'One Piece' Fans Fear Netflix's Live-Action Version Will Flop Like 'Cowboy Bebop'

Anime fans appear to be scarred from the recent Cowboy Bebop adaptation and as a result are cautiously optimistic about the upcoming adaptation of One Piece.

Originally created as a manga series in Japan in 1997, One Piece was also adapted into a successful anime show in 1999, but is soon to be a live-action series on Netflix.

The streaming service recently announced a new list of actors who would be joining the show, which is currently in production.

Fans of the One Piece franchise have been sharing their reactions to the announcement online, as well as debating whether or not a live-action version should even be made in the first place.

Fan Reaction to Netflix's One Piece

While Netflix tries to start up the hype train for its next big budget live-action adaptation of an anime series, one subject keeps coming up in the comment section time and time again: "Cowboy Bebop."

The 2021 TV series starring John Cho followed a ragtag group of bounty hunters chasing down criminals in space. Unfortunately, the series was canceled by Netflix after one season, just a month after it launched on the streaming service.

Many concerned voices chimed in on Twitter, with @hyli9n asking, "didn't y'all learn w Cowboy Bebop?????" while @GWLHM76 guessed, "this show is not going to get more than 1 season. Kinda like Cowboy Bebop."

One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates as they explore oceans looking for the One Piece treasure. Many fans expressed concern because of the outlandish nature of the show which they think will be hard to articulate in a live-action format.

@felixdlc73 summed up a lot of One Piece fans' fears by stating: "It's going to be difficult for them due to how ridiculous One Piece is. They failed recently with Cowboy Bebop which should've been easy for them, so not a lot of people have confidence in Netflix."

Another Twitter user, @Zed_cull, repeated that sentiment, and noted that One Piece's ambitious storytelling may be hard out of an animated format. They said: "Anime has like a 10 percent chance of working live action..the craziness of one piece, has like a 0.01 percent of working."

There's a lot at stake for the passionate One Piece fan base who adore the manga and the anime versions of the franchise.

Perhaps @RatCatDoge summed up the jeopardy facing fans by telling Netflix, "if you ruin One Piece for me I'm suing."

One Piece Casting Announcement

Netflix had already announced in November 2021 who the main cast members of the One Piece adaptation would be. On Monday they revealed who some of the supporting characters will be played by.

Morgan Davies will play Koby, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino will play Alvida and McKinley Belcher III is portraying Arlong. Buggy will be played by Jeff Ward, while Vincent Regan plays Garp and Aidan Scott joins the cast as Helmeppo.

Those actors are joining the already announced team of Iñaki Godoy (Luffy), Mackenyu (Roronoa Zoro), Emily Rudd (Nami), Jacob Romero Gibson (Usopp) and Taz Skylar (Sanji).

The show is being created by Steven Maeda who previously acted as a showrunner on Pan Am and Helix. Maeda also previously wrote for Lost during Season 2.

The official Netflix Geeked Twitter account confirmed that production for the One Piece adaptation began at the beginning on February 2022.