The streaming wars are upon us, with Netflix vs Disney+ vs Amazon Prime vs HBO Max vs CBS All Access and so on. How will Netflix make sure its dominance is unquestioned? Apparently, it’s all about anime.
Or at least that’s what it seems like. We already know that Netflix is working on a live-action version of the beloved 1998 anime series Cowboy Bebop, although filming has been put on hold so star John Cho, who’s playing the lead role of Spike Spiegel, can recover from an injury he sustained on set.
Now, Deadline reports that Netflix has greenlit a live-action show based on One Piece, a phenomenally successful manga and anime series about Monkey D. Luffy, a pirate who travels the world with his crew looking for a legendary treasure known as “One Piece.” Also his body has the properties of rubber because he ate something called Devil Fruit. It could happen to anybody.
The manga has been running uninterrupted since 1997, and the anime since 1999. It’s hard to overstate how popular One Piece is around the world. Cowbow Bebop is popular, too, but it’s very self-contained; I can see how Netflix can make a one-and-done adaptation of Bepop. But adapting One Piece could take years and years and years. This is a pretty big undertaking. For now, Netflix is starting small with a 10-episode order.
The One Piece series comes from Shueisha and Tomorrow Studios, the latter of which is also behind the live-action Bebop show. Steven Maeda (Lost, The X-Files) will serve as showrunner.
Are there gonna be more live-action anime announcements to come? Netflix also made the middling live-action Death Note movie, don’t forget. Live-action Neon Genesis Evangelion? Live-action One-Punch Man? Or maybe they’ll just go all in and adapt all 30,000 thousand episodes of Dragon Ball Z.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels