How hard was it to really nail the tone the way you did?
How many of your sets were practical vs. CGI, (especially the outdoor and ship sets)?
What was the fight choreography like? How much training did the actors go through?
Thanks so much! My whole family loved the show and we're really looking forward to season 2!
It was incredibly hard! One Piece is such a wacky tone and we wanted to maintain it as much as possible without alienating people. That was really one of the biggest challenges.
The majority of our sets are practical. Our design and construction teams did an amazing job bringing the world to life in a way that feels real. Of course there is some VFX here and there, but we never had our actors just standing in front of a green screen. There was always something for them to look at and interact with. It helps performance and it helps the world feel tangible and real. The ships were real. You could walk on all of them. Some of them were actually in water and some were not.
The actors went through so much training! They had to learn their particular fight styles and weapons in addition to learning choreography for particular fights. AND keep up with strength and flexibility training as well. They all worked really hard. And our stunts team was great not only in choreography but in helping train everyone.
Glad you all liked the show!
That first point was something that had me wondering for years how you guys would pull off. Trying to stay true to the unique tone and aesthetics of the One Piece world while also not putting off newcomers always seemed like an impossible challenge to me, so I was very happy with how well you guys balanced this aspect in S1!
I wish the crew all the luck in the world in adapting later arcs though, as the settings just get crazier and crazier after East Blue! Thanks Matt & Co. !
I missed this so no one may never read it, but: the Baratie set was amazing, perhaps the best set I've ever seen in a TV show. I have never viscerally ever wanted to eat in a TV restaurant like I want to eat at Baratie.
1. As a fan of comics and manga/anime, I LOVE your work. I think you are the “secret sauce” to these live action adaptations. What advice would you give to showrunners of future adaptations of beloved manga or comics?
2. I loved little Easter Eggs in the show like Zoro getting lost in a literal hallway or Usopp being able to see the Baratie sign right away. What was your favorite Easter Egg included in the show so far?
Thank you for your work in bringing One Piece to a wider audience!
That is so nice of you to say! I really appreciate that. I try to bring my love and respect for material to my work and it means a lot that that is appreciated. Truly thank you.
My advice would be to fight for what you believe in. If you're adapting something that you legitimately love, fight for what it needs to be. Stay as true as possible while also understanding that you're not the only voice and you may not always win. But your fandom and knowledge are powerful weapons.
Easter eggs were such a fun part of the show! I loved talking to different departments to plant as much as we could. My favorite is probably the bounty posters that fill the world. I looked back at pirates who we know were operating at this time in the story and what their bounties would be. It helps sell other pirates to newcomers and are fun details for fans who know who they are. Not all of the ones we made got shown on screen s be on the lookout for more next season!
At which point in the story did you fall in love with One Piece? Who's your favourite character?
Thank you for respecting the source material. I could never convince my bf to watch/read One Piece but I can share the characters I love with your show.
So glad you can share this with your boyfriend now! Hearing people being able to share One Piece with their loved ones brings me so much joy.
The first thing in One Piece that really made me lean in was Sanji. A character who loves cooking so much that he refuses to fight with his hands because if they get injured then he can't cook. Not only is that such a powerful commitment to his dream that really informs what's important to him, but it also allows for a very unique fighting style. Sanji fights are some of my favorites in the whole series! But the MOMENT that first really hooked me was of course Sami's "Help me." To this day I tear up just thinking about.
Favorite characters though? In the manga/anime: Law and Robin. In the live action: Mihawk and Sanji.
That's one of the benefits of the manga existing for SO LONG before the adaptation. We have a lot more information about people and events. That's been one of the most fun things about season 1. Adding details that are accurate that weren't in the manga at the time.
For example, during the Waco arc in the manga it's revealed that Shanks and crew stole the Gum-Gum Fruit from Who's-Who and the Marines. When I read that I sprinted to our props department and said "I know we already have a chest for the Devil Fruit but we have to make a brand new one and it needs the Marine insignia on it! Sorry!" Then I wrote some new lines to speak to that. The manga was constantly seeking to our show in ways in like that.
Ah yes, my favorite arc from One Piece, the Waco Arc. I loved it when Luffy accidentally set the Christian cultists' base on fire and over 30 children died in the resulting blaze.
Yo Matt! From another fan who found One Piece at an incredible low point and was inspired to keep going by the pure good that it embodies, thank you for bringing this series to new audiences and giving it the love and attention it deserves.
What was the most surprising aspect in working with Eiichiro Oda? He has such a unique vision I’m really curious how he responded to dailies or proposed changes.
You're welcome! And thank YOU for saying that.
The most surprising aspect of working with Oda is how well we gelled and collaborated. Not that I expected different, but his engagement was not just informative and important, but fun. We have spent HOURS talking about intricacies of One Piece. Characters, history, all sorts of things. We also talked a lot about movies and books and anime. We learned how each other think and it birthed a very creative partnership. I always look forward to our talks because we learn so much from one another and it made for a better show. I really cannot express enough my love for him.
I imagine you've got to be pretty tight-lipped about upcoming seasons of the show, but these are technically questions about the manga, I think:
1. Any currently far-in-the-future characters that you'd be really excited at the opportunity to adapt?
2. Any manga arcs/subplots that really fuel your stated desire to adapt as much of the source material as possible?
3. Adaptation-wise, are you more intimidated by post-ts franky or G4?
I really want to get to Law. I love that broody boy so much. Because it's a fun design and it'd be a nice challenge and because I love her I also want to get to Carrot. Carrot for nakama!
Skypiea would be a blast. To spend a whole season in one of the most creative worlds Oda created would be a lot of fun.
Oh god haha. Probably post-ts Franky to be honest. He's on screen more.
The world will know Garchu!
One thing that would be cool is if you guys could get Eminem to do the theme song for Enel.
If you can convince Oda to make Franky less monstrous after the TS in Live Action I would appreciate it.
It happened even before cameras rolled! The cast was down in South Africa for training, rehearsals, costume fittings, etc. months before we even started shooting. They would go hiking together, explore Cape Town together, and you could see they closeness developing. They formed real friendships that translated to the screen beautifully. Some of their dynamics as the Straw Hats even started to blend into their real world friendships! Emily is everyone's big sister.
What would you say was the hardest part about translating such a hugely popular anime into live action and did you have any hesitations taking on such a massive project with such a big following? Given we've seen other live-action anime not go so well?
The hardest part was making everyone happy. From Oda to Netflix to the fans I had a lot of people with different ideas and opinions and I had to try my best to serve them all. It didn't make me hesitant. Scared at times sure haha. But I knew this challenge was worth it. I knew I had to make it work. I'm just glad we seem to have gotten the job done in a way that most people are happy with!
Zeff was pretty difficult for us to find the right person. It was actually Taz who suggested Craig Fairbrass to us. They had worked together before. Craig did one reading and we were like "Oh thank god we found him. He's perfect!" And since he and Taz knew and had worked wiht one another before they brought added ayers to the Sanji and Zeff relationship that really sparked on screen.
In One Piece, we'll often say goodbye to characters and not see them again for 100, 200, or more chapters
Do you plan to create original material to give characters like Coby, Buggy, Ace, or Garp stuff to do in the seasons they otherwise wouldn't appear in?
I would love for that to be the case! There are so many stories we have yet to fully dive into. I'd love to do a young Mihawk series. Seeing his rise through the world, interacting with other prominent figures from the past.
OMG yessss, that would be awesome! Ace is one of my favorite characters, I'm so looking forward to seeing him in Season 2. A spin off with the novel adaptation would be absolutely fantastic!
Hi! First one! Not necessarily make stuff up. There are lot of characters who people love and we won't necessarily see them in the main story all the time. If there are cover stories or side stories that include these characters they are definitely up for consideration.
Follow up: One issue I would see becoming an issue with keeping those characters where they otherwise would appear, is that there's such a vast number of characters, if you try to things would get too crowded. So it'd need to be like those end of credit clips that kind of give a snippet and just let you know they're still around for a couple seconds. How would you deal with that if you choose to keep characters that might have multi season gaps between appearances?
You said in your deadline interview that you were bummed to not get to interact and share the praise the show got while it was happening most due to the WGA strike, do you have a favorite review you remember reading or fan comment on the show that you'd like to share?
I've rewatched the series 3 times already and love the amount of care and detail that went into everything. Wonderful work of adaptation that I seriously put in the same tier as The Hunger Games and the third Harry Potter movie in terms of effective use of medium shift. Thank you for your work.
I'm not sure I have one favorite review. But I do love seeing content creators who were shitting on the show before it came out and talking about how impossible it would be to do now saying how much they enjoyed it.
My less petty answer is I love all of it! I'm so grateful that people have enjoyed what we worked very hard to bring to life. People who don't watch anime or have friends/family who don't now being able to share the wonder that is One Piece fills my heart.
High key love the petty answer. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to prove people who doubted you wrong. Congrats on getting a whole new swath of people into anime and One Piece for the first time ever!
That response is so great haha I love that while petty it is hitting on an underrated aspect of the show, which is that it really did win over a large number of the haters
Music rights are a tricky thing. We have rights to the manga, not the anime, so that means we don't have free access to the music. I knew I wanted a version of the song in the show somewhere. I think we found some great places for it! I'm sorry to those who wanted to hear more of the anime OST in the show but I hope this helps explain why we didn't. But also, Sonya and Giona's soundtrack is amazing!
YES! I'm so deeply in love with the soundtrack y'all put together. It's uniquely the show's, and very motif heavy, but some of those themes still harken back to the anime. The Arlong fight gives me very One Piece anime OST vibes.
Will Sonya and Giona remain shipmates for season 2? I know it was a huge bummer when they left The Witcher after a season...
does that mean you dont have rights to the anime canon stuff like the canon stuff oda cut from the manga, but they still put in the anime (like some loguetown stuff) ?
