One Piece

[LumRanmaYasha]

-Crocodile's past: Oda teased that there's more to his backstory than we know in both the Alabasta arc and the Marineford arc, so I would be surprised if we didn't get any insight into it when he inevitably makes his next appearance in the series. I've actually read some pretty interesting theories about how he may have had some connections to Germa 66, but the evidence isn't quite strong enough to support it well enough for me to completely buy into it, yet.

I'm half-expecting him to crash the Reverie. I'm not sure why he would, but I want to see that happen not only because it would be interesting to see him interact with Vivi again, but also because I'm sure that the Revolutionaries are definitely going to interfere with the Reverie, and Ivankov may be among them. Ivankov knows something about Crocodile's past that he doesn't want people to find out, so I feel we'll learn a lot more about that when they cross paths again.

-Why was Doflamingo ordered to take out Gecko Moriah after the war, and where has he been hiding since the time-skip? I'm a tad peeved that Doflamingo didn't shed much light on this during the Dressrossa arc, other than dropping a hint or two for theorists to go nuts over. This is another former villain who has been hinted at having a more interesting past than we may realize, and it'd make the most sense for him to pop back up during the Wano arc as a possibly ally to the Straw Hats since his character may develop in order to rekindle his hatred towards Kaido. And as we've seen with Bellamy in the Dressrossa arc, Oda does in fact redeem some of his former villains, and I suspect that Moriah will follow suit.

Yeah, I'd bet Moria will play a role in Wano and the battle with Kaido considering his grudge against him. Definitely another character I suspect we'll learn a lot more about when he shows up again, though whether or not he actually becomes an ally to the Straw Hats will be interesting to see.

-Eneru's return: I want to know the significance of what he found on "Fairy Vearth" (which, yes, is basically the moon and thus takes the world of One Piece to fucking outer-space). Oda made one of his longest cover story arcs to date about Eneru's discovery, and as we all know, that shit always comes back. Who knows, maybe the Straw Hats will even make it up there themselves!

They are definitely going to have to visit the moon at some point. Eneru's cover-story implied that humans, shandorians, and skypeians were all descendants of tribes that once lived on the moon and originally created the poneglyphs and the ancient technology. To get all the answers she's searching for to learn about the Void Century and history of the world, Robin has to go to the moon, and since we know there are "space pirates" from Eneru's cover story, I wouldn't be surprised if we get a full-fledged space adventure arc at some point.

-Will the Straw Hats ever manage to pull off a complete Dock Formation 15, or will Nico Robin forever snub the idea? Just for shits and giggles.

I will seriously be disappointed if this doesn't happen before the end of the series. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

As promised, here are my thoughts one One Piece as I go through my re-read. I'll update you guys each time I finish a saga, though in this case I'm already well past the East Blue saga, but just didn't have time to post about it until now.

PART I: THE EAST BLUE SAGA

[Chapters 1-101]

Romance Dawn: So, this is the first chapter, where this now nearly 20-year long running series started. Yes, you could argue that its roots truly lie in Oda's previous two one-shots,  but the series as we now know it officially began here. This is arguably one of the most iconic and recognizable introduction chapters to any Shonen Jump manga, and whether that's due more to the chapter itself or the status of the series' popularity over time, I'm not completely sure, but for what it is it's a solid starting chapter, even if it's rather basic in structure. I think it does a good job of endearing you to follow Luffy as a main character, and it sets up his goal for the series while also introducing Shanks as not only his role-model but someone who we as readers will want to see Luffy meet again later on in the series after he keeps his promise of becoming a great pirate. What stands out to me most about this chapter is how even this early on, Oda already had such a good understanding of how to make his art-work flow while also knowing just how to evoke emotions out of not only his characters, but his readers as well, and to do that in just the first chapter is absurdly impressive. On its own it's nothing that stand-out, but given the legacy which the series now holds, it holds a lot more weight to it in retrospect. It's also very telling of the overall tone and feel of the series that all the stuff that we learn about Gold Roger and Luffy's ultimate goal of becoming the next Pirate King really take a backseat to the story happening in the chapter itself, yet it all ties back into the same themes by the end of it. This is pretty much One Piece in a nutshell. I also give Oda props for making the unique decision of starting out years before the main story actually begins, making this first chapter technically a prologue.

Coby and Lady Alvida: I don't really have much to say about this. It's a decent second chapter, and Coby is an interesting early companion to Luffy. And....yeah, it's pretty basic stuff, so, moving on....

