The live-action anime adaptation is all the time a dicey proposition, no much less so when it’s Netflix doing the adapting. Their model of “Cowboy Bebop” was a dour, muggy reshuffling of the collection’ occasions with a mismatched forged and no sense of route; “Avatar: The Final Airbender” fared even worse, unable to outlive Netflix’s punishing runtimes, pacing points, and the cardinal sin of, effectively, casting unhealthy youngster actors because the leads. So it was doubly shocking that their adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s long-running manga and anime “One Piece” by some means broke the curse: It wasn’t excellent, by any means, nevertheless it managed to seize not less than among the free-wheeling mania of Oda’s weird character designs, whereas repackaging it in a curiously novel mishmash of tones that feels distinctive, not less than by Netflix requirements.
It helps, after all, that everybody loves a great pirate story, and Oda’s fundamental temporary is an infectious one: A candy-colored fantasy land of swashbuckling buccaneers and mystical creatures, in addition to purple, textured “satan fruits” that may lend those that eat them more and more cartoonish powers. The excessive seas are bedeviled by fish males and physics-defying obstacles, nevertheless it’s price it to the pirates who danger all of it to amass the One Piece, a mysterious treasure left behind by notorious pirate Gold Roger. One such adventurer is Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), a rubber-limbed teen with a aim as single-minded as his irrepressible optimism: He desires to turn out to be King of the Pirates.
Season 1, which smooshed in regards to the first 100 episodes of the long-running anime (which continues to be going!) into about eight hours, fast-tracked Luffy gaining his ship, the Going Merry, and the primary wave of his loyal crew: stoic swordsman Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu, son of Sonny Chiba), wily navigator Nami (Emily Rudd), blustering shipmate Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), and trendy chef Sanji (Taz Skylar). With the important components assembled and the East Blue arc out of the best way, Season 2 proceeds with a extra episodic construction this time round, because the Straw Hat Pirates (so named for Luffy’s favored headwear) head down the Grand Line, a harmful stretch of sea that presents their first actual obstacles to discovering the One Piece.
After all, the titular treasure is secondary to “One Piece”‘s considerations this season, as, in basic adventure-of-the-week vogue, the present provides the crew loads of stopovers to assist the needy, save their very own pores and skin, or latch onto new noble causes. The Straw Hats get trapped within the stomach of a large whale, Jonah-style; a seemingly pirate-friendly island turns into a entice; a prehistoric island additionally proves dwelling to 2 frenemy giants taking part in out a century-old duel to the dying. And all of the whereas, they’re hunted by a brand new group of over-the-top baddies known as the Baroque Works, who function in male-female pair groups with powers as ostentatious as their outfits.
For probably the most half, this episodic construction actually helps paper over a few of live-action “One Piece”‘s greater flaws, which should do with its big-but-not-big-enough price range and the innate bloat of an hour-long episode runtime. One of many present’s extra novel appeals is showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda’s insistence on translating Oda’s eccentric character and manufacturing design as actually as attainable to dwell motion; this implies actual folks will pop on display screen with ridiculous pastel outfits, impossibly sculpted hairdos (or, within the case of among the males, physiques), or weapons so unwieldy they make Cloud’s Buster Sword from “Ultimate Fantasy VII” look pocket-sized.
It’s a campy deal with to see people like David Dastmalchian present up as a Baroque Works renegade with candle-wax superpowers, dressed like Alan Cumming on “The Traitors,” to make sure. However the visible pop of these matches and neon-colored wigs typically will get obscured by the peerlessly digital flatness of the colour grading, to not point out the sometimes ropey CGI (particularly when Luffy’s Gum-Gum powers kick in). There’s an uncanny valley really feel to the entire thing, however in reverse: Individuals who look so lifelike when offered in such unblinking, cartoonish methods. That tonal weirdness carries over into the present’s tone, too, which flits between Saturday-morning cartoon and adult-drama/action-show willy-nilly. It’s onerous to know what to really feel once you watch a cute cartoon reindeer named Tony Tony Chopper (voiced by Mikaela Hoover) say “shit.”
That dissonance does really feel infectious, although, particularly when “One Piece” facilities on its central ensemble, which principally fires on all cylinders this season. Whereas Godoy continues to deliver his exuberant (although frustratingly one-note) giddiness to Luffy, the true highlights listed here are Mackenyu and Skylar. Zoro will get a superb showcase within the third episode of the season, the place he will get to take pleasure in a “Kill Invoice”-like roaring rampage of revenge as he slices and dices via actually 100 assassins in an infinite tavern set. (The combat scenes proceed to really feel contemporary and alluring, even because the wirework grows tiresome the additional the season goes.) Sanji, in the meantime, is the attraction on the coronary heart of the crew, oozing easy cool and bouncing properly off the remainder of the crew.
This season additionally introduces a few new crewmembers within the type of “Bridgerton” alum Charithra Chandran as a Baroque Works murderer with extra difficult motives up her sleeve, and, effectively, the aforementioned Chopper, whose tragic backstory will get explored within the ultimate two episodes of the season. (He clearly bought the majority of the results work this season, which makes me query how sustainable the present will probably be for Netflix if he’s gonna be a fixture shifting ahead.) They work effectively sufficient of their respective tales, however I’m understandably skeptical of how effectively the present will preserve a steadiness of so many characters because the Merry will get extra crowded—to say nothing of how the present’s construction places a few of these characters’ broader private journeys on maintain.
For now, although, “One Piece” stays an imperfect, if entertaining, deal with; for these missing the need or the time to dive into thirty-plus years of manga or anime (the present’s episode depend is already within the 4 figures), it does effectively in a pinch. Purists might complain it flattens the wealthy characters they’ve spent half a lifetime having fun with, and that could be true. However taken by itself phrases, it feels not in contrast to the campy, swashbuckling Sam Raimi-produced journey exhibits of the ’90s, like “Xena: Warrior Princess” or “Jack of All Trades.” It’s goofy, knowingly unusual, and wears its coronary heart on its sentimental sleeve, and that’s sufficient to place some wind in its sails.
Entire season screened for assessment. Presently streaming on Netflix.