Netflix's live-action One Piece has surpassed expectations and seemingly broken the live-action anime curse by not only being popular with audiences who are fans of the anime and newcomers but also by landing itself a second season. One Piece is outlandish with its unique settings, colorful and bizarre characters, and spectacular fights.
Successfully bringing the world of One Piece to life was going to be a difficult task, especially given Netflix's track record with other live-action anime adaptations. But given the reception, it's safe to say that at least season one was an overwhelming success. This is due to a few factors. Eiichiro Oda, the creator and writer of One Piece, being closely involved in the production, writing, and casting is certainly one. However, the live-action owes a lot of its success to the perfect casting of the Straw Hat crew.
Iñaki Godoy Is the Perfect Luffy
Iñaki Godoy has previously been cast in roles for Spanish television series and films. He recently starred in a 2022 horror film titled No Abras La Puerta, which is exclusive to the Spanish streaming service Vix+. He also starred in Netflix's The Imperfects in 2022.
During the casting for Monkey D. Luffy, Oda had a difficult time finding someone who he felt would be the perfect Luffy. In the end, he chose Godoy simply because the young actor made the creator laugh. Luffy's character is a happy, energetic character that people are drawn to, as even his past rivals and enemies can't help but be pulled in by his magnetic personality. Godoy embodies Luffy's excited and hopeful personality and balances it with the character's stubborn and unyielding tendencies. Even off-screen, Godoy is shown to share Luffy's love of food and goofy traits in the promotional videos shot by Netflix.
Mackenyu Brings Zoro to Life
Mackenyu is the son of the late Shin'ichi Chiba, who was famous for being a skilled martial artist and starring in the 1970s Street Fighter films, among other martial arts films. Mackenyu has made a name for himself after his role as Wataya Arata in the Japanese live-action Chihayafuru trilogy earned him the 40th Annual Japan Academy Newcomer of the Year Award in 2017. In 2021, he played Enishi Yukishiro in Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter, and in 2022, he portrayed Scar in the live-action Fullmetal Alchemist adaptation.
Mackenyu is certainly no stranger to portraying live-action anime characters. His work as Enishi displays his skills with a sword, which is a crucial part of Roronoa Zoro's character. And his hard work in acting and martial arts helped Mackenyu bring the loyal swordsman of the Straw Hat crew to life.
Emily Rudd Steals Hearts as Nami
Emily Rudd has appeared in a few minor roles over the years. Her most notable work is starring in the Fear Street trilogy as Cindy Berman. She's appeared in other works, like HBO's Moonshot, and had a recurring role as Clara in Prime Video's Hunters. Rudd manages to portray the cat burglar Nami's calculative demeanor while also bringing forth the character's intelligence and opportunistic personality. She captures Nami's complex emotions as she grapples with trying to save her village at the cost of losing the only friends she's ever had. Rudd lets audiences see Nami as the "big sister" of the crew, as she seems to be the only one who has any knowledge of the sea.
Since Rudd is the oldest of the main cast and has the most anime knowledge, she fits into this role perfectly. She also adds more levels to Nami. In the live-action, not only is Nami a skilled thief with a bo staff for a weapon, but she also is shown to have basic martial arts training. Rudd has a black belt in karate and is familiar with the bo staff. Like the rest of her cast mates, she underwent martial arts training to prepare for the show, and thanks to her skills, Nami was portrayed as competent in a fight.
Jacob Romero Embodies Usopp
Jacob Romero has had minor roles in the past, with his most notable work being his recurring role in Greenleaf as AJ Delajae. He's also starred in a number of short films, such as Five and Black Prom in 2021. His role as Usopp is his first starring role in a television series.
Romero has wit and humor -- qualities that are essential to Usopp. He manages to bring to life the comedy in Usopp's character as a fearful young man who wants to help despite running at the first sign of danger. In fact, there's a certain charm to Usopp's fear that Romero captures perfectly in his portrayal. However, some fans would argue that Romero is almost too perfect as Usopp, and his portrayal is closer to that of Usopp's personality after the two-year time skip in the original One Piece story. Perhaps this was just Oda thinking ahead. Should Netflix manage to tell One Piece's story beyond the time skip, Romero would grow with his character, and his portrayal would be even better.
Taz Skylar Is the Most Charming Portrayal of Sanji
Taz Skylar is a director and writer, as well as an actor. He wrote a successful off-West-end-play titled Warheads. In 2018, he made his directorial debut with the short film Multi-Facial, for which he won the 2018 People's Choice Award for Best Motion Picture. He's appeared in minor roles in various short films and television series.
Skylar, arguably, put the most work into preparing for his role as the Straw Hat's chef, Sanji. He trained for over eight hours a day in martial arts, focusing specifically on his kicks since that is Sanji's signature fighting style. Skylar also underwent culinary training to learn to cook the dishes that appear in the live-action. He has even displayed his skills for his cast members by cooking for them in Netflix's promotional videos. He continues his training as he works to improve his culinary skills and has achieved his first black belt in Taekwondo.
Skylar's portrayal of Sanji modernizes his character. Sanji is known to love women to the point where it becomes a running gag that he gets a nosebleed every time he sees a beautiful woman. This is an old trope in anime, and Skylar's portrayal displays the best qualities of the character while omitting outdated tropes like this. Skylar also shows Sanji's caring and trusting nature, from feeding a starving man who can't afford to pay for his food to trusting that Nami must have had a good reason for leaving the crew. With the amount of dedication Skylar has put into his role and his understanding of Sanji's character, he is the best fit for the lovestruck chef.
The live-action adaptation of One Piece hits the mark with the casting for the main crew. With Oda signing off on the cast, there was a level of expectation that the original creator would know what was best when it came to bringing his characters to life. However, there was skepticism over whether the chosen actors would be the right fit, and this partially stems from some fans not agreeing with the nationalities of the actors. But Oda himself has stated the nationalities of the characters in an SBS Question Corner of the manga. He said that Luffy would be Brazilian, Zoro would be Japanese, Nami would be Swedish, Usopp would be African, and Sanji would be French. While he didn't get all of them exactly right, he chose people he thought looked like his characters and could also embody their iconic personalities.
One Piece is streaming now on Netflix.