Zoro Arc: There's no official name for this arc since this is often thought of as part of the Romance Dawn arc, but personally I feel that it's clearly distinguishable as its own arc, so thus I refer to it as the Zoro arc. Zoro is a fan-favorite in One Piece, and probably my favorite overall Straw Hat, and this introductory arc to its credit does a good job of setting up his character to be endearing to readers in the simplest way possible, much like Oda did for Luffy. He's initially set up to look like a complete fiend, but then we quickly learn of his conviction and good-hearted nature despite all of the dark stories about him as he sacrifices himself to serve out a sentence for protecting a little girl who was being abused by the spoiled brat son of a Marine commander. In addition to being our first introduction to the Marines as a force of authority in One Piece, it also quickly establishes the concept that while a majority of the lower-level soldiers are pretty just people dedicated to their perceived cause, that doesn't mean anyone who's a Marine is automatically a good guy, and as we see with Captain Morgan and his son Helmeppo, corruption among authority figures and later on "nobles" is a common theme in the world of One Piece. The rest of the arc is pretty standard shonen stuff, but one thing I wanted to point out here is that I like Luffy's cleverness at the end of this arc, in which he beats on Coby as an act to make it seem like they were never friends. This allows Coby to join the Marines without his history as a chore boy on a pirate ship being investigated due to suspicion. I kind of miss this aspect of Luffy in the later arcs of One Piece, and especially the current series. Sometimes I feel that author's will write their characters one way and then completely drop interesting aspects of their character in order to emphasize what's most popular and recognized about that character by most readers. Similar to what Toriyama did with Goku and his love for fighting, I feel that Oda may have taken Luffy's "idiot" side to a pretty heavy extreme as the series progressed, as in these early stories he did at least show some level of cognitive thinking and reasoning skills, while still being lovably naive. It's just something that I noticed while reading this part.

Orange Town Arc: This is of course the introduction of both Nami and Buggy as characters, with one becoming one of our main Straw Hat Pirates (though not in this arc, of course) and the other being a recurring character who starts out as a villain here. And on that end, Buggy is a really fun character, and learning of his connection to Shanks is pretty surprised considering how early on this is in the series and I'm used to big characters like that not really coming up in any notable way until much later on, sort of like how Hunter X Hunter waited several arcs before we saw Kaito again or even hearing anything significant about Ging. I do really admire the pretty good use of Toriyama-esque slapstick humor here, much of which can be seen embodied in the spirit of the fight between Luffy and Buggy, being more comedic than serious (aside from when Buggy damages Luffy's Straw Hat). My favorite little bit is when Buggy uses his Devil Fruit ability to send the top half of his body after Nami, only for Luffy to casually kick him in the nuts causing him to feel pain in both parts of him. It's a good simple gag but also a clever tactic to fight against his unique ability. I really forgot about how much I enjoyed Buggy as a character in the beginning, so it's good to know that he becomes pretty important to a later arc in the story, and will continue to be important in the future of the manga several years down the line.

Gaimon: This is a thing.

Syrup Village Arc: And then we get to Ussop's introduction arc. Once again, it was strange to me to have another character connect back to Shanks so early in the series, or at least one of his crew members, since Ussop is Yassop's son. However, that of course is more of an afterthought here, and Ussop quickly establishes himself as both a comedic and likable character right from the very beginning. The stuff with Kuro and Kaya are alright, though ultimately both are rather forgettable characters if I'm to be honest. What really works for me here is how we learn of Ussop's history as the town liar, but as the arc progresses, those lies start to take on a new meaning. Ussop is the youngest of the Straw Hat Pirates at this point in the series and thus arguably the most child-like....well, at least comparable to Luffy in that regard. However those lies come from a strong desire to actually live out real adventures. In addition to that, he uses them to cheer up Kaya who he clearly likes a lot and really wants to lift her spirits. What works so well about his character so early on is that despite his spinning tall tales about doing brave things and actually being cowardly towards danger in reality, Ussop does still have a legitimate sense of pride that will make him pursue that very danger when it comes down to it, and in effect that's what actually makes him a brave character in his own right. It's that very nature that endears Luffy and the others to help him fight off Kuro and his pirates, and seeing some of his tall tales actually be realized in both subtle and grandiose ways as the series progresses is what makes his character arc so endearing....at least until the time-skip, anyways, but we'll get to that when we get to that. This is also the introduction of the Going Merry, or the Merry Go in the Viz translations, which is pretty much the Starship Enterpriese 1.0 of One Piece (meaning that it's clearly going to become something sentimental to the series and its core characters that must be sacrificed later on).

