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The upcoming live action adaption of Eiichiro Oda’s shonen powerhouse, One Piece, has been a hot topic in the anime community. After the (undeserved) negative reception of Cowboy Bebop, I’m honestly shocked that not only has this project proceeded, but that in a truly non-Hollywood fashion, the team behind the show has gone to great lengths to build confidence in the project. With cast and crew both singing the praises of the production on social media, and a careful attention to detail in design, it’s very exciting to see the updates we receive, and with Netflix’s annual “Geeked” week in full swing, fans are well fed this week. We received not only an introduction to Iñaki Godoy, playing Monkey D. Luffy, and the two show runners, Steven Maeda and Matt Owens, but a behind the scenes look at some of the handcrafted sets, and new casting announcements.
As part of Geeked Week, Netflix released this video offering a look at the Going Merry, Baratie, and Miss Love Duck ships, as well as concept art of the real life versions of these iconic seafaring vessels.
Additionally, on their Twitter account, another round of casting has been announced.
meet the newest cast members joining ONE PIECE #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/NfaIaVA8qI
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) June 6, 2022
Appropriately, Langley Kirkwood has been involved with another show about pirates, as he played Captain Bryson in 2014’s Black Sails.
While the internet remains skeptical, this author is extremely excited for the new show. There’s clearly a lot of love and reverence for the source material here, and with Owens and Maeda both known and avid One Piece fans, and the cast as excited and dedicated as this one, I look forward to (hopefully) sharing in the excitement of the show when it drops exclusively on Netflix later this year.
