One Piece Netflix’s Pirate Adventure Springs to Life

In case you aren’t into anime and/or don’t have a preteen in your house, the new One Piece live-action series debuts on Netflix on August 31, 2023. One Piece is a HUGE anime hit that debuted in 1997. Huge meaning half a billion copies of the manga sold making it the best-selling manga in history, with over 1,000 episodes, 15 films, and 13 TV series based on the characters. (The company Toei Animation is the home of other major franchises including Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball, two shows you probably know even if you aren’t an anime fan.) 

This live-action series follows a diverse cast of actors appearing as the lead roles of the straw hat pirate crew as they swashbuckle across the high seas in high-action, comedic pirate adventures.

Anime fans are a tough bunch and don’t take lightly their beloved stories being remade into live-action. So the results of anime remakes have been mixed.

For those of us who work in remakes, it will be interesting to see fans’ reactions to this series. 

Japanese broadcasters, distribution, and publishing companies have libraries of storylines. 

Will even more anime series be turned into live-action adaptations with a diverse, multinational cast in a big-budget reimagining? 

Will broadcasters sell more rights to their libraries of anime?

If One Piece satisfies anime fans and is able to bridge the genre to attract other Gen Z viewers outside the anime space, expect to see more anime characters coming to life.