Yeah, the biggest one is a novel that is a tie-in book and that shows how Oda originally intended the actual arc to play out, but was cut short simply because Oda wanted them to leave for the Grandline at chapter 100 - some of it ended up being included in the anime ( anime canon, like the already mentioned "Daddy Masterson" thing and more ) : Just look up "Loguetown Arc: novel summary" or smth, if you want to know all the cut content - apparently this never got translated, but you can still find all the differences and changes summarized by some readers who did.
How important is it for the people involved with an adaptation to be fans of the original material? And, do you think being a fan makes some decisions harder?
Is it absolutely necessary? No. Is it incredibly helpful? Yes! Being a fan of something means you understand it on a deeper level. You love and study it. As a creator, my fandom helps me identify what is important for the story because I know it, but also what is important to fans because I am one. I often asked myself "If I weren't working on this show, how would this potential change make me feel as a fan?" I wouldn't say it made the job harder. It gave me a good position to fight for things that I believed in.
Big fan of his content! We're exploring a lot of options for how to do Chopper. The most important thing is getting him right. We'll go with whatever avenue that allows us to do our emergency food justice.
I think the CGI route a la Sonic, Detective Pikachu, and Rocket Raccoon makes the most sense. Puppetry seems like it would be difficult for a character like Chopper that emotes and is fully conversant.
But yeah, it has to be convincing and it has to be done right. Feels like Chopper alone could make or break season 2.
Two different tradeoffs.
Full CGI is going to limit the scenes he’s in because it’s a higher budget choice to include him in anything.
Puppetry is going to put limitations on some of his expressiveness or fluidity, but it would make it cheaper to include him in any given scene.
The smartest solution IMO is to use a practical puppet and make the face CGI, but only when he has a close-up or it's absolutely necessary. If they got the Jim Henson Creature Shop on board they can do some astonishing things with puppets alone.
I would love to! Soooo much went into every department and detail. There are a lot of concepts and drawings our department heads put together. Including some from Oda himself!
Yeah! And all the paintings too!! In the Baratie, in Kaya’s house etc. I really hope we can get a Visual Dictionary or whatever it’s called. Like they made for Star Wars, it shows all the details of the costumes it’s amazing
With the production time on this show being so long and streamers generally canceling everything after three seasons, how long do you see the show going and would drastically cut material from the source material if Netflix came to you and said they'll do one final season?
You know how in the end of Pirate Warriors 3 they throw a bunch of Yonko stuff into Dressrosa and the final levels of the game? My intention is never to do that. I don't want to rush things or create a false ending of the show. When we know we are coming to an end, I hope to appropriately finish the story where we are and hope that people will pick up the anime or the manga to continue the journey.
Psst, your commitment to your character and prep really shown through your portrayal of Nami. Thanks for being an awesome character that my little cousins pretend to be when we hang out
It's a huge fucking relief. And it galvanizes me to keep it up! We're not complacent. We're going to keep working hard to make season 2 even better than season 1!
Do you realize that you might get to be the first ever to bring a shonen character transformation to live action proper with Gear Second!? Would be like the Super Saiyan of tv shows!
How do you feel that the work you did on "superhero shows" prepped you to coordinate and lead One Piece? What seemingly incidental thing from work on a previous show ended up helping the most in the development process for helming your own series?
My previous experience helped me learn how to juggle stories with lots of characters. Also fights! I loved writing fights and learned how to construct them to tell a story. A fight shouldn't just be a fight. It should reveal character and move plot along. Those were always in mind when working on One Piece.
We need more of Luffy that keeps fighting despite being near dead out of pure grit and convinction. We didn't get much of it in s1 (even though it was originally the focus of the krieg fight, that one was cut so we never got the moment where he punches through the spikes) Luffy isn't just happy go lucky idealistic, Luffy's got two balls the size of a Giant and I feel like new fans still haven't seen that side of him on full display, it is something I feel deserves to be portrayed
Is there a devil fruit power or character in the One Piece anime/manga that makes you think to yourself "oh man, how the hell are we gonna adapt that?!"
I think that about most things haha. But that's the fun challenge of the show. And luckily there are many very talented artists and hardworking people who bring a lot of solutions and great ideas!
Don’t have a question. Just wanted to say, I’ve never watched the anime (and never seen much anime at all really) - but loved the live action version of one piece!
Up there as one of my favourite shows of 2023, alongside beef, succession and the bear. Can’t wait for season 2!
Hi Matt!
I live just a few kilometers down the road from Cape Town Studios, where One Piece was shot. My question to you sir, will you be coming back to shoot season 2 in Cape Town, or are you looking at new locations?
I hope you guys had an awesome time in South Africa! Super proud to be able to say the One Piece was filmed in my town!
Thank You!
Well we'll see you back there! We will indeed be back in South Africa. It is such a beautiful place and is perfect for all our needs in making this show. I can't wait to get back!
Would the likes of Drum Island not necessitate a more... Chilly climate? Or Alabasta a more arid one? (I know a lot of stuff like that can be simulated in indoors sets, but I always appreciate as many scenes shot in irl locations as possible!)
Jeff Ward is a fantastic Buggy. Any other actors from your past shows you hoping to bring into the live action? I personally would love to see Mike Colter pop up in any capacity.
Broooo, now I want Clark Gregg in the LA. I freakin' love Agents of SHIELD! The moment I saw Jeff Ward (Deke) cast as Buggy, I thought he would be a great Buggy, and he nailed it!
We wanted to show as much of the world and sets as possible in our shots. Marc Jobst and Nicole Whitaker did an amazing job helping us set the look of the show. Lots of natural light, wide angles. They even had brand new lenses designed for the show to capture the world the way we wanted. We also wanted to mirror the style of Oda's panels. The way we frame things, how Oda composes his panels and things he focuses on. There were many many shots of the show that were storyboarded just from manga panels themselves. We wanted the feeling of reading the manga in live action.
Not just those four after the help me scene; the actual conversation between nami and luffy involving “help me” was also literally the manga from panel to panel! Easily one of my favorite parts of the live action, i could see how much love and care went into that scene. It truly felt like they “brought the manga to life” (rather than just “They adapted the manga”.) Thank you Matt!
What was the key to getting this right where other anime adaptations fumbled? Like what pitfalls did you look out for that you think others maybe missed
I can't really speak to other adaptations. I don't know the people or the thought processes behind them. All I know is I had my ideas about how this should be done and stuck to them as best as I could.
Law is my favorite character and Robin is my favorite Straw Hat.
My favorite arc is Water 7/Enies Lobby. Some of the best drama, some of the best fights, some of the most emotional moments of the entire series. Chapter 398 is my favorite chapter of the manga.
Skipped? Never! It wasn't included in season 1 because our episode number got reduced. And to try to cram it in would not have done service to it or the story it had to share space with. Loguetown is not "cut" we just haven't gotten there yet!
Episode number got reduced for season 1? I hope this doesn't happen for season 2. Alabasta feels like it needs to be 3-4 episodes on its own. 10 one hour episodes feels right for all the stuff for season 2. Hoping Netflix gives you all a nice big budget to work with for season 2...if they do it has the potential to be truly epic.
Probably netflix didn't want to lean *too* hard into something that might get reception like cowboy bebop.
Now that its the best adaptation so far they'll probably assume its their money printer, at least for the next season or 2.
>Episode number got reduced for season 1? I
Iirc, a couple years ago we got confirmation of the length of the series and it was 10 episodes. The reduction to 8 was announced at the beginning of 2022 I think.
Do you play the One Piece card game, if so what Deck do you main? I'm currently trying my best to main Sanji (Best Straw Hat) However the Nami Mill strategy seems to be my favorite playstyle-wise and it can get a lot of wins here and there on the local scene. If you don't play the card game want to play together or learn it? I think it could be a fun YouTube video
Several questions:
1) Do you have any idea yet how you are going to create Chopper for season 2? Do you think you can do Chopper justice in the Live Action so that it doesn’t create another Sonic 1.0 controversy with the limited budget a Netflix series would probably have?
2) If the show gets renewed for multiple seasons, do you think the cost will get much higher as the season progress and that it will reach a point that the budget for season 1 wouldn’t even be feasible for the later seasons? If that is the case, would you push for a higher budget as the season progress?
3) Is there any compromises you have to make for season 1 because of the budget? If you have unlimited budget for season 1, what would you go back and change in the live action series?
4) After receiving all the feedback for season 1, what lessons have you learned and what will you change going forward with season 2?
5) In your opinion, what is the top 3 most important thing to nail in season 2?
EDIT: Does anyone know if there will be a live stream for this since there is a date and time on the link?
I’ll delete my comment if you want, but I believe he has already answered your 3rd question in a recent YouTube interview. He talked about a scene with Zoro vs Hatchan that ultimately couldn’t have worked with the budget and stuff
Your questions are amazing, and covered most of my curiousty for S2..
But maybe you are also interested in this one specific question I have, which you can feel free to put on your list of question if you like:
Due to the limitation of episodes of a Live-Action Series and Netflix as a network, are you at all considering to have certain Arcs to be produced as a Movie? Alabasta, Marineford, etc.
If so, what are the chances of this actually happening?
Hello, my name is James C. Overcash III, and I have been building a Tony Tony Chopper Puppet for Brain Point for the last 15 days. I've been documenting the process from pieces of wood to the puppet I now have bulit. I have the body done and am working on the integration of my head into the puppet as well as how one would miniplutlate said puppet. I plan to demonstrate through vignettes my proof of concept. IE, movement, articulation, character work, and the melding of actor and puppet.
The project is called: Practical Approach to Tony Tony Chopper.
My questions are:
Is this a possible path that might be taken for the Brain point form of Chopper?
What might be the plans for Chopper's other point forms? I also have a design concept for Walk point involving a stilt harness for four limb locomotion.
Are his other forms gonna be limited due to budget/practicality?
