Alright pirates, we are back on the ship with the Strawhats. Season two has kicked off with Monkey D. Luffy (Inaki Godoy), Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), Nami (Emily Rudd), Usopp (Jacob Romero), and Sanji (Taz Skylar) all back together. They are sailing towards the grand line, and as fans expect, there are more trials than triumphs. With seeing new characters like Nico Robin (Lera Abova), and the introduction of Tony Tony Chopper (voiced by Mikaela Hoover). One other character is Buggy (Jeff Ward) that I always love to see on screen. This season was jammed back of all the things right with this live-action adaption of One Piece.
Some things they got right is, the casting. The casting so far has been the biggest, and the most accurate of it all. Each I’m sure was carefully picked and Eiichiro Oda (the creator of One Piece is heavily involved with the show. I love that because that means that all of the decisions go past him, and he approves. This show also is calmly paced, from them sailing from one island to another. Just like the anime, it takes the right amount of material from the episodes that anime fans love. It’s so good that it’s probably worth a rewatch.
My favorite part is Chopper’s arc and back story. His story is so tragic, it would bring tears to anyone’s eyes. I love how it was told just like the anime, and they did a very good job with bringing our beloved reindeer to life. I also loved how Luffy’s optimism gets the crew back in the mind set that they can do anything they want. Including being able to slide and get out of scary situations. Another standout is Zoro, who is an amazing swordsman and his action sequences, are fantastic.
One downfall I do admit, is that they could have kept a lot of the marine scenes out of it. I know that they are important to the overall story, but I felt they spent way too much time with them. One character breakout star is Brooks (Martial Tchana Batchamen) who did a wonderful job displaying the love of music, and Lapoon.
This series is incredible, and honestly, that is the standard of all live-action series. They should be full of heart, care, and also include the original creator. I have to also shout out Matt Owens, who loves anime and knows his way on how to adapt a show. I can not wait to see Season 3 and how they will continue on with the story. I am slowly catching up on the anime, but, I know there are more troubles ahead for the Straw Hats.
Watch One Piece on Netflix, streaming now.
