{"id":1874318,"date":"2026-04-09T15:56:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1874318"},"modified":"2026-04-09T15:56:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:56:45","slug":"one-piece-live-action-creative-team-on-the-future-of-the-show-working-with-oda-and-whether-well-see-a-fan-favorite-character-in-season-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1874318","title":{"rendered":"One Piece Live-Action Creative Team on the Future of the Show, Working With Oda, and Whether We’ll See a Fan-Favorite Character in Season 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Once thought impossible, Netflix and Tomorrow Studios actually pulled off a live-action adaptation of One Piece<\/a>. Not only were fans pleasantly surprised by the first season, the follow-up was received even better and the crew is currently shooting the third season. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Following the second season premiere, we chatted to executive producer and Tomorrow Studios president Becky Clements, co-showrunner Joe Tracz, and writer Ian Stokes, who\u2019s been promoted to co-showrunner for Season 3. We learned what it was like to work with Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, why they included some surprise characters in the show, and how long they see the show going. But first, I was curious to see how they consumed One Piece: manga or anime?<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not an anime adaption, it\u2019s a manga adaptation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Becky Clements:<\/strong> Manga. Always manga, never anime for a number of reasons. It’s already hard to go manga to live action, and to add that interim piece where it’s manga to anime to live action felt like we would be losing some of the beauty and purity of the manga. Because anime is a moving image, it may have more of an effect on our live action shows.<\/p>\n

And even when we were in casting, we would ask representatives and actors to only read the manga if they didn’t know it. But that was impossible to do. You could tell when they were anime-first because they were often just performing a version of the anime character. So it was always manga.<\/p>\n

Ian Stokes:<\/strong> You’re going to kill me for this. I’ve never actually watched the anime.<\/p>\n

IGN: Me neither. I’m a manga only guy. I don’t have that kind of time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ian Stokes:<\/strong> But we don’t have the rights to the anime. We have the rights to the manga. I didn’t want to watch anything that would put something in my head about how this show could be performed or done.<\/p>\n

Joe Tracz:<\/strong> I see a lot of people talk about our show as an anime adaptation. In fact, we’re adapting the manga. And so, you know, I love watching the anime, but on one hand, you got to put that aside and say, if you’re just looking at the anime, you’re doing an adaptation of an adaptation, whereas the manga is the original source material, that’s the Bible. So sometimes the anime does things differently. Obviously, the anime has stories that are not canonically in the manga so sometimes we find some ways to nod to [them], but by and large, we’re adapting the manga. We’re treating it as if this is something that’s being adapted right on page to the screen for the first time.<\/p>\n

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Eiichiro Oda\u2019s involvement is key to the show\u2019s success<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So even though we all call it a live-action anime adaptation, the team is actually seeing it as an adaptation of the ORIGINAL source material – the manga. Which is why they\u2019re also working so closely with the author and mangaka of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda.<\/em><\/p>\n

Becky Clements:<\/strong> So Oda has been very involved. He reads outlines, reads scripts, he watches cuts, he looks at casting. We send him concept art. He is as involved as producers on all of our live action shows.<\/p>\n

Ian Stokes:<\/strong> Again, everything we do is always approved by Oda-san himself. Nothing is a surprise. And so sometimes he will say, \u201cno, put that back in\u201d and we’ll say, \u201cbut we don’t have any money.\u201d And he says, \u201cfind the money.\u201d And then we find the money [laughs].<\/p>\n

And we might push back on something if we need to, but the egg is always on my face because he’s always right. Every time we look at it first I’ll be like, \u201cAw man.\u201d And then I read it again and I’m like, \u201cno, he’s right. That’s better.\u201d I’ve been getting notes on scripts and outlines since I started writing television. But the care and thought that he puts into every note he gives us on our written material is so amazing and so rewarding.<\/p>\n

Joe Tracz:<\/strong> All our scripts go to Oda for notes. I think last year Oda discovered how to type in Final Draft because sometimes there will just be a typed page, \u201cWait we didn\u2019t write that page. Oh, Oda did.\u201d <\/p>\n

He\u2019s very involved. And obviously that’s an incredibly welcome role for him to play because this is his world. He created these characters that people around the world have cared about for decades. So we would be foolish not to treasure that wisdom, not to listen to his feedback. So while he has veto power, it’s also a case of like, well, why would we ever want to do something that wasn’t what he intended?<\/p>\n