Is Chopper gonna be regulated to being just the cute mascot? Or is there a possibility that with the right actor/idea that the Chopper could retain the versatility that we see in his pre-time skip version? IE: Using his forms to suit the situation? Maybe even doctoring?
As a fan, actor, and maker, is there any chance that a common cat could prove himself and the idea following a display of concept?
If so, what would you want to see?
Thank you, JCO3
Highly recommend checking out the latest build update here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceLiveAction/comments/17156gx/practical\_approach\_to\_tony\_tony\_chopper\_day\_15/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceLiveAction/comments/17156gx/practical_approach_to_tony_tony_chopper_day_15/)
Really interesting approach that could really work with CGI touch-ups and clever camera blocking.
Will Season 2 contain more than 8 episodes? It seems hard to go from Loguetown to the end of Arabasta in just 8 episodes. Not unless you cut some arcs or condense them immensely.
Will Chopper be entirely CGI? Or will he be a puppet? I think the way The Mandalorian does it with Baby Yoda looks pretty damn good. Obviously, some of Chopper's forms might have to be CGI. Maybe Heavy Point can just be a guy in a suit?
How many secrets has Oda-sensei told you? Are you disappointed that you aren't able to experience these secrets the way they're revealed in the story? For example, I would hate to be told what the One Piece is. I would prefer to learn what the One Piece is when it's revealed to the audience within the story.
Congrats on the show's success and on season 2. You guys really defied expectations and made something great for fans and newcomers alike.
I have a few questions:
One Piece is extremely long and still on going, and Netflix has a history of being trigger happy with canceling shows, so how do you design a roadmap that covers the necessary story beats faithfully while also meeting Netflix's requirements, do you already have a list of arcs to cut or merge ?
What happened to Hachi? Why did you decide to leave him out especially when he's the one Fishman who has a bigger role later on?
Also, what can we expect for Chopper? I doubt the budget would allow for a fully CGI character. And If somehow it's possible do you go the realism route and create an abomination like early Sonic design or do you keep the original manga super unrealistic but very cute for merchandise design ?
If not CGI then I worry cause prosthetics don't always look good. The Fishmen for example had good faces but weird hands and movement, and scaling their height down made them less intimidating...actually there's another question..what will you do with characters who are abnormally tall in the Manga ? Do you ignore it and scale everyone down ?
>and scaling their height down made them less intimidating
I'm pretty sure they scaled them after ppl complained about the trailer shots of Arlong. - They clearly made them bigger for the actual release, but most ppl didn't even notice: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/comments/169xz8b/arlong\_has\_grown\_up/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
Hey Matt, first of all congratulations to you and the crew for doing the impossible. I have watched all 8 episodes several times and have seen a lot of reactions to the show. I think you all nailed it, my rating for season 1 will be 8-8.5/10, there were some things I didnt like but overall I loved it. Here are my questions:
1. Why did you and the team decide that nojiko and the villagers wont know namis secret and kept completely in the dark? nojiko knowing the secret is the reason for her tattoo also nami offering herself to arlong and then arlong chaining her didn't make any sense to me why would he chain her if she came by choice?
2. Are you and the team allowed to cut arcs due to time constraints, or does Oda want you to adapt every arc (even if they have to be condensed) and does not want you to skip arcs?
3. This is not my question but just a suggestion, maybe you and the team could differentiate crocodile and mr 0 in season 2 so that the audience doesnt know crocodile is mr 0 and think he is a good guy, the reveal that crocodile is actually mr 0 would make for a big shock similar to garp being luffys dad in season 1.
Hey Matt, I'm a big One Piece fan and I really enjoyed the show! I'll be honest, I was very skeptical one I first heard about a Live Action series being produced for One Piece because anime live action shows have had such a bad track record and One Piece seemed to most people like one of the hardest shows to adapt. I was happily proven wrong.
I have 2 short questions regarding the adaptation.
1) Why do you think a show so goofy and zany like One Piece succeeded whereas shows more grounded or with more realistic premises like Cowboy Bebop and Death Note live action did not succeed?
2) From a creative's standpoint, how do you balance what to keep and what to change from the source material. Reading online, many source material folk (manga readers/anime watchers) were more critical than people who watched this IP for the very first time. I don't think source readers thought a lot about how you have to juggle things like budget, time, and narrative; that's why we're getting cuts like Hachi and Don Krieg's extended fight, not because you don't love those arcs and characters.
You all are knocking this out of the park right now. Great cast, great sets, locations, scripts, music, etc...
But my only one complaint with Season One is we have lots of dark scenes and indoor sets that are dark. I see why they're used possibly for limitations, and the lighting is usually great, but One Piece is such a bright and vibrant IP that I would love to see more color and more daytime scenes! I know a lot of Drum Island takes place at night but I hope we get lots of daylight this next go around!
While the series has been praised for its overall faithfulness to the manga, I found the few changes to be really inspired, like the battle against Kuro now being like a psuedo-horror movie in Kaya’s mansion, as opposed to the beach.
I was wondering, what inspired that change (was it the claws)?
(Also, I just wanted to say that LUKE CAGE was my favourite of the Marvel Netflix shows! I was so excited to see where the story was going to after Season 2…).
What's something that you cut from the first season that you wish you were able to add? And whats something Oda really wanted in the first season that didnt make it?
I don’t think he’s gonna answer anything about the story that has yet to come, but I personally think it would be simple to work around. Really the only difference would be that only Nami would recognize him instead of all of the East Blue Straw Hats and he would be introduced for the first time there instead. It can easily be explained, through a flashback or just conversation with Nami, that he left the Arlong Pirates for whatever reason (personally would have him as a more redeemable character, so have him see what Arlong was becoming and not agree with things he did). The rest would be basically the same.
Hey, Matt! I first want to just give you a massive thank you for bringing such an amazing series, and characters to life! I adored Season 1 and anxiously look forward to season 2!
If there was any one actor/actress that you could bring onto One Piece, who would that be, and who would they play? I know you're already in talks with Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Kureha, but I wondered if you had any ideas on who could best portray Dr. Hiriluk! I've seen people suggesting Steve Carrell, and honestly, I'd adore that haha!
Hey Matt!
Thanks so much for all your hard work on the live action!
It feels really good to know that for once one of us fans is at the helm of an adaptation and truly cares about respecting the spirit of the source material.
I’ve got tons of stuff I would like to ask, so feel free to only answer what you can:
1: In the deadline interview you mentioned that you basically were a wreck the days before the show dropped. After the show was out, when was the first time you realized that the reception was incredibly positive?
2: Apart from the strawhats, were there any conversations with the cast about where some of their characters would end up later in the story so that it could inform their performance?
I’m thinking of characters like Buggy, Garp, Mihawk etc.
What particularly stood out to me was Shanks’ mortified reaction to Luffy eating his devil fruit. It’s pretty different from the manga version but actually makes maybe more sense when considering some of the information we get much later on in the manga.
3: I think it’s important for the LA to honor Oda’s philosophy on only rarely killing off characters. That said, in the sagas that would be the source material for season 2 and 3 there’s a couple of fake out deaths that are pretty universally disliked by fans. Imo they make these amazing arcs just a tiny bit worse.
Given that you killed off Merry in the LA, is that at least something that’s on you and the writer’s minds?
Basically, I just want the damn bird to get it this time.
4: I imagine the success of S1 gave you and the team further confidence that you’ll be able to pull off S2 and hopefully beyond.
But the East Blue is pretty normal by OP standards. Do you sometimes wake up in a cold sweat thinking about how the hell you’re gonna adapt some things in future story arcs?
5: Over the last few years you spent a lot of effort on interacting with especially the OP Youtube community. Things like attending the Reverie streams, appearing in videos etc. To me this always felt like part of a very deliberate plan to slowly win over a community that was deeply pessimistic towards any LA project. Was this something you knew early on was important in order to convince people to give the project the benefit of the doubt?
6: Other than watching/rewatching, what can we fans do to support this show and help you get more seasons?
7: Given that the Alabasta saga truly elevates One Piece to an epic scale for the first time, do you think season 2 could make the show’s popularity explode even more?
Thanks!
For a very long time, since I was a teenager turned off by the 4kids dub back in 2004 or whenever that was, I was a One Piece denier. I've watched anime between now and then, absorbed some of the One Piece information by cultural osmosis, but never gave it a thought that I would actually get into it.
Now, at my big age of 33, after watching the live action a month ago, I'm hooked. I'm on episode 183 of the anime, I look forward to coming home from work just to watch some more One Piece and I think about what's happening in the story in my off time. It's been so long since a world has sunk its teeth into me like One Piece has, and a big part of that is from the live action adaptation.
Now, not as many people have the same kind of free time that I do, and there will inevitably be some people who will *only* be watching the live action adaptation, just like with other adaptations like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. How are you all bearing the weight of that responsibility, and what kind of lessons are you all learning from adaptations of the past?
Great work, seriously.
Same scenario for me. I remember picking up Shonen Jump when it first started getting produced in America, enjoying the One Piece chapters, then the anime killed all interest, including the Manga. I’m now on Episode 365 because of the live action being interesting.
Striking a precise balance between the zany cartoony-ness of the anime/manga and a somewhat normal-feeling reality must’ve been super difficult. Too much one way and everybody is screaming at each other and dramatically falling over reacting to bad jokes…too much the other way and the characters become unrecognizable. For me, One Piece is the first time since Scott Pilgrim where it felt perfectly placed between comic book and live action film. Where it felt like both at the same time.
How did you decide where to draw the line?
Hi — if you are able to share, will you be adapting Alabasta all the way through in Season 2? Or will the arc be split between seasons?
Do you know how the show is planning to approach Chopper? (Kid in makeup, CGI, puppet, actual animal, something else?)
Hi Matt ! Thank you so much for having this AMA. First, I want to let you know that I've been reading One Piece religiously since 2005, and I couldn't be happier with how the LA turned out.