Baratie Arc: And this is where we meet Sanji. I was particularly careful when re-reading this arc, since given the current revelations about Sanji's character in the Whole Cake Island arc of One Piece, I wanted to see if Oda had planted any of his classic seeds this early into the series. In doing so, I discovered that while he clearly doesn't have every little thing planned out, he is pretty smart about leaving certain things open for possible future story-lines. In Sanji's flashback, we learn absolutely nothing about his royal lineage, but Oda also clearly doesn't go out of his way to spell out anything about Sanji's family. He starts off his backstory with him simply on a boat serving under some amateur chefs on a ship, and as readers we don't question where his parents are or what he's doing by himself in this setting given the odd nature of the unique world of One Piece as well as common shonen logic. However, by leaving these things open and unanswered, Oda can retcon in more details about Sanji's past as he sees fit without any of it feeling like an ass-pull. So in that way, Oda's writing can be clever in how he knows when to leave out certain details for possible future plans that he may come up with. That said, the flashback that we do get here between Sanji and Zeff is quite good, and honestly the most endearing thing in the arc besides the fight between Zoro and Mihawk. That fight itself is a very good indicator of how powerful enemies beyond the Grand Line will be, and it's a good indicator of how far the Straw Hat Pirates will have to go in order to achieve their goals. As for  the rest of the arc, it's pretty standard stuff, and Don Krieg is just a rather boring and forgettable one-note villain, to be honest. Gin is a bit more interesting, albeit still nothing all that special. He does drop a line about how he hoped to meet the Straw Hats again on the grand line, but flash forward nearly two decades and we're in the New World and we never saw him again. Guess even Oda drops some plans from time to time, as he probably didn't care too much for these characters either and decided not to bring them back, but this arc does at least indicate that at one point he planned to have these villains become recurring characters.

Arlong Park Arc: So, while they were introduced in the last arc, I really just wanted to say that I forgot how entertaining Johnny and Yosaku were as supporting characters. Every major One Piece saga seems to have some supporting character or characters that tag along with the Straw Hats as allies and can almost be considered to be temporary or honorary crew members. Johnny and Yosaku were the first of this kind and I really enjoyed them. They were both former allies to Zoro, which ties them in with one of the Straw Hat Pirates, and despite clearly being comic relief characters, they have a strange sense of pride and heart to them that makes them kind of lovably endearing in their own odd sort of way. I particularly like how much they came to legitimately care about Luffy and his crew despite their short time together, and one stand out moment for me is how they hold the gate to Arlong Park and stop the locals from entering in order to stop them from getting themselves killed. And in doing so, they simply say that they are waiting for the Straw Hat Pirates to arrive, and you can see that they have complete faith in them to get the job done. That's some really compelling stuff for some minor throwaway characters. Don't get me wrong, Oda writing them out after this arc was smart as they could have easily become one-note and boring, but they tagged along for the perfect amount of time and were really fun characters, and I wouldn't mind seeing them make a brief appearance at any point in some futures story arc similar to how Coby popped up again at the end of the Enies Lobby arc. Putting that aside, I always remembered this arc as the clear best of the East Blue saga, and my memory serves me correctly. Nami's history with her adopted mother and sister is probably the most genuinely tragic backstories of any of the Straw Hat Pirates from the East Blue saga, and it does a lot to get you pumped to see Luffy take down Arlong and his crew. And that's what's so special about this arc. It's the first one which truly feels like a big deal with real stakes. Not only does Luffy defeating Arlong feel gratifying in a way that simply wasn't there for past fights since the villains never felt like a big enough deal before this point, but it also proves to actually be a big deal with the world of One Piece itself as it earns Luffy his first bounty, and officially gets him recognized as a threat by the World Government. As we've established earlier, the WG and Marines in this series can be corrupt in how they use their influence, and learning of how Arlong paid off one such member to keep the authorities off of his back really drives that point home given just how awful of a person he is. Another thing that I noticed as I re-read this arc is how much stuff is set up here that is paid off much later in the story. Clearly, Oda had a much stronger vision of where his series would eventually go from this point onward, but it's still really gratifying to go back to this arc and already see characters like Jimbei being set up (someone who has become a MAJOR character in One Piece and is once again an important player in the current arc that we are now experiencing), as well as to have certain imagery from this arc hold a symbolic significance that we don't quite realize until it's revealed much later on in the story, such as the structure of Arlong Park itself being reminiscent of a certain other iconic building from the world of One Piece. So, yeah, this is clearly the standout arc from this entire saga.

