One Piece – Eiichiro Oda reveals why he took so long to make a live action version for the series

The One Piece – Live Action has already been released on Netflix. The streaming platform has finally brought the adventures of Luffy and his friends to the real world. Fortunately, the series was made with active participation from Eiichiro Oda, the original manga creator. Thanks to this, fans all over the world have appreciated his input and the possibility Netflix gave him to have a central role in the creation of this live-action project.

Now that the 8-episode show has been released, tons of people who enjoy the anime and manga fans have started to ask themselves why Oda took so long to create the One Piece live-action. Although this has not been a main discussion topic for the author, the answer to this question seems to be simpler than many might think.

As years have passed by, it has been relatively “normal” for Japanese-animated series or mangas to get their own live-action adaptations. For example, Death Note, Cowboy Bepop, Pokémon, Saint Seiya or Battle Angel Alita. In spite of the popularity of the original series, they do not always get the same positive reception when they are brought to live-action. Eiichiro Oda himself had mentioned a “history of failure” when it comes to adapting this series into the Western market. He told The Times:

“When I first started, I didn’t think there was any point in drawing a manga that could be remade in live-action. Various manga had been made into live action, but there was a history of failure; no one in Japan could name a successful example. Would fans of “One Piece” — and viewers who don’t know the manga — accept it? Thankfully, Netflix agreed that they wouldn’t go out with the show until I agreed it was satisfactory. I read the scripts, gave notes and acted as a guard dog to ensure the material was being adapted in the correct way.”

It appears to be that Oda did not just simply want to have his series as a live-action to please just some people who had been being for it. The Japanese artist acutally wanted to make something that would bring justice to his original work and Netflix seemed to be the perfect partner in crime to have One Piece coming to smaller screens.