season's "big bad" and by introducing him at the Baratie they were able to "ramp up towards the last two episodes". He also stated that they wanted Garp as "a more present character" along with the immediate Marine pursuit of the Straw Hats crew "to keep the stakes up and let it feel like it wasn't just a fun adventure where we were meeting different antagonists and different villains and pirates, but there was an actual kind of organized presence and fearsome presence that was behind Luffy and pursuing". Polygon highlighted that increased focus on the Marines means "Koby goes from being a side character to a supporting one immediately" and "changes the framing" of the Marines. Polygon also commented on the changes to the characterization of Sanji – "the new version of Sanji no longer bothers women. It's not that Sanji isn't interested in women; he's just a lot more respectful about it".

Casting
In November 2021, the main cast portraying the Straw Hat Pirates was revealed via a series of wanted posters: Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, and Taz Skylar as Sanji.

In March 2022, Netflix added Morgan Davies as Koby, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Alvida, Aidan Scott as Helmeppo, Jeff Ward as Buggy, McKinley Belcher III as Arlong, Vincent Regan as Garp and Peter Gadiot as Shanks to the cast in recurring roles. June 2022 saw the addition of Langley Kirkwood as Captain Morgan, Celeste Loots as Kaya, Alexander Maniatis as Klahadore, Craig Fairbrass as Zeff, Steven Ward as Dracule Mihawk, and Chioma Umeala as Nojiko. In August 2022, Bianca Oosthuizen, Chanté Grainger, and Grant Ross joined the cast of the series, playing Sham, Banchina, and Genzo respectively. In February 2023, it was revealed that Stevel Marc had been cast as Yasopp. In March 2023, it was revealed that Jandre le Roux had been cast as Kuroobi.

In July 2023, it was revealed that the original Japanese voice actors from the One Piece anime will voice the characters for the Japanese dub. All the characters are dubbed by the original Japanese voice cast, with the exception of Arlong being voiced by Hiroki Tōchi, replacing Jūrōta Kosugi from the anime for unspecified reasons.

On September 14, 2023, the character Tony Tony Chopper was teased by Oda himself as part of a video announcing the series' renewal for a second season. On May 6, 2024, another video posted on the series' social media had Godoy teasing the appearance of the character Mr. 3.

On June 25, 2024, Daniel Lasker, Camrus Johnson, Jazzara Jaslyn, and David Dastmalchian, joined the cast of the second season, as Mr. 9, Mr. 5, Miss Valentine, and Mr. 3 respectively. On June 26, 2024, Clive Russell, Brendan Murray and Werner Coetser were announced in the roles of Crocus, Brogy and Dorry, respectively. On June 27, Callum Kerr, Julia Rehwald, Rob Colletti and Ty Keogh were revealed for the roles of Smoker, Tashigi, Wapol and Dalton, respectively.

Filming
Maeda officially announced that principal photography had begun on January 31, 2022, and finished filming on August 22, 2022. In May 2022, director Marc Jobst updated that he had finished filming the first two episodes of the show. Part of the filming took place in Cape Town, South Africa, at Cape Town Film Studios. Nicole Hirsch Whitaker, the show's cinematographer, said that she had her crew six weeks before production began. The entirety of the sequence involving Luffy fighting Alvida had to be reshot as it was originally done in the daytime. Whitaker was unable to attend the reshoot due to scheduling conflicts and it was done without her.

Filming for the second season was expected to begin in South Africa in June 2024. On July 1, 2024, Netflix announced that filming for the second season had started in South Africa.

