Posted in: Netflix, streaming, TV | Tagged: anime, Eiichiro Oda, interview, manga, netflix, one piece, Steve Maeda

One Piece: Steve Maeda on Bringing Classic Manga to Life (INTERVIEW)

One Piece series co-creator Steve Maeda spoke with us about bringing Eiichiro Oda's manga to live-action life on Netflix, fandom, and more.

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece has become one of the biggest sensations in Japan, which translated to success internationally across the United States with the manga continuing to be active since its creation in 1997 and the anime series that continues to air since its premiere in 1999 surpassing 1,000 episodes, something its American contemporaries in The Simpsons and South Park haven't achieved. If you combine the number of episodes of both shows (1081), they barely eclipse the number of One Piece (1073), which doesn't even factor in the features from all the franchises. This doesn't factor in the eight episodes of the upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation from Steve Maeda and Matt Owens, which follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as they explore the dangerous oceans, lands, and beyond in search of the "One Piece," upon its possession, will make Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) the wielder the "King of the Pirates." Maeda spoke to Bleeding Cool about his initial skepticism, working with Oda, remaining faithful to the manga, casting, thoughts on previous live-action anime adaptations, Easter eggs, and long-term plans. The following contains spoilers.

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'One Piece?'

Maeda: I was not a huge fan going into this. I was aware of 'One Piece,' but I didn't know much about it. When I heard about the show, I did a deep dive, and I was taken. It blew my doors off as far as the uniqueness and inventiveness of the world. In addition to the action, fun, and particularly the emotion…I was sold. That's what got me in initially, and I stayed with it through those four years and a couple of months.

Given the vastness of the manga and anime series, was there an ideal place that you could have started?

The start was to read the first hundred chapters because I knew that "East Blue" [Saga] was the first hundred. It was a matter of reading them and then reading them again, incorporating them, and taking them inside. That was the beginning, and then once I did that, I was like, "This story's great! I want to keep reading and catch up," which I finally did. I'm at chapter 1089 or something like that. It's amazing, and it keeps going. It's a wonderful world. Oda-san is a genius. It's been a lot of fun to play in it.

Did you work with Oda-san on the adaptation?

No, it was never just to interpret the adaptation. It was something, knowing the fan base is hardcore and invested in the show. It was a matter of wanting Oda-san's approval of the things we were doing that were like the manga. The things we were doing that were different. There was a lot of collaboration, a lot of back and forth, and a lot of presenting ideas we thought we needed to do in order to come up with an eight-episode season of a television show, which is dramatically different than 100 chapters of a manga. Structurally, it's very different, and there were changes made and things that were that were pushed, pulled forward, and pushed back a little bit in order to help the TV season of it all.

Did you find anything that was lost in translation? There's some Japanese culture that doesn't translate as well for Americans.

We tried to stay as close to the source as we could. There were some cultural issues as far as certain characters having arcs that may not have been exactly like the manga in order to give a character a little more depth for the live-action or to give them a little bit of questioning and a little bit of trying to work through problems. There were some passionate discussions about what the result should be. At the end of the day, I'm happy with how close we managed to stay to the manga, in addition to the new stuff that we were able to incorporate.

What was the most difficult aspect of the transition and putting it in live-action form?

I would say finding that balance and the balance is how do you get the fan base to rally around this adaptation when they're so scared and so nervous about it getting messed up? How to get the fan base excited, while at the same time, how do you attract new fans who have never heard of 'One Piece' before and are going to be like, "What is this crazy show with the pink pirate ship and the stretchy guy? Why should I watch that?" I say striking that balance from start to finish over the four years was the most difficult part for sure.

Can you tell me about the casting process, was it something that you and Matt [Owens] discussed on coming together?

A ton of discussions with the studios, network, writers, and producers about the casting process. It was long and drawn out, and we cast the net wide globally. Oda-san had been particular in spelling out the nationalities of the characters if they lived in our world. We tried to use that as the key to what the nationality of the characters should be, what they should look like, and where they should be from in the world. It's no accident that Luffy is from Mexico, though Brazil was the preference. Iñaki [Godoy] was so wonderful. [Roronoa] Zoro (Mackenyu Arata) is Japanese because it's important the actors and characters are where they're from. That was part of it, and then it was also found in the chemistry. With Luffy, we wanted to have that character who was the glue that could hold everyone together. Everyone else was trying to figure out who embodied the characters the best.

There are other live-action anime adaptations out there. Did it run in the back of your mind the execution of other projects like 'Speed Racer,' 'Alita: Battle Angel,' or 'Cowboy Bebop' something you took a glimpse at before taking on 'One Piece?'

It had a bearing, and we were all aware of the other adaptations and had seen most of them. There was a lot of discussion about why things work and why they didn't with those other shows. We decided, "You know what, we're going to do our thing, and we're going to be as faithful as we can, but also be open to the possibility of changes. We also try to pitch those and get those through the gantlet of studio and network and to sign to be able to do both things. At the same time, stick to the manga as much as possible while making the changes that we needed to within a wonderful eight episodes of TV.

With so much existing content out there, what can you tease as far as Easter Eggs, like some of the original Japanese talent making cameos or other surprises for the upcoming series?

There are a ton of Easter eggs, primarily from the manga, whether it's bounty posters or people who are in the crowd at Gol D. Roger's execution to the signage that our art department came up with for crates, barrels, and things like that. They're tied into some aspect of 'One Piece,' whether it's something that's kind of going to happen in the future or it's something that's from one of the back stories in the past. There's a ton of that stuff we hope the fans enjoy. As far as other Easter eggs, it is a matter of, "Hey, wouldn't it be great if so and so is in the scene in the background? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we paid homage to this character by wearing a T-shirt with this on it" and tying back to or forward to events that haven't happened yet. Tying back to events that happened in the past.

It might be a bit premature, but are there long-term plans for 'One Piece' should the first season be a success on Netflix, maybe like a three or five-season plan?

It's tricky for sure because there is so much source material, and I can't talk about it. It's under the veil of secrecy, the "code of silence," as far as that's concerned, because we don't have a second season. We don't know, but if that happens, then there'll be lots of discussions.

One Piece, which also stars Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson, and Taz Skylar, premieres August 31st on Netflix.

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