Netflix‘s live-action adaption of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece has a new promotional image, and it has certainly left an impression. The poster for the upcoming series started circulating on social media and the responses have been a little mixed, to say the least. In the poster, fans get a glimpse of the bow of the Going Merry, the Straw Hats ship, and it is just a little… unnerving.
Given how a number of anime to live action series have famously crashed and burned in the past, it is no wonder that fans are concerned about how this Once Piece adaptation will turn out. The anime is one of the longest-running in the world and has a global fanbase, which was why it was given the go-ahead to get the Western live-action adaption for Netflix. With shows like this, which are so engrained in fans’ hearts, you know that it will be hard to win them over.
No live-action is going to look or feel exactly like the animated version. For starters, there is no limit to what an anime can do given that there are no physical constraints on anything. One Piece has already had to make concessions on certain key aspects because of real-world problems, for example, the character of Luffy will lose his sandals in exchange for sneakers because it is very difficult, and a tad dangerous, to do stunts in sandals.
In this case, though, fans can see the changes to the Going Merry’s masthead and it looks a touch more demonic than it ever did in the anime. Many felt that the Ram’s head looks more possessed than jolly in the poster with this Twitter user calling out for an exorcism.
Others were more excited, with many writing that they can’t wait to see the adaption or admiring the new look of the fabled ship.
This thread on Twitter gives you an exact insight into the optimists and pessimist of the anime world, though it does seem to be that the small majority find the image borderline disturbing.
The series is due to set sail on the streaming platform this year, with no specific date yet set, leaving fans to flounder around a little whilst they wait. We know that the main cast will include Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, Mackenyu as Rorona Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, Taz Skylar as Sanji, and Peter Gadiot as Shanks.