‘One Piece’ Creator Was 'Tough In the Beginning' on Netflix’s Live-Action Adaptation

At this point, it’s no secret that mangaka Eiichiro Oda took a very proactive role in the development of the live-action One Piece series, which is set to hit Netflix later this month. And it looks like co-showrunner Matt Owens was quite nervous about tackling a series he loved dearly, as he shares that he’s never “been more nervous for anything in my entire life” when tackling this series.

I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous for anything in my entire life. Here was this person who has created this story I hold so much love and reverence for, and I’m asking him to trust me with his baby.

Matt Owens

Though, he does highlight that Oda needed some to warm up. It seems that this wasn’t the first attempt at a live-action adaptation, which led to him being a bit worried going into the production. Though Owens highlights that “once he realised we were coming from the right place” everything seemed to start falling into place.

I’m not going to lie, he was tough in the beginning – this wasn’t the first attempt at a live-action One Piece, and we weren’t the first people to try to express it in a new way. But I think once he realised we were coming from the right place – trying to protect this series and create a new avenue for even more people to fall in love with it – he started to trust us.

Matt Owens

His goal to make more people fall in love with the series is the right approach; though quite a task when considering just how big One Piece already is just based on sales. Oda has shared quite a few messages of his thoughts on the production and that they did make changes here or there. It’s not uncommon with adaptations and while things will likely not be exactly the same, it’ll lead a new generation into exploring the manga and the journey many of us started over 25 years ago.

Source: SFX via GamesRadar