Netflix’s live-action One Piece is officially out and streaming, and plenty of fans have finally started bingeing this adaptation of the legendary manga. The Straw Hats crew has set sail!
Amongst the initial eight episodes put out today, folks have begun to wonder who voices the series narrator — setting the stage in the show’s opening moments.
Made with lots of love, and detailing the adventures of the eccentric Straw Hat crew as they search for the treasure of former King of Pirates, Gold Roger, One Piece is — and will always be — one of a kind.
Early reviews of the series seem to be positive, as fans new and old watch this real-world iteration of Luffy and the gang chase their dreams. Fingers crossed we get a second season, although with the money Netflix poured into this project (17 million dollars an episode, yikes), there’s a good chance we will. That’s a lot of loot, after all.
One inextricable aspect of the animated show and manga has always been its narrator, and you better bet that Netflix found a good one for their show. Honestly, good is an understatement. They found a great one.
Is Ian McShane in One Piece?
Kind of. If you hadn’t yet connected the dots, Ian McShane serves as the One Piece narrator during the first episode of the Netflix project — giving audiences a bit of context and then bowing out. Now, it’s great that they got McShane to lend his golden pipes, but it’s sort of a bummer that he doesn’t appear throughout.
Right? The narrator has always been such a fun part of One Piece, the manga and animates series, so to rid fans of that experience in the live-action sort of feels wrong. But, such is life. The nature of any adaptation is that liberties are taken, and they should be, in order to give us the best product. Most of the time.
My guess is that McShane either didn’t have the time, or Netflix didn’t want to pay. As one of entertainments most respected names, I’m sure he’s not lending his talents for free. Nor should he. Not to mention the fact that narration can always be a mixed bag. If done poorly, having someone speak over your story can do more harm than good, and Netflix might have wanted to steer clear of those waters.
At any rate, go watch One Piece. It’s fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and might be just the thing our media-loving world needs right now.