“One day, I’ll have a ship and a crew better than yours! And we’ll have the biggest hoard of treasure in the world!!” One Piece’s main protagonist Monkey D. Luffy says. Sailing around the world, Luffy goes on exciting adventures with his crew of 10, running into new problems and making new friends. With his ambitions bigger than ever, he exclaims, “I’m going to be King of the Pirates!”

    Luffy and his crew sold themselves to major audiences, selling over 490 million copies around the world and an anime that just recently hit its 1,000th episode. Fans celebrated, eager to see where the story will go. This story clearly stuck to millions of people, so much so that they hold it dear to their hearts, and have been for the 20 years it’s been around.

Now, Netflix plans on debuting the live adaptation of One Piece. Already in the making, Netflix and Eiichiro Oda, author and creator of One Piece, recently released the actors who will be playing the Straw Hat Crew, the main characters in One Piece. Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Gibson as Usopp, and Taz Skylar as Sanji. With the release of the cast, fans don’t know how to react.

    Some are excited and hyped for the series—knowing that Oda will be working on the project too gave them a lot of hope. Others are disappointed. Many know how previous Netflix live action adaptations have failed, and they’re afraid to see this one fail too.

    Twitter user @AAAAA5A51 says, “I was expecting the worst…And I am still disappointed. Awful cast. I hope this never gets released.” 

There are obviously going to be bad thoughts on a live action adaptation. But some have more hope. 

Another Twitter user @IsaStrawhat replies to the live action cast’s introduction video, “…Welcome aboard!!! We are so excited?,” accompanied by a compilation of the starred Straw Hat Pirates. 

    So many fans are afraid to see how the live action will flop, but those with more hope are excited to see where it goes. Some of those who are disappointed believe that, if it goes wrong, it could affect the franchise as a whole.

    Fans are obviously divided on the subject and will never stop arguing about it, while Oda continues to have high hopes for the project.

    Oda makes his comments when the live action cast was released, translated from Japanese: 

“We’ve been working with NETFLIX and Tomorrow Studios on the massive project that is the Hollywood live action series adaptation of ONE PIECE! How many years has it been since it was announced, right? I know, I know! But rest assured we’ve been making steady progress all along! It’s not easy when you’re working with people from different cultures! But it’s precisely that process that can yield something special! For now, we’re able to announce the main cast! Rather, we need to hurry and announce it or else it’ll be leaked, apparently! …Their face, the size of their mouths and hands, their aura, the way they carry themselves, their voice, their acting skills, their height, the balance amongst the Straw Hat Crew, etc…!

We decided on this cast after numerous discussions involving people around the world! These are the people who will be our Straw Hat Pirates! It’ll take a bit more time to get this show done, but we’ll continue to do our best to deliver a show that we’re confident will be enjoyed by everyone around the world! Look forward to more updates in the future!”

    Oda is beyond excited to be working on the project and he’s eager to see what they can come up with. He’s confident in Netflix as he comments earlier when he first announced the live action:

 “…It seems that I can finally make the big announcement: NETFLIX, the world’s leading streaming entertainment service, will be lending us their tremendous production support! This is so encouraging!!”