One Piece First Look Takes Us Behind The Scenes Of The Live-Action Anime Adaptation

"One Piece" is a wildly popular manga and anime series that has been running for well over two decades with no sign of slowing down. Now, Netflix is going to get in on the franchise's good name by bringing a live-action adaptation to life, and we have been offered a glimpse into that undertaking during the streaming service's Geeked Week. While it's not a trailer (yet) we do get a behind-the-scenes video that showcases the massive sets being constructed to bring this world to life. Let's have a look.

I will admit freely up top that I am not familiar with the "One Piece" source material, so I cannot comment on this with too much specific insight. What I can say is that the video above, presented by star Iñaki Godoy (who plays Luffy) alongside showrunners Steve Maeda and Matt Owens, is impressive. We first see various pieces of concept art depicting recreations of ships from the franchise before we get to the meat on these bones, the construction of the Baratie set for the purposes of filming.

We get a pretty crazy time lapse of the gigantic set being constructed before getting a look at the final product, which is truly something to behold. They made a massive pirate ship, colorful and very real, to bring this beloved creation to life. Now, whether or not the show itself can capture the spirit of Eiichiro Oda's manga remains to be seen but, at the very least, Netflix appears to be taking this very seriously and is happily spending a great deal of money on it.

Netflix is no stranger to manga/anime adaptations, but it's been a mixed bag for them so far. Just look at what happened with the very expensive "Cowboy Bebop" live-action series, which was scrapped after just one season. One can only hope they learned some lessons before this latest undertaking.

To go along with the above video, Netflix also decided to confirm some additional casting for "One Piece." Those joining Godoy include Alexander Maniatis as Klahadore, Steven Ward as Mihawk, Craig Fairbrass as Chef Zeff, Langly Kirkwood as Captain Morgan, Celeste Loots as Kaya, and Chioma Umeala as Nojiko. Other cast members include Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, and Taz Skylar as Sanji.

Filming only just got underway in February on the live-action series and it appears as though this is going to be a massive undertaking. That having been said, we probably shouldn't expect to see this arrive until next year. Though it is almost certainly best not to rush something like this as it could, in theory, be the gift that keeps on giving it if goes well. There is an awful lot of source material to keep this show going for a long time.

"One Piece" does not yet have a release date set.