Despite the initial doubts of many people, the live-action from “One Piece” has exceeded all expectations. The success of the series on Netflix has not only pleased fans of the anime, but it has also introduced a new audience to this vast universe. While the adaptation and summary of the first part of the story has been notable, we have identified some notable differences that are worth noting.
Since its debut in 1997, it has become a global cultural phenomenon with millions of followers around the world. The anime series, based on the manga of the same name by Eiichiro Oda, has been the gateway to the world of pirates, devil fruit powers and exciting adventures on the Great Sea Route.
But now, Netflix has taken a bold step by bringing “One Piece” to the world of live action with a series that has surprised many and rekindled the flame of the franchise. While the first season has been acclaimed for its adaptation of the first 5 arcs, there are some notable differences between the original anime and the live-action series that are worth exploring.
THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LIVE-ACTION AND THE “ONE PIECE” ANIME
10. Garp’s presence in the East Blue Saga
One of the biggest differences between the live-action “One Piece” and the anime is the presence of Garp in the East Blue Saga that was adapted in this first season. Although in the Netflix series he has been a constant character who chases Luffy and was also present in Gol D. Roger’s execution scene, in the original version we do not meet the Straw Hat’s grandfather until the Homecoming Arc. Water 7, where he surprises everyone by revealing that his grandson is the wanted pirate.
In addition, Koby and Helmeppo are also shown there some time after having been training with the vice admiral.
9. The first meeting between Luffy and Zoro
The live-action has tried to condense the extensive story of “One Piece” while still losing the essence of each arc. In the case of the Romance Dawn arc, also known as the Captain Morgan arc, that’s where Luffy meets Zoro, but their first meeting is slightly different.
In the series, Luffy watches as Zoro defends the girl and eats his rice balls at the bar, where several characters gather. However, in the anime, the young pirate encounters the bounty hunter when he was already tied up in the courtyard of the Navy base. There, he has a similar interaction with the girl named Rika and Helmeppo.
When Zoro was at the post, Rika sneaks away to give him some rice balls. He refuses and tries to tell him to leave, but Helmeppo approaches with some marines. Helmeppo takes a rice ball from Rika and eats it, but he spits it out and complains that it has sugar in it. Then, he steps on all the rice balls and orders one of his men to throw Rika outside, luckily his fall is cushioned by Luffy.
Afterwards, Helmeppo and his guards leave and Luffy invites Zoro to join his crew. Zoro rejects him, but before Luffy leaves he asks him to feed him the dirty rice balls that Helmeppo threw away. After he eats them, he tells Luffy to tell Rika that they were delicious. Which in the end also shows the gentle side of the swordsman.
Another difference is that Nami, in the series, Nami also finds herself in Shell Town and infiltrates the Navy base. This does not happen in the anime, where the character of the skilled thief appears in the Orange City Arc, where they also meet the pirate Buggy.
7. The map of the Great Maritime Route
Related to the previous point, in the live-action, the map of the Great Sea Route was in the possession of the sailors and therefore, Nami teams up with Luffy to steal it. However, in the animated version, the map is found in Buggy’s treasure.
6. The battle with Buggy and his pirates
The battle between Buggy and the first members of the Straw Hats also varies slightly. First, the confrontation between Zoro and Cabaji, Buggy’s personnel leader, has the same result, but the process was more grueling than what we saw in the flesh.
Also, while Luffy confronts Buggy, Nami sneaks away to steal the clown’s treasure. Most of these fighting take place outside and a good part of the town was destroyed.
When Buggy tries to gather his body parts again, to attack Luffy, it is Nami who comes up with the idea of tying up some of Buggy’s body parts.
Also, when they left Orange Town, not only did they free the people, but Luffy also gave them Buggy’s treasure so they can rebuild the place.
5. Usopp’s Pirates
Probably due to a budget issue, several secondary characters were cut from the live-action. Some of them were the so-called Usopp Pirates, a band of village children (Tamanegi, Ninjin and Piiman) led by Yasopp’s son.
4. Interaction between Arlong and Buggy
The creators of live-action prefer to introduce the characters much earlier than what was originally done and another example of this is Arlong and his crew. In the anime, the fish man did not appear until his respective arc, but in the live-action, we see that they interact with Buggy and even appear in Baratie.
3. Buggy kidnapping in Arlong Park
Buggy also has more presence in the live-action series, as he continues to appear in the Arlong Park arc, since the fishmen had kidnapped him to find Straw Hat Luffy. In the anime, he does not have any interaction with Arlong or his crew.
2. The Battle of Arlong Park
The battle in Arlong Park also had to be summarized since the anime usually lengthens the fights quite a bit. In the live-action, we missed some scenes of the Fishmen’s underwater combat.
Furthermore, we did not get to see the people being part of the struggle to free themselves from their oppressors, as happened in the source material.
1. The story of the Fishmen
Again, the live-action filmmakers are trying to build the story better, since they already have more than a thousand episodes of anime developed, to give them a better perspective.
In the source material, the story of Arlong and the fishmen’s problem is explained much later. However, in the Netflix series “One Piece”, small clues were given as to why the Arlong pirates hated humans so much and why they subjugated them.