With plenty of reservations surrounding Netflix’s live-action One Piece TV show, a specific manga moment could determine the tone of the entire show.
One key moment near the beginning of Netflix’s One Piece could determine the course of the entire live-action TV venture. As the good ship One Pieceprepares to sail into the choppy waters of live-action anime adaptations, plenty of questions remain over whether Eiichiro Oda’s long-running manga will float or sink as a Netflix TV series. Having botched the likes of Death Note and Cowboy Bebop, arguably both far better suited for adaptation treatment, One Piece‘s arrival will be greeted with no small amount of caution.
How far into the original manga One Piece season 1 will adapt remains a mystery, but flashbacks to Monkey D. Luffy’s youth are guaranteed. Not only has Colton Osorio been cast as the younger Luffy, but Peter Gadiot will portray Red Hair Shanks, who enjoys an instrumental role in Luffy’s flashbacks. This raises the question of whether Netflix’s One Piece will adapt the controversial manga scene where Luffy attempts to prove his pirate credentials by cutting his own face with a dagger.
Luffy’s Scar Scene Will Define Netflix’s One Piece
Happening within the opening panels of Oda’s One Piece manga, Luffy scarring his face lays the keystones of his character. The scene demonstrates Luffy’s determination to become Pirate King, reveals his gung-ho style, and establishes his admiration for Shanks in one quick stab. Needless to say, however, a child cutting their own face with a knife did not come without controversy, and the One Piece anime initially skipped the self-inflicted injury, only adapting it long after One Piece had already become a worldwide success. Whether Netflix’s One Piece shows Luffy scarring himself or concedes to censorship will provide an early indication of what kind of adaptation the live-action series will be.
Showing the story behind Luffy’s face scar would signal One Piece as an authentic adaptation, not afraid to explore the darker aspects of Oda’s manga. Ignoring Luffy’s scar would immediately point toward Netflix’s One Piece as being a sanitized retelling that fails to properly engage with its source material. Coming so early in the story, this decision could potentially set the tone for the entirety of One Piece season 1 on Netflix, and sway early opinion on whether Netflix has broken its anime adaptation curse, or ruined yet another beloved anime and manga property.
Why Netflix’s One Piece Must Show How Luffy Got His Scar
One Piece is a story of tonal extremes. One minute Luffy is doing hilarious impressions of nakama; the next, his beloved brother has been punched straight through the chest. Some One Piece stories are delightfully silly; others have deep social and political meanings bubbling beneath the surface. Navigating this balance is one of Netflix’s biggest One Piece challenges, and showing the Luffy flashback scar scene would provide a clear sign that the live-action series is willing to visit both ends of the One Piece spectrum. Additionally, the anime’s censored flashback triggered questions about Luffy’s scar from viewers unfamiliar with the manga. The Netflix version must avoid the same problem.
Regardless, showing a child deliberately injuring themselves with a blade to prove their toughness is not exactly something the Netflix One Piece TV series can adapt lightly. Perhaps a happy medium would be to heavily allude toward Luffy scarring himself without resorting to a graphic onscreen depiction of the act itself. Netflix’s One Piece could show Luffy with the dagger to his face, then immediately cut away to the reaction of Shanks’ crew, leaving no doubt as to what happened, but skirting around actually showing the gritty details.
ONE PIECE
Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own. Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS. Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer. Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.
1 One Piece Character Will Show Whether Netflix Can Adapt The Whole Anime
Netflix’s One Piece stands little chance of adapting the entire anime, but one character in particular will show whether such a feat is even feasible.
Whether or not Netflix’s live-action One Piece TV show can adapt the entire anime and manga series will hinge on the success or failure of one major character. To say that transforming Eiichiro Oda’s epic One Piece story into a live-action endeavor is ambitious would be an understatement of Elbaf-sized proportions. Even before a single frame has aired, the prospect of Netflix’s One Piece adapting Monkey D. Luffy’s entire voyage is remote. With One Piece clocking in at over 1000 chapters and counting, and Netflix developing a ruthless reputation for canceling TV shows, the live-action adaptation will almost certainly end early – even if it proves successful.
Even working on the extremely unlikely assumption that Netflix allows One Piece to follow Luffy all the way from East Blue to Raftel, however, the live-action TV adaptation still faces a major obstacle. The deeper Netflix dives into One Piece‘s timeline, the more frequently wild and wonderful characters will appear. If One Piece reaches Whole Cake Island, for example, prepare for flowers performing musical numbers. If One Piece makes it to Wano, expect dragons so big they put the Targaryans to shame. Whether One Piece can adapt such weird Oda creations will hinge largely on a single character.
Chopper Will Be The Real Test Of Netflix’s One Piece
Netflix may be able to tone down or omit zanier characters for One Piece season 1, but Tony Tony Chopper cannot be avoided and cannot be changed. The Straw Hat Pirates’ resident doctor is a talking, anthropomorphic tanuki – sorry, reindeer – who can transform into various alternate forms ranging from a rampaging monster to a fur-covered humanoid in a bright red hat. If the Netflix One Piece anime adaptation faithfully renders Chopper in live-action and does so without creating an “Ugly Sonic” problem, the TV show would have proved its ability to include the various crazy characters Luffy will meet in later adventures.
With Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji all confirmed for One Piece season 1, Chopper’s arrival is an issue the show cannot put off indefinitely. Likewise, removing any of his visually challenging elements would mean Chopper becomes unrecognizable from the One Piece character Eiichiro Oda created. This potential One Piece Chopper problem has already caused a stir online, with fake pictures of live-action Chopper circulating on social media to widespread ridicule. Without question, bringing the Straw Hats’ doctor and emergency food supply to life could dictate the very future of One Piece on Netflix. If Chopper cannot be included successfully, Luffy’s live-action long-term prospects will be severely limited.
How One Piece Can Get Live-Action Chopper Right
With his cute appearance and amazing inability to hide properly, Chopper could easily become the “Baby Yoda” of One Piece. Unfortunately, the character demands a level of dialogue and movement that a puppet – even a very elaborate and expensive puppet – would be incapable of. This leaves CGI as the only option, and Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog and Guardians of the Galaxy all demonstrate how talking animals can be integrated into live-action environments effectively. The key in each case was finding the required level of balance between the design of a real animal, and the design of a cartoon animal.
One problem the Netflix One Piece show must avoid is making Chopper too realistic. Amplifying Chopper’s animalistic traits would restrict his ability to emote and engage – and then he really would become little more than the Straw Hats’ pet. One Piece‘s best strategy for Chopper is a design that leans into the extraordinary aspects of Chopper’s anime and manga design, but adds touches of realism that lift the hat-wearing reindeer into the real world – most akin to Detective Pikachu out of the above three examples. Chopper will likely not come cheap for Netflix, but if One Piece can get him right, the show can sail forward with confidence.
