One Piece Showrunner Shares One Minor Change That Caused A ‘Very Passionate Debate’
You’d be surprised to know what exactly was the point of discussion.
From the very first news that One Piece was getting a live-action adaptation, fans were skeptical about the ability of TV shows to capture all the details and spirit of the manga without losing any of the meaningful details.
Now that the One Piece live-action series is topping Netflix 's ratings, it's safe to say that showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda's idea paid off.
So did the risks the team had to take.
From the emphasis on Arlong as the biggest threat in the first season to the big reveal of Vice Admiral Garp's identity in the middle of the season, there were enough big changes that could be considered controversial among fans.
Some changes even caused debate among the production staff itself. However, these had much more to do with the appearance of the characters than with the progression of the story. As it turned out, the team was most concerned about Straw Hat members Usopp's nose and Sanji's eyebrow.
Steven Maeda recalled the most difficult decisions they had to make in an interview with Variety:
“I felt that the nose was going to be unintentionally comical in a way that would distract from the character. Likewise with Sanji’s eyebrow — his curly eyebrow — and we had some very, very passionate debate on that. But ultimately, we decided to not use the curlicue eyebrow as a way just to ground the show and make it feel more real”.
Though the decision caused some heated arguments, in hindsight it was the right one to make. Such makeup would require the use of prosthetics or additional graphics to a series already packed with effects. Sometimes, going plain is better than overkilling it, and One Piece live-action proves that to be the case.
If you want to check One Piece out yourself, now is a perfect time to do so, as the show has already premiered on Netflix on August 31. Netflix is still yet to confirm whether the series will come back with season 2, so make sure to stay tuned to all news and behind-the-scenes updates.