Roguetown Arc: And finally we end with this saga here. I know that it's called "Loguetown in several other translations," but I'm going with Viz's official translation in this case since "rogue" town actually makes a lot more sense to me, and I think it's probably what Oda was going for with the naming here that may have gotten lost in translation. So, on its own, Roguetown is nothing more than a mandatory transitional arc, and in that regard nothing spectacular. But, here me out here: re-reading this arc was a really fascinating experience for me since it has such a strange quality to it that really makes it feel truly important in the grand scheme of things. This arc doesn't just set up stuff for going into the Grand Line. This arc sets up and foreshadows TONS of SIGNIFICANT characters, plont points, and reveals in One Piece. It's also the first arc to pay off a cover story arc, this one being the one of Buggy meeting Lady Alvida and reassembling his crew to go after Luffy and get his revenge. The cover story arcs are another really unique and big aspect of this series that I want to touch on at some point, but needless to say, they are definitely something that Oda wants readers to be paying attention to as they hold a lot of clues as to what may come in the future. Of note in this arc are the introduction of new characters Captain Smoker and Tashigi. Smoker is probably my favorite Marine character in One Piece, with the exception of maybe Admiral Aokiji who depending on how I feel could be at a time with Smoker for that position. Tashigi is also an interesting character in how she resembles Kuina and how Zoro seems to always act strange when she's around. I particularly like the scene in which she picks out a sword for him to try and it turns out to be the cursed Kitetsu III, which Zoro then tests his luck with, impressing the store owner and giving him both that and his most prized sword completely free of charge. It's one of my favorite moments for Zoro as a character. We also have the reveal of Dragon here, which is something that always stands out to me. I remember the first time I was going through the series and encountering this mysterious character. While I did wonder who he was and why he was helping Luffy, I also didn't think much of it since such things are common in shonen. And when we didn't learn anything about this character in the next few arcs, I naturally just forgot about him since I'm used to seeing long-running shonen manga have characters pop up only to be dropped almost immediately when the mangaka decide not to pursue certain plot points that they had planned for them before. In this case, though, Oda never has something so mysterious happen only to just drop it. Dragon is a massively important character in this story. It's just that you have to trust Oda as a writer and be patient enough to let him naturally deliver on stuff like this in future story-lines. And this is easily what stands out the most to me about the Roguetown arc. Incidentally, Dragon's appearance also happens to fall exactly on the 100th chapter of One Piece, which just feels so fitting for some reason, since this was a milestone point in time for the Straw Hat Pirates within the context of the story but also a milestone for Oda as a mangaka since he managed to achieve having a series last this long within the most notoriously competitive shonen magazine anthology in Japan's history. At any rate, ultimately this arc to me is worth a lot more than the sum of its parts, and on this re-read I found a lot more to enjoy here than I realized, which is pretty impressive given both its context in the series and how short it is.

Overall Summation of Thoughts: I really like the East Blue saga. It still holds up, and mostly fits in line with how I remember it from my first time though the series. If anything, I actually have a lot more appreciation for certain aspects of this arc in hindsight since I know how much is set up here and how much of it pays off much later on in the series. It also has a very unique feeling within the context of One Piece as a whole that is never quite emulated in any future arc, so it still holds its own even compared to a lot of the later (and to be fair, arguably better) material from this manga.

Arc Rankings:

7. Baratie
6. Misc. (Romance Dawn, Coby/Lady Alvida, Gaimon)
5. Zoro
4. Syrup Village
3. Orange Town
2. Roguetown
1. Arlong Park

Favorite Supporting Character:


Johnny and Yosaku (Tie)

Favorite Villain:


Buggy

Most Iconic Moment:



I don't think that there's any argument to be had here. Not only is that the most iconic moment of this arc, but arguably the most recognizable in all of One Piece. And before anyone says it, I don't consider any of the Gold Roger backstory from the beginning to really qualify as a "moment." We do eventually get a flashback with him, but it's not in this arc, so to me that's just introduction material, even though it is certainly iconic "imagery."