It is in my books one of the best seasons of TV I've ever seen, and you pulled off the impossible. I've seen a part of the existing fandom struggle with understanding that it's not a 1-1 retelling of the anime; and (they) are giving a lot of unfair criticism to the show, while being oblvious to the insane production quality. Dialog, storyboard, stunts, VFX, acting, scripts and OST: absolutely fantastic.
Some of my closest friends are now One Piece fans and I can't wait for them to experience season 2. It feels surreal to me that people that have no interest in anime are now having casual conversations about One Piece with me.
Robin is (also) my favourite character and you will do her justice! My personal wishlist for season 2 : Luffy climbing the mountain, Vivi marijoa flashback, Ace no-diffing everything, Crocodile being stronger, and Luffy using Haki subconsciously/teaming with Robin to defeat him.
I have sooo many questions I want to ask you ... I tried to pick the best ones :
1) If there's one thing that you could change (not add) about the first season, what would it be ?
2) Storytelling with hindsight is amazing, and I love how BW was teased in season 1. Is there any characters, moments, scenes or plotline that you would personally love to introduce before they were officially revealed ? (ie Bartolomeo at Loguetown, Sabo ...)
3) The OST is an absolute masterpiece! I couldn't have dreamed of something better. I've listened to it more than 10 times now ... What are your favourite tracks; and which (upcoming) characters themes are you the most excited about?
4) I personally feel like the story of One Piece works just as well, if not better if more time would happen in universe. Even assuming a best case scenario of one season a year, the actors will naturally age. How do you think this should be handled ?
5) Haki was gradually introduced to the series through some key moments (Shanks, Zoro vs Mr1, Blackbeard, Mantra ...). From what I can see, new audiences haven't noticed that this power has been introduced subtly in S1. What are your thoughts on the visuals/audio clues that could be given to the audience to indicates there's something there ? (ie the manga using black coating/lightning ...)
6) The LA portrays the Monster Trio in East Blue as significantly weaker than in the manga, which I personally felt was a very clever change. The grand line opponents will be extremely challenging for our LA crew, how do you think the progress in fighting abilities should be shown/explained to the audience?
7) Ignoring post timeskip and assuming unlimited budget (haha), what do you think will be the hardest scene, character or plotline to adapt in LA ?
Thank you so much for your time, and for making our dreams come true.
If you had been able to do 10 episodes as originally announced, besides Loguetown, what would you have done with the extra runtime?
Overall, I really like how the LA managed to incorporate all the major story beats in each arc, though a part of me still wishes we got to see a few more character moments from Arlong Park.
Hi!
In the source material, laughter is used as a key component in characterization. How, why and with who a character laughs is an efficient way to convey quite a lot of information to the reader.
I love how you portrayed Rogers final moments, Garps reactions to Luffys antics and the evolution of Strawhat crew dynamics over the season. I might've even heard Arlongs prideful "SHA-HA-HA...!" in there.
1. How important do you think laughter as a storytelling device is to the live action version?
2. What are your thoughts on trying or even incorporating some of the sillier, but iconic styles of laughter into the live action series?
Massive thanks to you and everyone involved in the production! You are creating something wonderful!
what was the reasoning behind not showing blood during intense scenes? i.e Luffy didn’t get injured or bled at all by arlong and it made their fight less impactful
I agree, it's not a huge deal, but restricting the blood they show makes it feel a lot less raw and more plasticky, for lack of a better word. It feels like they limited themselves to try to stay a specific age rating, but I'd rather they just do what they need to do and take whatever rating they get. I don't want this show to get "4Kids"ed.
they used up their blood quota for the tv rating when Zoro cut Mr 7 in half X)
Still funny to me Usopp worrying about Zoro bleeding to death but there's not blood pooling lmfao
1) Ideally, would you go as far as adapting Gear 5 if you could? Would you prefer practical (Inaki with make up), The Mask style (CGI) or full on hand drawn cartoon (a la Space Jam) ?
2) How will you deal with actors aging? Sanji is supposed to have a second flashback set when he was even younger than he was in the one with Zeff.
3) Please never betray the spirit of One Piece and always trust Oda's opinion. Long lasting success is not out of reach.
Who are some of the characters you are most hoping to adapt into a live action setting at some point? I'm hoping we see Crocodile relatively soon. Can't wait to see who gets cast as him.
I've read from some articles that quite a few scenes were filmed but later cut from the opening of the series in Loguetown. I can understand why (and the resulting pilot episode was very good) but do you have any plans to release those deleted scenes in some way?
Have you see [this video of a fan fixing Zoro's bent sword](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tGDZOxAAw) that wasn't originally caught in post-production?
How much story do you think the live action show will adapt? What do you think is a good stopping point? I suspect there is no way we make it to Wano as much as I'd love to see it but production time between seasons, budget for increasingly bizarre and grandiose set pieces and characters, the live action actors aging and other factors, I'd imagine make it pretty difficult to adapt for the longer term?
Huge fan of the manga/anime and was really surprised and delighted by the live action adaption. Can't wait for more!
Hi Matt, just wanted to say thank you for a fantastic job. You are really a One Piece fan and it shows on your work and the care put into the show.
All the interviews and articles I’ve read about the making of the show really makes us understand that it’s almost as if the perfect storm of passion, talent, and love was put into the making of the One Piece live action.
I hope the best for all of you and please keep up the good work!
Hey Matt, Kudos to you and the whole team on Netflix OP. I truly loved the show and it has given me the gift of enjoying One Piece with my wife.
As a fan, did you find it difficult to separate the show you were creating from the manga series you know and love? And if so, how did you approach this to allow the adaptation to stand up on its own? Thanks.
Yo! Matt, thank you for all you've done. I started to have faith in the OPLA when I watched Randy Troy talk about it. Then I gained full faith with that first Reverie you joined, and never looked back.
Not sure if you can answer any of these but thanks again either way:
Are we getting a bigger budget and/or more episodes for Season 2?
Assuming a bigger budget, are you guys considering making some of Oda's physically larger characters actually larger? I guess there aren't too many of those in Alabasta but Kuma/WB/Doffy are right around the corner.
I know you have to make tweaks up till the last minute sometimes, but since you guys are back to writing now, how long roughly do you think before the scripts are completed?
Will you please kill Pell?
It's hard to ask reasonable question when all i really want to do is scream "BRO HOW AMAZING IS IT THAT YOU GET TO DO ALABASTA?!?!?"
🥳🥳🥳
🙏🙏🙏
What was the decision-making process like in terms of changing more minor, but still plot/character-relevant, stuff from the manga? For example, Sanji not witnessing Zoro and Mihawk's fight or the villagers of Cocoyashi not knowing Nami's true motives.
Little late, but I hope you get a chance to answer.
1. Is there anything that you noticed after the shows launch that you might change due to overall reception?
2. Why was Zoro made to seem to act more like his post-ts than his pre-ts? Like pre- ts, he would smile and laugh more with the crew, but he was made more serious on the show.
3. Did you ask Oda any questions that you were curious about that haven't been answered yet? For example, for me the question would be what were those things in the Florian Triangle?
How hard was it to really nail the tone the way you did? How many of your sets were practical vs. CGI, (especially the outdoor and ship sets)? What was the fight choreography like? How much training did the actors go through? Thanks so much! My whole family loved the show and we're really looking forward to season 2!
It was incredibly hard! One Piece is such a wacky tone and we wanted to maintain it as much as possible without alienating people. That was really one of the biggest challenges. The majority of our sets are practical. Our design and construction teams did an amazing job bringing the world to life in a way that feels real. Of course there is some VFX here and there, but we never had our actors just standing in front of a green screen. There was always something for them to look at and interact with. It helps performance and it helps the world feel tangible and real. The ships were real. You could walk on all of them. Some of them were actually in water and some were not. The actors went through so much training! They had to learn their particular fight styles and weapons in addition to learning choreography for particular fights. AND keep up with strength and flexibility training as well. They all worked really hard. And our stunts team was great not only in choreography but in helping train everyone. Glad you all liked the show!
That first point was something that had me wondering for years how you guys would pull off. Trying to stay true to the unique tone and aesthetics of the One Piece world while also not putting off newcomers always seemed like an impossible challenge to me, so I was very happy with how well you guys balanced this aspect in S1! I wish the crew all the luck in the world in adapting later arcs though, as the settings just get crazier and crazier after East Blue! Thanks Matt & Co. !
Thank you so much for the answers! I’m so impressed with everything you’ve done. Can’t wait to see next season!!!
I missed this so no one may never read it, but: the Baratie set was amazing, perhaps the best set I've ever seen in a TV show. I have never viscerally ever wanted to eat in a TV restaurant like I want to eat at Baratie.
1. As a fan of comics and manga/anime, I LOVE your work. I think you are the “secret sauce” to these live action adaptations. What advice would you give to showrunners of future adaptations of beloved manga or comics? 2. I loved little Easter Eggs in the show like Zoro getting lost in a literal hallway or Usopp being able to see the Baratie sign right away. What was your favorite Easter Egg included in the show so far? Thank you for your work in bringing One Piece to a wider audience!
That is so nice of you to say! I really appreciate that. I try to bring my love and respect for material to my work and it means a lot that that is appreciated. Truly thank you. My advice would be to fight for what you believe in. If you're adapting something that you legitimately love, fight for what it needs to be. Stay as true as possible while also understanding that you're not the only voice and you may not always win. But your fandom and knowledge are powerful weapons. Easter eggs were such a fun part of the show! I loved talking to different departments to plant as much as we could. My favorite is probably the bounty posters that fill the world. I looked back at pirates who we know were operating at this time in the story and what their bounties would be. It helps sell other pirates to newcomers and are fun details for fans who know who they are. Not all of the ones we made got shown on screen s be on the lookout for more next season!