Music
Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli were hired to compose the score for the series. Matt Patches of Polygon highlighted that "unlike most television composers who might be handed picture-locked episodes to pepper with bits of underscore, showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda tasked Belousova and Ostinelli with composing a world's worth of sounds that could be in constant conversation depending on which eccentric characters or pirate-y locations were in play at any given moment". The first single from the series' soundtrack, "Wealth Fame Power", was made available on music streaming platforms on August 18, 2023. Belousova stated that as Luffy's theme, "Wealth Fame Power" connects him with Gold Roger's legacy. The song has "ascending motion" as Luffy is at the start of his journey so in Roger's scene, they reversed the theme to be in "descending motion" as Rogers is "about to be executed" – "we are ending one storyline, but we are immediately beginning another storyline". The second single, "My Sails Are Set", featuring Norwegian singer Aurora, was released on August 25, 2023. The song "My Sails Are Set" externalizes Nami's journey and acts that "the culmination of an entire season's worth of musical ideas"; Belousova commented that "usually songs function as needle drops – it's very rare for songs to have actually any sort of musical connection to the rest of the score".

Marketing
On June 17, 2023, the series' premiere date and teaser trailer were revealed by the main cast in-person during the fourth edition of Tudum at Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, Brazil. The entire presentation was broadcast live from the Ibirapuera Auditorium on several Netflix official YouTube channels. The three-day event was held between June 16 and 18 and featured a One Piece-themed immersive experience, which displayed a life-size replica of the pirateship Going Merry at the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo, located inside the park. On June 29, 2023, a promotional website for the series was launched. Billed as the "Straw Hat Grand Fleet", the website features behind-the-scenes content as well as a section for creating custom wanted posters. On July 21, 2023, Netflix released the official trailer and a personalized letter from Oda.

On August 10, 2023, Netflix announced dates and locations for global fan celebrations ahead of the series premiere. Marketed as "Straw Hats Unite Across The Globe", the schedule of events included screenings of the first episode on August 24 in Santa Monica, California at the Santa Monica Pier. Other cities and dates where in-person fan celebrations were held included Paris, on August 29; Jakarta, Tokyo, Milan and Manila, on August 30; and Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Bangkok, on August 31. Germany was also set to hold a fan event on the premiere day, albeit virtually. Among the attractions announced for the global celebrations was a life-size replica of the Going Merry displayed at Copacabana Beach from August 31 to September 10. On August 30, 2023, Netflix released the final trailer for the series.

Critical response
It also received a 95% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on over 10,000 reviews. Metacritic reported that One Piece holds a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the series 3 out of 4 stars, writing, "In this energetic cross between Pirates of the Caribbean and Scott Pilgrim, with a dash of Doctor Who-style camp, a young crew of buccaneers goes searching for lost treasure and helps people along the way in a bighearted, swashbuckling answer to Stranger Things." Lauren Milici of GamesRadar+ wrote that the series "breaks the live-action curse," adding that the directorial choices "make it more than clear that the show was created by fans, by people who genuinely wanted to see something they love brought to (a new) life." Jesse Hassenger of The Guardian gave One Piece 3/5 stars and wrote that "the overall imagination of One Piece competes with this particular iteration's budget, which appears to be lavish but perhaps still not quite enough". The Hollywood Reporter's Angie Han wrote, "By putting its faith in its characters' youthful joie de vivre, One Piece delivers enough fun to thrill the inner child in tweens and grown-ups alike." Coleman Spilde of The Daily Beast felt the show "consistently surprises" although the "writing sometimes struggles to find a steady middle ground between the tweenage and adult demographics it's trying to appeal to". Spilde stated that as a good adaptation, One Piece is "captivating even to viewers who know nothing about the source material".