Well, it was certainly a lot of fun re-reading this far. I can't wait to make my way through the Baroque Works saga and share my thoughts with you guys on that.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm currently on the Drum Island arc, and damn did I forget a lot about this arc. For one thing, this was actually the first mention in the series of Blackbeard (I always remembered him first being mentioned by Ace, but this was actually his first inception into the series). What's so brilliant about it is how it's casually mentioned by Dalton in passing that Blackbeard and his crew passed through Drum Island just a few months earlier. However, right from the start Oda is drawing parallels between both Luffy and Blackbeard along with their crews. For one thing, both of them had five members (including themselves) by this point in their respective journies. Additionally, Blackbeard and his pirates actually already defeated the main villain of this arc, Wapol, which is what the Straw Hats have to do again on Drum Island, so it's a big hint that both crews are following similar paths and are after similar goals.

Later on, Ace mentions that Blackbeard was a former subordinate of his who betrayed him and that he's hunting him down for revenge, and as readers we can now connect the dots and realize that there's something to this Blackbeard guy that we've heard twice about but have yet to see.

Then when we finally meet Blackbeard, he's not at all what we expected. While yes, he is a clear villain, he doesn't act like a clear villain in the way that we are accustomed to. He is quite frankly....a lot like Luffy, not just in certain mannerisms of his character but also in terms of ideology and his overall goal, with the major difference being his lack of restraints or morals in achieving his goals. It's also very fascinating that even as someone out for Luffy's head, he has a clear respect for Luffy's determination as a captain, being the only person on Jaya to not laugh at his ambitions and to even support him to follow his path.

Blackbeard truly is one of the most unique and fascinating villains not only in all of One Piece, but from any Shonen Jump series that I have ever read or watched, and it's neat to see just how well Oda has ingrained him into the overall story and lore of One Piece since early on, especially considering that he's clearly going to stand as one of the final major villains of the entire series.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Blackbeard really has some great build up before his official introduction and has really cool characterization throughout the series. He's at once likable and despicable in a way that you can't say for most other villains in OP, or even most other SJ series. Of all the big things to come in the future of the series, Blackbeard's return and a direct conflict between the Straw Hat and Blackbeard crews is something I'm looking forward to seeing the most.

I missed your sum-up of the East Blue saga earlier, but great write-up! I pretty much agree with your observations on the series and the arcs. Both the Zoro and Orange Town stuff is pretty underrated and has a lot of heart to them, with Zoro having a great and compelling introduction and Luffy distancing Coby from himself so he could join the marines being really clever of him and a really memorable moment in the series,  and the stuff with Shushu the dog in the latter arc really tugging at the heartstrings, and Buggy is of course a great first comedic villain for the series in the same vein as Emperor Pilaf. I've always loved him and glad he's remained relevant to the story. actually like Syrup Village a lot and it's my second favorite East Blue arc after Arlong, since I really do love Ussop as a character and find his relationships with Kaya and the kids endearing, and Kuro as a interesting villain in terms of how he contrasts Luffy as this calculating, brutal killer of a pirate who's philosophy on pirating is probably the most similar to real-life piracy than most other pirate crews and villains in the series, and all his gimmicks like why he adjusts his glasses the way he does, sword claws, and cat walk fun and memorable. I wouldn't say Baratie is the weakest of the arcs either, though I do agree that it peaks during the Zoro v. Mihawk fight and the second half isn't as engaging outside of Sanji's flashback, mostly because of how bland Krieg is as a villain.

For me, the most iconic moment of East Blue, and the series as a whole really, is Nami breaking down and stabbing her tattoo while screaming "ARLONG!!", Luffy stopping her, Nami trying to get him to leave before finally swallowing her pride and asking for help, and then the reveal of the entire crew waiting and ready to go, and then the ensuing "march on Arlong Park" which ends with Luffy busting down the doors of Arlong park and asking "Which one's Arlong?" I think the fact that I can describe that sequence of events in so much detail and the fact I can still picture each image of it in my mind so vividly speaks to just how much I love that scene. To me, that's just the perfect blend of emotional catharsis and badass hype, characterization and heart, that captures One Piece at it's best. So it easily ranks as my favorite moment in the series, and one of my all-time favorite moments from any manga for that matter.

Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on the Baroque Works saga after you're done reading it!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Thanks!