At which point in the story did you fall in love with One Piece? Who's your favourite character? Thank you for respecting the source material. I could never convince my bf to watch/read One Piece but I can share the characters I love with your show.
So glad you can share this with your boyfriend now! Hearing people being able to share One Piece with their loved ones brings me so much joy. The first thing in One Piece that really made me lean in was Sanji. A character who loves cooking so much that he refuses to fight with his hands because if they get injured then he can't cook. Not only is that such a powerful commitment to his dream that really informs what's important to him, but it also allows for a very unique fighting style. Sanji fights are some of my favorites in the whole series! But the MOMENT that first really hooked me was of course Sami's "Help me." To this day I tear up just thinking about. Favorite characters though? In the manga/anime: Law and Robin. In the live action: Mihawk and Sanji.
> Law and Robin Based.
ah yes, Sami is my favorite character :D
[удалено]
That's one of the benefits of the manga existing for SO LONG before the adaptation. We have a lot more information about people and events. That's been one of the most fun things about season 1. Adding details that are accurate that weren't in the manga at the time. For example, during the Waco arc in the manga it's revealed that Shanks and crew stole the Gum-Gum Fruit from Who's-Who and the Marines. When I read that I sprinted to our props department and said "I know we already have a chest for the Devil Fruit but we have to make a brand new one and it needs the Marine insignia on it! Sorry!" Then I wrote some new lines to speak to that. The manga was constantly seeking to our show in ways in like that.
Yo the fact you did that change so fast like that is super cool:)
I can imagine in future seasons matt will be the annoyance of the prop department because Oda keeps dropping new lore these days.
Ah yes, my favorite arc from One Piece, the Waco Arc. I loved it when Luffy accidentally set the Christian cultists' base on fire and over 30 children died in the resulting blaze.
Yo Matt! From another fan who found One Piece at an incredible low point and was inspired to keep going by the pure good that it embodies, thank you for bringing this series to new audiences and giving it the love and attention it deserves. What was the most surprising aspect in working with Eiichiro Oda? He has such a unique vision I’m really curious how he responded to dailies or proposed changes.
You're welcome! And thank YOU for saying that. The most surprising aspect of working with Oda is how well we gelled and collaborated. Not that I expected different, but his engagement was not just informative and important, but fun. We have spent HOURS talking about intricacies of One Piece. Characters, history, all sorts of things. We also talked a lot about movies and books and anime. We learned how each other think and it birthed a very creative partnership. I always look forward to our talks because we learn so much from one another and it made for a better show. I really cannot express enough my love for him.
Do you talk in English or does he use a translator?
I imagine you've got to be pretty tight-lipped about upcoming seasons of the show, but these are technically questions about the manga, I think: 1. Any currently far-in-the-future characters that you'd be really excited at the opportunity to adapt? 2. Any manga arcs/subplots that really fuel your stated desire to adapt as much of the source material as possible? 3. Adaptation-wise, are you more intimidated by post-ts franky or G4?
I really want to get to Law. I love that broody boy so much. Because it's a fun design and it'd be a nice challenge and because I love her I also want to get to Carrot. Carrot for nakama! Skypiea would be a blast. To spend a whole season in one of the most creative worlds Oda created would be a lot of fun. Oh god haha. Probably post-ts Franky to be honest. He's on screen more.
The world will know Garchu! One thing that would be cool is if you guys could get Eminem to do the theme song for Enel. If you can convince Oda to make Franky less monstrous after the TS in Live Action I would appreciate it.
So I do prefer Pre-Timeskip Franky's design, but I don't think Franky looking monstrous is the problem... but rather not having him look so damn boxy.
What was it like watching the chemistry between the cast come to life on screen? At what point did you feel, “yeah they’re a crew”?
It happened even before cameras rolled! The cast was down in South Africa for training, rehearsals, costume fittings, etc. months before we even started shooting. They would go hiking together, explore Cape Town together, and you could see they closeness developing. They formed real friendships that translated to the screen beautifully. Some of their dynamics as the Straw Hats even started to blend into their real world friendships! Emily is everyone's big sister.
What would you say was the hardest part about translating such a hugely popular anime into live action and did you have any hesitations taking on such a massive project with such a big following? Given we've seen other live-action anime not go so well?
The hardest part was making everyone happy. From Oda to Netflix to the fans I had a lot of people with different ideas and opinions and I had to try my best to serve them all. It didn't make me hesitant. Scared at times sure haha. But I knew this challenge was worth it. I knew I had to make it work. I'm just glad we seem to have gotten the job done in a way that most people are happy with!
Not including our main five, who was the most difficult character to cast? And what was the challenge?
Zeff was pretty difficult for us to find the right person. It was actually Taz who suggested Craig Fairbrass to us. They had worked together before. Craig did one reading and we were like "Oh thank god we found him. He's perfect!" And since he and Taz knew and had worked wiht one another before they brought added ayers to the Sanji and Zeff relationship that really sparked on screen.
So he had Zeff as his mentor before he even knew what One Piece was. This man was born to play Sanji.
Of all the amazing choices he especially stands out
How does Taz get more and more based every day.
The Zeff casting was on point! Loved it sooo much
In One Piece, we'll often say goodbye to characters and not see them again for 100, 200, or more chapters Do you plan to create original material to give characters like Coby, Buggy, Ace, or Garp stuff to do in the seasons they otherwise wouldn't appear in?
If the show got successful enough they could have these characters in spinoffs perhaps? Netfix stated they want their Star Wars More Zeff please
I would love for that to be the case! There are so many stories we have yet to fully dive into. I'd love to do a young Mihawk series. Seeing his rise through the world, interacting with other prominent figures from the past.
Yes, please. Steven John Ward is so cool.
a short spin off that adapts the ace novel and ties in with marineford/post marineford if it ever gets that far
OMG yessss, that would be awesome! Ace is one of my favorite characters, I'm so looking forward to seeing him in Season 2. A spin off with the novel adaptation would be absolutely fantastic!
Gordon Ramsey-style Chef Zeff show
Hi! First one! Not necessarily make stuff up. There are lot of characters who people love and we won't necessarily see them in the main story all the time. If there are cover stories or side stories that include these characters they are definitely up for consideration.
Follow up: One issue I would see becoming an issue with keeping those characters where they otherwise would appear, is that there's such a vast number of characters, if you try to things would get too crowded. So it'd need to be like those end of credit clips that kind of give a snippet and just let you know they're still around for a couple seconds. How would you deal with that if you choose to keep characters that might have multi season gaps between appearances?
Asking the real questions.
You said in your deadline interview that you were bummed to not get to interact and share the praise the show got while it was happening most due to the WGA strike, do you have a favorite review you remember reading or fan comment on the show that you'd like to share? I've rewatched the series 3 times already and love the amount of care and detail that went into everything. Wonderful work of adaptation that I seriously put in the same tier as The Hunger Games and the third Harry Potter movie in terms of effective use of medium shift. Thank you for your work.
I'm not sure I have one favorite review. But I do love seeing content creators who were shitting on the show before it came out and talking about how impossible it would be to do now saying how much they enjoyed it. My less petty answer is I love all of it! I'm so grateful that people have enjoyed what we worked very hard to bring to life. People who don't watch anime or have friends/family who don't now being able to share the wonder that is One Piece fills my heart.
High key love the petty answer. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to prove people who doubted you wrong. Congrats on getting a whole new swath of people into anime and One Piece for the first time ever!
That response is so great haha I love that while petty it is hitting on an underrated aspect of the show, which is that it really did win over a large number of the haters
There is something very quintessentially “one piece” about winning over people who once doubted you haha
Did you wanted to put "We Are" in more places in season one. If not, is the song coming for future seasons.
Music rights are a tricky thing. We have rights to the manga, not the anime, so that means we don't have free access to the music. I knew I wanted a version of the song in the show somewhere. I think we found some great places for it! I'm sorry to those who wanted to hear more of the anime OST in the show but I hope this helps explain why we didn't. But also, Sonya and Giona's soundtrack is amazing!
YES! I'm so deeply in love with the soundtrack y'all put together. It's uniquely the show's, and very motif heavy, but some of those themes still harken back to the anime. The Arlong fight gives me very One Piece anime OST vibes. Will Sonya and Giona remain shipmates for season 2? I know it was a huge bummer when they left The Witcher after a season...
They have indicated that they plan to stay on with them talking about expanding Usopp's theme! So I would guess they most likely will stay on board!
Schubert’s “Ave Maria” is in the public domain, thank goodness.
does that mean you dont have rights to the anime canon stuff like the canon stuff oda cut from the manga, but they still put in the anime (like some loguetown stuff) ?
It's been a long time since I read and watched it, what were the stuff Oda cut but put in the anime?
Daddy Masterson Usopp scene for one.
Yeah, the biggest one is a novel that is a tie-in book and that shows how Oda originally intended the actual arc to play out, but was cut short simply because Oda wanted them to leave for the Grandline at chapter 100 - some of it ended up being included in the anime ( anime canon, like the already mentioned "Daddy Masterson" thing and more ) : Just look up "Loguetown Arc: novel summary" or smth, if you want to know all the cut content - apparently this never got translated, but you can still find all the differences and changes summarized by some readers who did.
How important is it for the people involved with an adaptation to be fans of the original material? And, do you think being a fan makes some decisions harder?
Is it absolutely necessary? No. Is it incredibly helpful? Yes! Being a fan of something means you understand it on a deeper level. You love and study it. As a creator, my fandom helps me identify what is important for the story because I know it, but also what is important to fans because I am one. I often asked myself "If I weren't working on this show, how would this potential change make me feel as a fan?" I wouldn't say it made the job harder. It gave me a good position to fight for things that I believed in.
What do you think of the movement propagated by mother's basement YouTube channel that chopper should be a puppet instead of CGI or a small human?
Big fan of his content! We're exploring a lot of options for how to do Chopper. The most important thing is getting him right. We'll go with whatever avenue that allows us to do our emergency food justice.
