It's very rare that you find a show that transports you back to those days of duvets spilling from the couch to the floor and soggy cereal sloshing in the bowl, your eyes too transfixed on the television screen to take another bite.
But that's what Netflix's live-action anime One Piece does. It's giving Saturday morning TV vibes at their finest.
The show's unbridled adventurous tone injects you with kid-like excitement that works on multiple levels, making it appealing to all. That same spiritedness also has the ability to turn even the most jaded amongst us into a hopeful dreamer. (Monkey D Luffy would be so proud.)
Is this a little gushy? Perhaps, but it's well-earned.
One Piece has sailed into live-action territory, and not only has it managed to survive the voyage (unlike predecessors currently littering the East Blue — RIP Cowboy Bebop and Death Note), but it has also triumphed by capturing the essence of the anime.
For fans of the genre and One Piece itself, part of the anime's charm is the absolute grandeur of the more fantastical, slapstick elements.
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It's the way Luffy's arm stretches like a piece of unbreakable Hubba Bubba, bendy with a snap-back solid enough to knock you off your feet. It's seeing Buggy's limbs in full chop-chop mode, landing punches and dodging blows by separating.
Despite all the technology at the creative team's fingertips, it feels unimaginable that a show would be able to achieve those more surreal elements in a way that comes across as authentic instead of corny, as though they're an extension of the characters themselves and not some cool piece of VFX. And yet, they do — and that's largely down to the actors themselves.
Iñaki Godoy and Jeff Ward commit to their respective roles of Luffy and Buggy so fully that you buy exactly what they're selling, Gum Gum Pistol and all.
There's also a wonderful fluidity to the fight scenes that helps sell the bendiness of Luffy's body movements and draw you in thanks to Rononoa Zoro's quick-footed agility and Nami's confidence.
However, what really solidifies the more elaborate elements of the show is the heart of the story, which is achieved through the relationships of the characters we come to care about.
One Piece builds on the emotional beats of the anime and the manga by opening the characters up. It delves deeper into the more vulnerable aspects of their on-page narrative and the bond of the Straw Hat crew in a way that serves the live-action format for a richer connection.
If the creative team behind the live-action anime ripped chunks of hair out while condensing the mammoth story of One Piece into a punchy first series, then we'd be none the wiser.
Creators Steven Maeda and Matt Owens and their crew have skirted the dangers of unnecessarily padding out season one by paring the story back in a way that honours the original without losing sight of the fact that they needed to tweak for live-action.
The eight-episode first season is a beautiful mix of comedy, adventure, action and horror — but ultimately, it's joy. Joy is at the centre of it all. A joy that emanates but also reimagines at the same time for a fresh way into a story that's so adored.
All episodes of One Piece season one are available to watch now on Netflix.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
