To celebrate Monkey D. Luffy’s birthday, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has penned a personal letter to fans. In it, the artist reveals new details about Netflix‘s long-in-development live-action TV adaptation of the popular anime series. The series is expected to make its debut sometime this year.
Oda, who also acts as executive producer, confirmed that he had supervised the project’s production. He also assured eager fans that the entire cast and crew had worked hard to deliver a One Piece series that would satisfy expectations.
In his open letter (posted by Netflix), Oda expressed excitement about the project.
“The entire cast and crew, spanning various countries brimming with love for ONE PIECE!!” Oda stated. “They’re burning with passion, and I’ve reminded everyone involved that this should be fun.”
Oda also touched on cultural differences that came up during production.
“I’ve been working with Tomorrow Studios and Netflix for quite some time now. Even though they understand each of the characters, we obviously come from very different cultures so, when it comes to entertainment, we have different codes, skill sets, and aims,” said the artist. “Sometimes it could be frustrating for both sides. It felt like, ‘We’re all trying to get to the same place so how come we’re not on the same wavelength?’ there was even a time when I thought, ‘Is a foreign production even possible?!’”
Who’s the Live-Action Cast of One Piece?
Netflix’s One Piece series will be led by 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. Additional cast includes 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, Alexander Maniatis as Klahadore, Steven Ward as Mihawk, Craig Fairbrass as Chef Zeff, Langley Kirkwood as Captain Morgan, Celeste Loots as Kaya, and Chioma Umeala as Nojiko.
Based on Eiichiro Oda’s iconic Japanese manga of the same name, the story follows Monkey D. Luffy, the leader of the Straw Hat Pirates, who gains the powers to turn his body into rubber after eating a “Devil Fruit.” He ventures around a fantastical world of exotic islands and vast oceans in search of the legendary treasure known as “One Piece” to become the next Pirate King.
The One Piece live-action series is written and executive produced by Steven Maeda (The X-Files) and Matt Owens (Agents of SHIELD), with Maeda set as the showrunner. Executive producers are Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios (Snowpiercer, Cowboy Bebop) along with original manga author Eiichiro Oda.