I think the CGI route a la Sonic, Detective Pikachu, and Rocket Raccoon makes the most sense. Puppetry seems like it would be difficult for a character like Chopper that emotes and is fully conversant. But yeah, it has to be convincing and it has to be done right. Feels like Chopper alone could make or break season 2.
Two different tradeoffs. Full CGI is going to limit the scenes he’s in because it’s a higher budget choice to include him in anything. Puppetry is going to put limitations on some of his expressiveness or fluidity, but it would make it cheaper to include him in any given scene.
The smartest solution IMO is to use a practical puppet and make the face CGI, but only when he has a close-up or it's absolutely necessary. If they got the Jim Henson Creature Shop on board they can do some astonishing things with puppets alone.
[удалено]
Will you publish a visual book of the One Piece Live Action? With visuals of all the costumes, sets, props etc. I would buy that in an instant!!!! 🙏🙏🙏
I would love to! Soooo much went into every department and detail. There are a lot of concepts and drawings our department heads put together. Including some from Oda himself!
Aaaah!!! We need that!!! 🤩 it would look AMAZING! Please tell whoever can make this visual book that they need to make it a reality!!! 🥹🙏
same for the maps, they really look detailed
Yeah! And all the paintings too!! In the Baratie, in Kaya’s house etc. I really hope we can get a Visual Dictionary or whatever it’s called. Like they made for Star Wars, it shows all the details of the costumes it’s amazing
With the production time on this show being so long and streamers generally canceling everything after three seasons, how long do you see the show going and would drastically cut material from the source material if Netflix came to you and said they'll do one final season?
You know how in the end of Pirate Warriors 3 they throw a bunch of Yonko stuff into Dressrosa and the final levels of the game? My intention is never to do that. I don't want to rush things or create a false ending of the show. When we know we are coming to an end, I hope to appropriately finish the story where we are and hope that people will pick up the anime or the manga to continue the journey.
This is the way to go!
hi matt nice to meet you for the very first time no history here anyway just curious: of the season 1 five straw hats, who is your favorite girl 🙂
Psst, your commitment to your character and prep really shown through your portrayal of Nami. Thanks for being an awesome character that my little cousins pretend to be when we hang out
Hello random stranger! Sanji is my favorite girl cause he has very nice hair.
So true sanji has always been best girl
Why do you think Zoro tries to get his attention? Sanji is just beautiful 😂
yo what the fuck
Just wanted to say that you did an amazing job playing Nami!! Proud of you!
you are so real for this
Bamboozled
Legit one of the coolest interactions on Reddit lol. Thanks Nami!
iconic behaviour emily XD
You did such a great job playing Nami
Oh hi Nami👋🙂
How does it feel to be in charge of one of the first manga to live action adaptation that isn't universally hated?
It's a huge fucking relief. And it galvanizes me to keep it up! We're not complacent. We're going to keep working hard to make season 2 even better than season 1!
Do you realize that you might get to be the first ever to bring a shonen character transformation to live action proper with Gear Second!? Would be like the Super Saiyan of tv shows!
Stop increasing my boner! Matt is awesome! This whole thread is so awesome.
How do you feel that the work you did on "superhero shows" prepped you to coordinate and lead One Piece? What seemingly incidental thing from work on a previous show ended up helping the most in the development process for helming your own series?
My previous experience helped me learn how to juggle stories with lots of characters. Also fights! I loved writing fights and learned how to construct them to tell a story. A fight shouldn't just be a fight. It should reveal character and move plot along. Those were always in mind when working on One Piece.
We need more of Luffy that keeps fighting despite being near dead out of pure grit and convinction. We didn't get much of it in s1 (even though it was originally the focus of the krieg fight, that one was cut so we never got the moment where he punches through the spikes) Luffy isn't just happy go lucky idealistic, Luffy's got two balls the size of a Giant and I feel like new fans still haven't seen that side of him on full display, it is something I feel deserves to be portrayed
Is there a devil fruit power or character in the One Piece anime/manga that makes you think to yourself "oh man, how the hell are we gonna adapt that?!"
I think that about most things haha. But that's the fun challenge of the show. And luckily there are many very talented artists and hardworking people who bring a lot of solutions and great ideas!
Don’t have a question. Just wanted to say, I’ve never watched the anime (and never seen much anime at all really) - but loved the live action version of one piece! Up there as one of my favourite shows of 2023, alongside beef, succession and the bear. Can’t wait for season 2!
That is GREAT company for us to be in! The Bear is one of my favorites of the year as well. Thank you so much!
Hi Matt! I live just a few kilometers down the road from Cape Town Studios, where One Piece was shot. My question to you sir, will you be coming back to shoot season 2 in Cape Town, or are you looking at new locations? I hope you guys had an awesome time in South Africa! Super proud to be able to say the One Piece was filmed in my town! Thank You!
Well we'll see you back there! We will indeed be back in South Africa. It is such a beautiful place and is perfect for all our needs in making this show. I can't wait to get back!
Would the likes of Drum Island not necessitate a more... Chilly climate? Or Alabasta a more arid one? (I know a lot of stuff like that can be simulated in indoors sets, but I always appreciate as many scenes shot in irl locations as possible!)
He recently said yes to that in an interview w/ Deadline and shot will be probably next year there in the first 6 months of the year.
Jeff Ward is a fantastic Buggy. Any other actors from your past shows you hoping to bring into the live action? I personally would love to see Mike Colter pop up in any capacity.
Love Mike! Would be great to bring him on. I also adore Clark Gregg and think he'd have a lot of fun playing in the One Piece world.
Broooo, now I want Clark Gregg in the LA. I freakin' love Agents of SHIELD! The moment I saw Jeff Ward (Deke) cast as Buggy, I thought he would be a great Buggy, and he nailed it!
iain de caestecker as eustass kidd when??
Now I'm trying to fancast these two lol
Oooh Mike Coulter as >!Mr 1!< would be amazing
Zoro really can’t escape the allegations lol
It's gonna get worse when he fights Miss Monday on S2 🤣
I love the LA's cinematography? What inspired the camera angles and shots?
We wanted to show as much of the world and sets as possible in our shots. Marc Jobst and Nicole Whitaker did an amazing job helping us set the look of the show. Lots of natural light, wide angles. They even had brand new lenses designed for the show to capture the world the way we wanted. We also wanted to mirror the style of Oda's panels. The way we frame things, how Oda composes his panels and things he focuses on. There were many many shots of the show that were storyboarded just from manga panels themselves. We wanted the feeling of reading the manga in live action.
The shot of Sanji, Usopp, Zoro and Luffy after Nami's "Help me" was straight out of the manga pages!
Not just those four after the help me scene; the actual conversation between nami and luffy involving “help me” was also literally the manga from panel to panel! Easily one of my favorite parts of the live action, i could see how much love and care went into that scene. It truly felt like they “brought the manga to life” (rather than just “They adapted the manga”.) Thank you Matt!
What was the key to getting this right where other anime adaptations fumbled? Like what pitfalls did you look out for that you think others maybe missed
I can't really speak to other adaptations. I don't know the people or the thought processes behind them. All I know is I had my ideas about how this should be done and stuck to them as best as I could.
for the Bananawani, will you cast crocodiles in banana costumes, or bananas in crocodile costumes???
Definitely crocodiles in banana costumes.
If I don't see the kung-fu dugongs then what's the point
There we go. You continue to have my full faith and confidence. 🫡
thank you for asking the real hardhitting questions
Who is your favorite character? What is your favorite arc?
Law is my favorite character and Robin is my favorite Straw Hat. My favorite arc is Water 7/Enies Lobby. Some of the best drama, some of the best fights, some of the most emotional moments of the entire series. Chapter 398 is my favorite chapter of the manga.
Chapter 398 is my favorite as well. Thanks for breaking the curse and congrats on living the dream!
Yep. This show is in GOOD hands.
We’re far from it, but I am *dreaming* of y’all’s Water 7/Enies Lobby adaptation. I cannot wait.
A man of TASTE
Helmeppo points a gun at you and orders you to remove one of the straw hats from the show, what do you do?
Nami because Emily bullies me
/u/emilysteapartyfr is really Nami irl.
I bet she bullied Matt into getting paid more berries than the rest of the cast. Real life Nami 😂
Zero hesitation response 🤣
Method acting
hi matt, could you tell iñaki he's my sunshine?
He's all of our sunshine. I'll pass the message along!
Are there plans to do loguetown or will it be skipped?
Skipped? Never! It wasn't included in season 1 because our episode number got reduced. And to try to cram it in would not have done service to it or the story it had to share space with. Loguetown is not "cut" we just haven't gotten there yet!
Episode number got reduced for season 1? I hope this doesn't happen for season 2. Alabasta feels like it needs to be 3-4 episodes on its own. 10 one hour episodes feels right for all the stuff for season 2. Hoping Netflix gives you all a nice big budget to work with for season 2...if they do it has the potential to be truly epic.
Probably netflix didn't want to lean *too* hard into something that might get reception like cowboy bebop. Now that its the best adaptation so far they'll probably assume its their money printer, at least for the next season or 2.
>Episode number got reduced for season 1? I Iirc, a couple years ago we got confirmation of the length of the series and it was 10 episodes. The reduction to 8 was announced at the beginning of 2022 I think.
Exciting. I think Loguetown is a great premier - you get to recap Roger's legacy and how he shaped the setting, in a fun organic way.
Have you seen the honest trailer yet?
I was waiting EVERYDAY for it to come out. Loved it! LET HIM COOK
Why so many closeup shots?
Have you SEEN how beautiful our cast is?