Kayleigh Dray, for The A.V. Club, viewed the show as an accessible adaptation with "major Saturday morning cartoons vibes". Dray also highlighted the amount of source material lore packed in – "even a cursory glance makes it abundantly clear that a lot of love and care has gone into all of its lush world building". Paste 's Elijah Gonzalez thought the adaptation made the "wise decision" to handle a small amount of the source material by sticking with "the 'East Blue' arc, which spans the first 100 chapters of the manga and around 60 episodes of the anime". Gonzalez opined that this iteration "even occasionally feels more cohesive than the original" as it can introduce later aspects earlier "to create compelling overarching drama" and "aid certain backstories". Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture wrote that the show "proves its willingness to hold on to what makes the original property so fantastic". Bastién also thought the changes in the adaptation, such as revealing the connection between Garp and Luffy much earlier, worked "damn well". Charles Pulliam-Moore, for The Verge, stated that the production design was key to One Piece feeling "like a living, breathing place with history that you can step into" and highlighted that "Netflix constructed a number of massive, painstakingly-detailed sets perfect to transform into iconic places from Oda's world". He felt that it is always "a bit of a gamble" when the show recreates "visuals from the anime"; however, "many of those gambles work out well". In contrast, Mike Hale of The New York Times felt One Piece was a "bland and generic" adaptation as "most of the verve and personality of the anime are gone, replaced by busyness, elaborate but uninteresting production design and – a sign of the times –  an increased piety regarding the story's themes of knowing and believing in yourself".

Hassenger viewed "the actors' performance styles" as clashing with "some of the actors gleefully embody live-action cartoons, while others work in a mildly snarky YA register" – "multiple supporting characters goggle and mug like they're in a Terry Gilliam knockoff". Robert Lloyd, for the Los Angeles Times, felt with Luffy that the show fails "critically if not quite fatally" as the "character comes across as little short of insane". Lloyd commented that Luffy is "meant to be the spirit of the tale, but turns tiresome in human form, where he's surely supposed to be delightful" and viewed the other characters joining him as "arbitrary and improbable". However, Bastién felt Godoy did "a tightrope walk of a role" as Luffy and observed that "there just aren't characters like him in white-colonial media – men whose kindness is essential to their being and for whom friendship is tantamount". She opined that the "core cast works splendidly" but the supporting characters were more "lacking". David Opie of Empire stated "Rudd embodies the heart of the show with an emotive take on Nami" and "Mackenyu nails Roronoa Zoro's stoicism just as well as his intricate swordplay". Opie felt "no one shines as bright as Iñaki Godoy". Spilde viewed Godoy, Rudd, and Mackenyu as having "stellar chemistry" but that "the frenetic energy of the show falters when it becomes too contracted, spending more time on friendship than fighting". The show's choreographed fight sequences were praised by multiple critics.

Viewership
One Piece topped the weekly global Netflix chart from August 28 to September 3, ranking among the top 10 in 93 countries and at number one in 46 countries, with 140 million hours watched by 18.5 million viewers in its first week. During its second week, viewership increasing to 145.7 million hours watched by 19.3 million viewers. It thus amassed 285.7 million hours watched by 37.8 million viewers in less than two weeks of its release. Nielsen reported that on the "streaming charts for the week of August 28 to September 3", One Piece was #1 in the "originals" category and #2 overall "with 1.3B minutes viewed" which "equates to 21.85 million hours of viewing in the U.S.". The Hollywood Reporter highlighted that Nielsen and Netflix calculate viewing time with different methods so Nielsen's report is "a little under 16 percent of the worldwide total Netflix reported in its own top 10 rankings" in the same period. Variety commented that, per Nielsen, One Piece "brought in a more diverse audience than its competitors, with a 25% Hispanic and 19% African American audience".

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters stated that the show's debut met "a very high bar" and that, despite "haters looking for a reason to hate you" for it, to "be able to deliver it and have it be massively popular and a success around the world is amazing to see". It was the second new Netflix show in 2023 to debut with more than 100 million hours viewed in its first week, following The Night Agent in March. Deadline Hollywood, however, noted its debut viewership fell short of Wednesday and Queen Charlotte, which drew roughly 43 million and 24 million views, respectively, in their first weeks. On TikTok, the #OnePieceNetflix hashtag drew over 4 billion search impressions during the show's first two weeks.

Awards and accolades
In the 76th Writers Guild of America Awards, One Piece won the category for Television: Children's Episodic, Long Form and Specials with "Romance Dawn".