Netflix's One Piece Anime Adaptation Had A Whole Chouchou Story That Got Axed
The "One Piece" live-action adaptation is fantastic, setting a new standard for live-action adaptations of anime and manga. The show takes Eiichiro Oda's beloved and iconic manga and translates it to the screen in a way that is faithful, but also changes things when it makes for a better story — like bringing in Garp earlier and making him an overarching villain for the season. A key element to the adaptation is the cast, which is absolutely perfect and encapsulates why people fell in love with the story in the first place, bringing to life the tale of Monkey D. Luffy and his quest to get a pirate crew that will join him across perilous waters in search of the mythical treasure, One Piece.
Of course, adapting over 90 chapters into a single 8-hour season is bound to leave many things behind, and unfortunately one of those was a beloved character with the first (of many) heartbreaking flashbacks in the source material — Chouchou the dog. We meet Chouchou in Orange Town, as he is unceasingly vigilant over a pet-food shop in town belonging to his deceased owner, which is suddenly destroyed by Mohji and his lion Richie. This prompts Luffy to beat the everloving crap out of both Mohji and his pet to defend the dog.
Speaking with Screen Rant, co-showrunner Steven Maeda revealed there were actually plans to include a Chouchou subplot in the show. "It was slightly different than the manga story," he said. "At the end of the day, we ended up separating it out of this version of the story, and we never actually shot it. We had a scene and an arc with [Chouchou] and Zoro, and it was very different. And ultimately, we decided it was too different."
What happened to Chouchou after meeting Luffy?
"We would have loved to have the [Chouchou] story in there, but it's more important to have Zoro be with Luffy and Nami when they are encountering Buggy as opposed to being off on a separate side story," Maeda continued. "I love [Chouchou], and I have three terriers of my own. So, I definitely have a soft spot for the [Chouchou] story."
We don't know how different this story would have been, but the idea of Zoro getting so lost that he ends up in an entirely separate adventure with a dog is utterly hilarious and perfectly Zoro. As if you want to know what happens to the adorable dog after his encounter with the Straw Hats, he shows up again after the time skip, with Orange Town rebuilt. After two years, Chouchou is now the guardian of a rebuilt and expanded pet food shop named after him. Plus, the villagers made a statue in his likeness for everyone to see.
This is far from the only thing that was cut from the final version of "One Piece," of course. Maeda also revealed a cut sequence with Hachi, one of Arlong's henchmen and an octopus fishman who eventually becomes an ally of the Straw Hats and a main supporting character in the Sabaody and Fish-Man Island arcs. "Oh boy, did I want Hachi in the show," Maeda confessed. "We had a whole fight between Hachi and Zorro set up and couldn't do it. And that's no one's fault. It's just a matter of time and money." Now this is more heartbreaking because Hachi is such an interesting and visually unique character — and he does become important later on. But he is right that having a guy with six arms is not cost-effective.