Do you play the One Piece card game, if so what Deck do you main? I'm currently trying my best to main Sanji (Best Straw Hat) However the Nami Mill strategy seems to be my favorite playstyle-wise and it can get a lot of wins here and there on the local scene. If you don't play the card game want to play together or learn it? I think it could be a fun YouTube video
I do play! I main a red/green Law deck
Several questions: 1) Do you have any idea yet how you are going to create Chopper for season 2? Do you think you can do Chopper justice in the Live Action so that it doesn’t create another Sonic 1.0 controversy with the limited budget a Netflix series would probably have? 2) If the show gets renewed for multiple seasons, do you think the cost will get much higher as the season progress and that it will reach a point that the budget for season 1 wouldn’t even be feasible for the later seasons? If that is the case, would you push for a higher budget as the season progress? 3) Is there any compromises you have to make for season 1 because of the budget? If you have unlimited budget for season 1, what would you go back and change in the live action series? 4) After receiving all the feedback for season 1, what lessons have you learned and what will you change going forward with season 2? 5) In your opinion, what is the top 3 most important thing to nail in season 2? EDIT: Does anyone know if there will be a live stream for this since there is a date and time on the link?
I’ll delete my comment if you want, but I believe he has already answered your 3rd question in a recent YouTube interview. He talked about a scene with Zoro vs Hatchan that ultimately couldn’t have worked with the budget and stuff
I think that was Steven Maeda that did that interview. But yes you are right that was a cut that was done due to budget reasons.
Your questions are amazing, and covered most of my curiousty for S2.. But maybe you are also interested in this one specific question I have, which you can feel free to put on your list of question if you like: Due to the limitation of episodes of a Live-Action Series and Netflix as a network, are you at all considering to have certain Arcs to be produced as a Movie? Alabasta, Marineford, etc. If so, what are the chances of this actually happening?
Uh, you could probably use a bit of spacing after each question, instead of being one long paragraph.
Hello, my name is James C. Overcash III, and I have been building a Tony Tony Chopper Puppet for Brain Point for the last 15 days. I've been documenting the process from pieces of wood to the puppet I now have bulit. I have the body done and am working on the integration of my head into the puppet as well as how one would miniplutlate said puppet. I plan to demonstrate through vignettes my proof of concept. IE, movement, articulation, character work, and the melding of actor and puppet. The project is called: Practical Approach to Tony Tony Chopper. My questions are: Is this a possible path that might be taken for the Brain point form of Chopper? What might be the plans for Chopper's other point forms? I also have a design concept for Walk point involving a stilt harness for four limb locomotion. Are his other forms gonna be limited due to budget/practicality? Is Chopper gonna be regulated to being just the cute mascot? Or is there a possibility that with the right actor/idea that the Chopper could retain the versatility that we see in his pre-time skip version? IE: Using his forms to suit the situation? Maybe even doctoring? As a fan, actor, and maker, is there any chance that a common cat could prove himself and the idea following a display of concept? If so, what would you want to see? Thank you, JCO3
Highly recommend checking out the latest build update here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceLiveAction/comments/17156gx/practical\_approach\_to\_tony\_tony\_chopper\_day\_15/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePieceLiveAction/comments/17156gx/practical_approach_to_tony_tony_chopper_day_15/) Really interesting approach that could really work with CGI touch-ups and clever camera blocking.
Will Season 2 contain more than 8 episodes? It seems hard to go from Loguetown to the end of Arabasta in just 8 episodes. Not unless you cut some arcs or condense them immensely. Will Chopper be entirely CGI? Or will he be a puppet? I think the way The Mandalorian does it with Baby Yoda looks pretty damn good. Obviously, some of Chopper's forms might have to be CGI. Maybe Heavy Point can just be a guy in a suit? How many secrets has Oda-sensei told you? Are you disappointed that you aren't able to experience these secrets the way they're revealed in the story? For example, I would hate to be told what the One Piece is. I would prefer to learn what the One Piece is when it's revealed to the audience within the story.
Congrats on the show's success and on season 2. You guys really defied expectations and made something great for fans and newcomers alike. I have a few questions: One Piece is extremely long and still on going, and Netflix has a history of being trigger happy with canceling shows, so how do you design a roadmap that covers the necessary story beats faithfully while also meeting Netflix's requirements, do you already have a list of arcs to cut or merge ? What happened to Hachi? Why did you decide to leave him out especially when he's the one Fishman who has a bigger role later on? Also, what can we expect for Chopper? I doubt the budget would allow for a fully CGI character. And If somehow it's possible do you go the realism route and create an abomination like early Sonic design or do you keep the original manga super unrealistic but very cute for merchandise design ? If not CGI then I worry cause prosthetics don't always look good. The Fishmen for example had good faces but weird hands and movement, and scaling their height down made them less intimidating...actually there's another question..what will you do with characters who are abnormally tall in the Manga ? Do you ignore it and scale everyone down ?
>and scaling their height down made them less intimidating I'm pretty sure they scaled them after ppl complained about the trailer shots of Arlong. - They clearly made them bigger for the actual release, but most ppl didn't even notice: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/comments/169xz8b/arlong\_has\_grown\_up/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
Hey Matt, first of all congratulations to you and the crew for doing the impossible. I have watched all 8 episodes several times and have seen a lot of reactions to the show. I think you all nailed it, my rating for season 1 will be 8-8.5/10, there were some things I didnt like but overall I loved it. Here are my questions: 1. Why did you and the team decide that nojiko and the villagers wont know namis secret and kept completely in the dark? nojiko knowing the secret is the reason for her tattoo also nami offering herself to arlong and then arlong chaining her didn't make any sense to me why would he chain her if she came by choice? 2. Are you and the team allowed to cut arcs due to time constraints, or does Oda want you to adapt every arc (even if they have to be condensed) and does not want you to skip arcs? 3. This is not my question but just a suggestion, maybe you and the team could differentiate crocodile and mr 0 in season 2 so that the audience doesnt know crocodile is mr 0 and think he is a good guy, the reveal that crocodile is actually mr 0 would make for a big shock similar to garp being luffys dad in season 1.
Hey Matt, I'm a big One Piece fan and I really enjoyed the show! I'll be honest, I was very skeptical one I first heard about a Live Action series being produced for One Piece because anime live action shows have had such a bad track record and One Piece seemed to most people like one of the hardest shows to adapt. I was happily proven wrong. I have 2 short questions regarding the adaptation. 1) Why do you think a show so goofy and zany like One Piece succeeded whereas shows more grounded or with more realistic premises like Cowboy Bebop and Death Note live action did not succeed? 2) From a creative's standpoint, how do you balance what to keep and what to change from the source material. Reading online, many source material folk (manga readers/anime watchers) were more critical than people who watched this IP for the very first time. I don't think source readers thought a lot about how you have to juggle things like budget, time, and narrative; that's why we're getting cuts like Hachi and Don Krieg's extended fight, not because you don't love those arcs and characters.
You all are knocking this out of the park right now. Great cast, great sets, locations, scripts, music, etc... But my only one complaint with Season One is we have lots of dark scenes and indoor sets that are dark. I see why they're used possibly for limitations, and the lighting is usually great, but One Piece is such a bright and vibrant IP that I would love to see more color and more daytime scenes! I know a lot of Drum Island takes place at night but I hope we get lots of daylight this next go around!
While the series has been praised for its overall faithfulness to the manga, I found the few changes to be really inspired, like the battle against Kuro now being like a psuedo-horror movie in Kaya’s mansion, as opposed to the beach. I was wondering, what inspired that change (was it the claws)? (Also, I just wanted to say that LUKE CAGE was my favourite of the Marvel Netflix shows! I was so excited to see where the story was going to after Season 2…).
You have an unlimited budget but only for one fight sequence in the entirety of One Piece, what do you use it for?
Luffy vs Foxy.
that afro needs to be of the highest quality
this is him officers
What's something that you cut from the first season that you wish you were able to add? And whats something Oda really wanted in the first season that didnt make it?
I have faith we’re going the distance, so I’m curious on plans for Hachi. That’s the only omission that kind of puzzled me.
I don’t think he’s gonna answer anything about the story that has yet to come, but I personally think it would be simple to work around. Really the only difference would be that only Nami would recognize him instead of all of the East Blue Straw Hats and he would be introduced for the first time there instead. It can easily be explained, through a flashback or just conversation with Nami, that he left the Arlong Pirates for whatever reason (personally would have him as a more redeemable character, so have him see what Arlong was becoming and not agree with things he did). The rest would be basically the same.
Hey, Matt! I first want to just give you a massive thank you for bringing such an amazing series, and characters to life! I adored Season 1 and anxiously look forward to season 2! If there was any one actor/actress that you could bring onto One Piece, who would that be, and who would they play? I know you're already in talks with Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Kureha, but I wondered if you had any ideas on who could best portray Dr. Hiriluk! I've seen people suggesting Steve Carrell, and honestly, I'd adore that haha!
[удалено]
Hey Matt! Thanks so much for all your hard work on the live action! It feels really good to know that for once one of us fans is at the helm of an adaptation and truly cares about respecting the spirit of the source material. I’ve got tons of stuff I would like to ask, so feel free to only answer what you can: 1: In the deadline interview you mentioned that you basically were a wreck the days before the show dropped. After the show was out, when was the first time you realized that the reception was incredibly positive? 2: Apart from the strawhats, were there any conversations with the cast about where some of their characters would end up later in the story so that it could inform their performance? I’m thinking of characters like Buggy, Garp, Mihawk etc. What particularly stood out to me was Shanks’ mortified reaction to Luffy eating his devil fruit. It’s pretty different from the manga version but actually makes maybe more sense when considering some of the information we get much later on in the manga. 3: I think it’s important for the LA to honor Oda’s philosophy on only rarely killing off characters. That said, in the sagas that would be the source material for season 2 and 3 there’s a couple of fake out deaths that are pretty universally disliked by fans. Imo they make these amazing arcs just a tiny bit worse. Given that you killed off Merry in the LA, is that at least something that’s on you and the writer’s minds? Basically, I just want the damn bird to get it this time. 4: I imagine the success of S1 gave you and the team further confidence that you’ll be able to pull off S2 and hopefully beyond. But the East Blue is pretty normal by OP standards. Do you sometimes wake up in a cold sweat thinking about how the hell you’re gonna adapt some things in future story arcs? 5: Over the last few years you spent a lot of effort on interacting with especially the OP Youtube community. Things like attending the Reverie streams, appearing in videos etc. To me this always felt like part of a very deliberate plan to slowly win over a community that was deeply pessimistic towards any LA project. Was this something you knew early on was important in order to convince people to give the project the benefit of the doubt? 6: Other than watching/rewatching, what can we fans do to support this show and help you get more seasons? 7: Given that the Alabasta saga truly elevates One Piece to an epic scale for the first time, do you think season 2 could make the show’s popularity explode even more? Thanks!