To be fair, One Piece has a lot of iconic moments, so it's almost impossible to be right or wrong about what the most iconic moment is. For what it's worth, if we're talking about my personal favorite moment from the saga (which is a category that I should really add for my future write-ups), then I totally agree with you about that scene being the best.

As for Blackbeard, he's definitely among my top three favorite villains from One Piece, and depending on how interesting and menacing his future appearances are, he could very well become my overall favorite in the series, and one of my favorite WSJ villains in general.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

In regard to the most recent One Piece chapter, there's one bit that may or may not be a minor plot-hole, but it still kind of bugs me in a weird way. Big Mom says that she wishes that she knew where Lola was so that she could have her assassinated, except....didn't Lola carry around a Vivre Card linked to Big Mom until the end of Thriller Bark? What stopped Big Mom's pirates from tracking her down and eliminating her at any point before she gave it to Nami? As far as I can remember, Vivre Cards work both ways, so she should have been pretty easy to find.

The rest of the chapter was great, though. Really loved Luffy's conversation with Big Mom. Luffy basically telling her that she can make all of the excuses that she wants yet it still doesn't change the fact that her not becoming Pirate King is purely her own failure is a legitimately great comeback to her rant about how things didn't work out according to her plan.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Thriller Bark was obscured in the Florian Triangle and only showed itself to ships it wanted to capture, so it's no surprise that any agent of Big Mom's would have trouble finding her while she was there. I presume Big Mom just gave up and forgot about killing Lola after a while and didn't notice the Vivre Card start to move again when Nami got possession of it.

Big Mom's complex with giants and the lack of them in Totland is rather curious and I'm wondering about the reasons for it. I'm also curious as to who she was possibly planning to marry Lola off to if she is that bitter about it. I really did like Luffy's retort towards her too. That clearly struck a nerve.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Lately I've also been wanting to re-watch all of the One Piece movies up to Film Gold and rank them from favorite to least favorite. I'll probably get around to that during my time off work for Christmas.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I haven't seen all of the movies, so it might be time for me to go through them all for once before Film Gold comes out. I'm seeing Film Gold on the 10th, so I might try to watch one of the movies a day before then leading up to that.

[Markness]

Saw Film Gold a couple of hours ago and really enjoyed it. It's set such a high bar for the cinema this year that I don't think anything else will top it. 

I am not a super fan of One Piece but I enjoy reading it every now and then. I am honestly not sure why I don't consider it to be one of my top favorites, just a series I casually follow, but the movie makes me glad I follow it at all and I will be an eternal fan now.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The One Piece films (barring the story arc recap ones) are probably among the better movies to come out based on Shonen Jump properties. While I wouldn't call any of them great movies, most are really entertaining for what they are, or in the case of that one movie in the franchise directed by Mamoru Hosoda, really fucked up to the point of being worth watching just to see how uncomfortably dark it gets.

[Markness]

I started buying the 3-in-1's Viz volumes lately. It seems to be the way to go if you want some bang for your buck instead of breaking the bank, especially if you joined the party late with One Piece. I can always get an art book later on if I want to look at the full covers.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I did the same. It's by far the cheapest official way to collect One Piece in English. I own the first 24 volumes this way. I would have bought more, but my local BAM is missing most other volumes, and it hasn't restocked the shelves in months. And I don't want to order anything online right now since I don't currently have a private mailbox which I can use.

[LumRanmaYasha]

One Piece is getting a live-action Hollywood tv-show.

As much as I've hated most of Hollywood's attempts to adapt anime into live-action films, I can only be cautiously optimistic for this. One Piece is too important of a property for Shueshia to let be messed up, especially after they saw what happened with Dragon Ball Evolution. And Oda himself is excited about this. If they have enough creative control and say in how the show turns out it just might work. The fact that they are doing it as a tv show and not a movie is also going to really benefit the pacing and flexibility they'll have to tell the story. There isn't really a live-action equivalent to the kind of adventure story OP is on US television right now, so if it's done right I think it could be a real breath of fresh air and be pretty successful. In the same way exponentially more people got into the A Song of Ice and Fire books thanks to Game of Thrones, a great live-action One Piece tv-show could really boost the popularity of the manga and anime over here, so I'm crossing my fingers it'll work out.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So on the one hand, One Piece works so well as a manga because Oda takes full advantage of the medium and tells a story in a way that I'm convinced can only be done as a manga. For it to be adapted into live-action, it would have to be a very loose adaptation that mainly retains the same general themes and basic premise of the manga.