One Piece Trailer: The Cannonballs Are Flying In Netflix's Eiichiro Oda Adaptation

Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat crew have been searching for the treasured One Piece for over 25 years, but fans of Eiichiro Oda's best-selling pirate manga don't have to wait nearly as long to see their favorite characters in live-action. Netflix is releasing a live-action "One Piece" series, developed by Matt Owens and Steven Maeda but with Oda himself executive producing.

A teaser for "One Piece" played at TUDUM 2023 back in June. Now, at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, a full-length trailer premiered — July 22 is considered "One Piece Day" in honor of the manga's anniversary (it first debuted on July 22, 1997). The teaser was more about tone, emphasizing Luffy's childlike desire to sail the seven seas. This trailer is all about action, with an "epic" orchestral score to play that up.

The opening seconds of the trailer recall "We Are!," the first title sequence in the "One Piece" anime adaptation. Gol D. Roger, the original King of the Pirates and owner of the One Piece, is dragged to public execution. Before he's hung from the gallows, he declares, "Wealth, fame, power, I found everything this world has to offer," imploring future pirates to find his treasure. Cue close-ups of the five Straw Hat pirates: Captain Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), swordsman Zoro (Mackenyu), navigator Nami (Emily Rudd), marksman Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), and cook Sanji (Taz Skylar).

The teaser showed that Luffy's recruits aren't so easily swayed by his quest — even his first shipmate, a sea bird, flies off ("Mutiny," he sighs). When Luffy proudly unveils their crudely-drawn Jolly Roger flag, Zoro and Nami grimace. Nami is just as skeptical of Luffy's plan to sail to the Grand Line, "a treacherous stretch of ocean with bigger islands [and] bigger pirates."

They'll have to stick together, though, thanks to the villains they'll encounter in the Grand Line. The trailer shows two: Buggy the Clown (Jeff Ward) and the Fishman Arlong (McKinley Belcher III). In the world of "One Piece," people can consume "Devil Fruits" to gain special powers: Buggy ate the Chop-Chop fruit, allowing him to detach and telekinetically puppeteer his own body parts. Fortunately, Luffy himself ate the Gum-Gum fruit, granting him inhuman elasticity. The trailer shows off his power, from a flurry of punches at Arlong to him stretching his mouth open with his finger.

The non-Luffy heroes get more screen time than in the teaser as well. Zoro and Sanji get actual lines in this trailer, with the two arguing over who saved the other (this Sanji, unlike the anime, has a British accent). Red-Haired Shanks (Peter Gadiot), Luffy's mentor who was absent in the teaser, also appears, with a shot of him giving Luffy his straw hat.

So, will the "One Piece" live-action series be golden like the contents of a pirate's treasure chest? I'm a novice with this series but remain skeptical — the murky color grading of the trailer does a disservice to the colorful costumes. Oda himself, though, is seemingly optimistic, having shared a message of support towards the series. If the creator can give the series a chance, presumably his fans can too.

"One Piece" premieres on Netflix on August 31, 2023.