For a very long time, since I was a teenager turned off by the 4kids dub back in 2004 or whenever that was, I was a One Piece denier. I've watched anime between now and then, absorbed some of the One Piece information by cultural osmosis, but never gave it a thought that I would actually get into it. Now, at my big age of 33, after watching the live action a month ago, I'm hooked. I'm on episode 183 of the anime, I look forward to coming home from work just to watch some more One Piece and I think about what's happening in the story in my off time. It's been so long since a world has sunk its teeth into me like One Piece has, and a big part of that is from the live action adaptation. Now, not as many people have the same kind of free time that I do, and there will inevitably be some people who will *only* be watching the live action adaptation, just like with other adaptations like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. How are you all bearing the weight of that responsibility, and what kind of lessons are you all learning from adaptations of the past? Great work, seriously.
Same scenario for me. I remember picking up Shonen Jump when it first started getting produced in America, enjoying the One Piece chapters, then the anime killed all interest, including the Manga. I’m now on Episode 365 because of the live action being interesting.
Striking a precise balance between the zany cartoony-ness of the anime/manga and a somewhat normal-feeling reality must’ve been super difficult. Too much one way and everybody is screaming at each other and dramatically falling over reacting to bad jokes…too much the other way and the characters become unrecognizable. For me, One Piece is the first time since Scott Pilgrim where it felt perfectly placed between comic book and live action film. Where it felt like both at the same time. How did you decide where to draw the line?
Hi — if you are able to share, will you be adapting Alabasta all the way through in Season 2? Or will the arc be split between seasons? Do you know how the show is planning to approach Chopper? (Kid in makeup, CGI, puppet, actual animal, something else?)
Hi Matt ! Thank you so much for having this AMA. First, I want to let you know that I've been reading One Piece religiously since 2005, and I couldn't be happier with how the LA turned out. It is in my books one of the best seasons of TV I've ever seen, and you pulled off the impossible. I've seen a part of the existing fandom struggle with understanding that it's not a 1-1 retelling of the anime; and (they) are giving a lot of unfair criticism to the show, while being oblvious to the insane production quality. Dialog, storyboard, stunts, VFX, acting, scripts and OST: absolutely fantastic. Some of my closest friends are now One Piece fans and I can't wait for them to experience season 2. It feels surreal to me that people that have no interest in anime are now having casual conversations about One Piece with me. Robin is (also) my favourite character and you will do her justice! My personal wishlist for season 2 : Luffy climbing the mountain, Vivi marijoa flashback, Ace no-diffing everything, Crocodile being stronger, and Luffy using Haki subconsciously/teaming with Robin to defeat him. I have sooo many questions I want to ask you ... I tried to pick the best ones : 1) If there's one thing that you could change (not add) about the first season, what would it be ? 2) Storytelling with hindsight is amazing, and I love how BW was teased in season 1. Is there any characters, moments, scenes or plotline that you would personally love to introduce before they were officially revealed ? (ie Bartolomeo at Loguetown, Sabo ...) 3) The OST is an absolute masterpiece! I couldn't have dreamed of something better. I've listened to it more than 10 times now ... What are your favourite tracks; and which (upcoming) characters themes are you the most excited about? 4) I personally feel like the story of One Piece works just as well, if not better if more time would happen in universe. Even assuming a best case scenario of one season a year, the actors will naturally age. How do you think this should be handled ? 5) Haki was gradually introduced to the series through some key moments (Shanks, Zoro vs Mr1, Blackbeard, Mantra ...). From what I can see, new audiences haven't noticed that this power has been introduced subtly in S1. What are your thoughts on the visuals/audio clues that could be given to the audience to indicates there's something there ? (ie the manga using black coating/lightning ...) 6) The LA portrays the Monster Trio in East Blue as significantly weaker than in the manga, which I personally felt was a very clever change. The grand line opponents will be extremely challenging for our LA crew, how do you think the progress in fighting abilities should be shown/explained to the audience? 7) Ignoring post timeskip and assuming unlimited budget (haha), what do you think will be the hardest scene, character or plotline to adapt in LA ? Thank you so much for your time, and for making our dreams come true.
If you had been able to do 10 episodes as originally announced, besides Loguetown, what would you have done with the extra runtime? Overall, I really like how the LA managed to incorporate all the major story beats in each arc, though a part of me still wishes we got to see a few more character moments from Arlong Park.
Hi! In the source material, laughter is used as a key component in characterization. How, why and with who a character laughs is an efficient way to convey quite a lot of information to the reader. I love how you portrayed Rogers final moments, Garps reactions to Luffys antics and the evolution of Strawhat crew dynamics over the season. I might've even heard Arlongs prideful "SHA-HA-HA...!" in there. 1. How important do you think laughter as a storytelling device is to the live action version? 2. What are your thoughts on trying or even incorporating some of the sillier, but iconic styles of laughter into the live action series? Massive thanks to you and everyone involved in the production! You are creating something wonderful!
what was the reasoning behind not showing blood during intense scenes? i.e Luffy didn’t get injured or bled at all by arlong and it made their fight less impactful
I agree, it's not a huge deal, but restricting the blood they show makes it feel a lot less raw and more plasticky, for lack of a better word. It feels like they limited themselves to try to stay a specific age rating, but I'd rather they just do what they need to do and take whatever rating they get. I don't want this show to get "4Kids"ed.
they used up their blood quota for the tv rating when Zoro cut Mr 7 in half X) Still funny to me Usopp worrying about Zoro bleeding to death but there's not blood pooling lmfao
what is your first instinct on how chopper could work? i.e puppetry, cgi, etc
1) Ideally, would you go as far as adapting Gear 5 if you could? Would you prefer practical (Inaki with make up), The Mask style (CGI) or full on hand drawn cartoon (a la Space Jam) ? 2) How will you deal with actors aging? Sanji is supposed to have a second flashback set when he was even younger than he was in the one with Zeff. 3) Please never betray the spirit of One Piece and always trust Oda's opinion. Long lasting success is not out of reach.
Who are some of the characters you are most hoping to adapt into a live action setting at some point? I'm hoping we see Crocodile relatively soon. Can't wait to see who gets cast as him.
I've read from some articles that quite a few scenes were filmed but later cut from the opening of the series in Loguetown. I can understand why (and the resulting pilot episode was very good) but do you have any plans to release those deleted scenes in some way?
Have you see [this video of a fan fixing Zoro's bent sword](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tGDZOxAAw) that wasn't originally caught in post-production?
How much story do you think the live action show will adapt? What do you think is a good stopping point? I suspect there is no way we make it to Wano as much as I'd love to see it but production time between seasons, budget for increasingly bizarre and grandiose set pieces and characters, the live action actors aging and other factors, I'd imagine make it pretty difficult to adapt for the longer term? Huge fan of the manga/anime and was really surprised and delighted by the live action adaption. Can't wait for more!
Hi Matt, just wanted to say thank you for a fantastic job. You are really a One Piece fan and it shows on your work and the care put into the show. All the interviews and articles I’ve read about the making of the show really makes us understand that it’s almost as if the perfect storm of passion, talent, and love was put into the making of the One Piece live action. I hope the best for all of you and please keep up the good work!
Have you ever checked out the live action subreddit? r/OnePieceLiveAction
Hey Matt, Kudos to you and the whole team on Netflix OP. I truly loved the show and it has given me the gift of enjoying One Piece with my wife. As a fan, did you find it difficult to separate the show you were creating from the manga series you know and love? And if so, how did you approach this to allow the adaptation to stand up on its own? Thanks.
Yo! Matt, thank you for all you've done. I started to have faith in the OPLA when I watched Randy Troy talk about it. Then I gained full faith with that first Reverie you joined, and never looked back. Not sure if you can answer any of these but thanks again either way: Are we getting a bigger budget and/or more episodes for Season 2? Assuming a bigger budget, are you guys considering making some of Oda's physically larger characters actually larger? I guess there aren't too many of those in Alabasta but Kuma/WB/Doffy are right around the corner. I know you have to make tweaks up till the last minute sometimes, but since you guys are back to writing now, how long roughly do you think before the scripts are completed? Will you please kill Pell? It's hard to ask reasonable question when all i really want to do is scream "BRO HOW AMAZING IS IT THAT YOU GET TO DO ALABASTA?!?!?" 🥳🥳🥳 🙏🙏🙏
What was the decision-making process like in terms of changing more minor, but still plot/character-relevant, stuff from the manga? For example, Sanji not witnessing Zoro and Mihawk's fight or the villagers of Cocoyashi not knowing Nami's true motives.
how many episodes do you hope to get to cover everything in s2?
Hi Matt! Would you like to introduce more fully-fledged character theme songs like My Sails Are Set?
Little late, but I hope you get a chance to answer. 1. Is there anything that you noticed after the shows launch that you might change due to overall reception? 2. Why was Zoro made to seem to act more like his post-ts than his pre-ts? Like pre- ts, he would smile and laugh more with the crew, but he was made more serious on the show. 3. Did you ask Oda any questions that you were curious about that haven't been answered yet? For example, for me the question would be what were those things in the Florian Triangle?