There’re always going to be issues when you take an anime and convert it into a live-action show. It would be naive to think that it would be identical, but would you want it to be? For example, One Piece is one of the most beloved anime of all time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the editor wants people to know – there are going to be some differences.
Nerds and Beyond recently talked about those changes with Tessa Verfuss, who was responsible for truncating the series for Netflix into separate episodes. In case you’re not familiar, One Piece is a incredibly popular manga and anime created by Eiichiro Oda.
There are more than 516 million mangas in circulation and the anime has more than 1,000 episodes. For comparison, the Netflix show has ten episodes. Obviously some things are going to be left out.
The series follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his search for the legendary treasure One Piece (hence the title). Here’s the trailer:
Verfuss was asked whether working on adaptations was different from working on other shows, and whether there were things that were left in for fan service. She said it took careful consideration and forethought.
“We are very conscious of it [being an adaptation]. One of our two showrunners, Matt Owens, has a really deep knowledge of the property. That was a huge help. And we also had stacks of manga in the corners of the production office that you could go and flip through, and I watched some of the anime during my research.”
She said showrunners needed to be aware when they were putting in an Easter egg or whether they were “paying homage to something and make sure it’s in there.”
Some references are “very subtle” and others are more in your face, she said.
“It’s stuff that otherwise could potentially have ended up being glossed over, especially when it’s something that is fast paced overall. There’s a lot of action, things move quickly. We condensed a hell of a lot of story into a small amount of time, to get through as much as we can.”
The key to the whole thing is making sure “the fans get what they need and set things up for the future.”
There’s obviously some skepticism, as Netflix doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to anime adaptations (Death Note and Cowboy Bebop being notable examples).
Verfuss said that the difference with this show is the amount of love and consideration that went into it.
“We care about the IP. We did have Oda involved and guiding us, helping us make this the best show possible. The crew making this really, really care. I think that’s important, ’cause people get a little jaded about live action — they’re concerned about what an adaptation will be like. But the people on the show want it to be the best for people who love One Piece.”
One Piece lands on Netflix on August 31.