Well, we all knew this was coming for Netflix‘s adaptation of One Piece. They are going to deviate from the original source material by Eiichiro Oda. By how much, you might ask? Well, read on:
Going Merry of Theseus?
Netflix’s One Piece cinematographer Nicole Hirsch Whitaker recently spoke about her experiences filming for the live-action series in an interview with Filmmakers Academy. In fact, the whole interview was specifically about this live-action adaptation of the anime and manga by Eiichiro Oda. Unfortunately, they only dedicated two sections of the interview to the show itself. Even worse, it seems Whitaker is confirming that the show will deviate from the source material.
According to the interview, both Whitaker and the director (presumably the showrunners Steven Maeda and Matt Owens) both insist that this live-action One Piece adaptation will “stand out on its own and not just be a carbon copy of the anime”. If that sounds a bit ominous to you Eiichiro Oda fans out there, it gets worse. Whitaker continues by saying:
“There will always be fans and critics. You can’t please everyone but at the heart of it, the most important thing is the story. And if the story isn’t there, and that doesn’t grab the viewers, it doesn’t matter what you do. We can only hope that we’re going to gain a new audience and people that find it fascinating and interesting.”
Netflix’s One Piece and the Ship of Theseus: Opinion
To give you all some background: the Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment of Ancient Greek origin. Basically: if you replace a ship plank by plank until the new planks are all that’s left, is this ship still the same ship as the one before the whole replacement started? This is the thought experiment that came to me upon hearing this bit of news about Netflix’s One Piece, and quite appropriate considering the maritime nature of said experiment.
Simply put: if you replace bits and pieces of One Piece with your own original stuff, how much can you replace before your show stops being One Piece? I don’t care if they only change minor things like the exact colors of ships, or if the main characters differ a bit from their canon appearances. But if they start changing the story as well, will this still be the same work by Eiichiro Oda? My opinion of this is “No”. At some point, you’ll get to the point where it stops being One Piece.
I get the feeling Nicole Hirsch Whitaker as well as Netflix are going to find that out when they finally release the One Piece live-action series if they can’t walk the fine line between the source material and their original content. The fact that Tomorrow Studios did the Cowboy Bebop live-action adaptation gives me less confidence still, considering how quick Netflix was to cancel it.
Source: Filmmakers Academy
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They say “it’s not a carbon copy of the anime” and the response is to postulate that therefore it is hugely deviating from the story to the point where they have replaced the entire thing? When in the same piece it says “the most important thing is the story. I think you may be reaching a bit. Oda is has read the scripts, he is involved, if things need to change a bit for screen then that’s fine, that’s how adaptations work but it will still be One Piece as much as the anime is, the anime is an adaptation too after all, an adaptation that deviates from the manga and does so in the same arcs that the show will be covering in season one. Changes happen between different mediums for a lot of reasons and that’s just how it works. Stop panicking.
If the live action version was taken from the animated version which was taken from the manga version, I would let you have the ship of Theseus metaphor. If the animated version comes from the manga version, and the live action version comes from the manga, then not so much. there will necessarily be deviation due to the constraints of the medium. If they go off the rails, they will get the same results as with Cowboy Bebop. Hopefully, it will be a good interpretation. I’ve watched most of the first season and I really like it Yep, it deviates, but what do fans think?