Korean One Piece fans have varied feelings about the franchise's impending live-action adaptation.
On June 17, Netflix released the first trailer for One Piece, which gave viewers an action-packed introduction to Luffy, Nami, and Zoro. However, the clip elicited conflicting emotions from One Piece fans in Korea, who flocked to social media to share their initial thoughts. Pannchoa, which translates hot Korean tweets about news and pop culture, translated a series of replies that show Korean fans' apprehension over the impending series.
Korean Netizens Were Split in Their Response
Approximately half of the commenters were favourable with the trailer, with several saying it "looked better" than they expected. Other viewers, however, were less kind; one said the trailer made them "cringe" since the actors reminded them of cosplayers. Another commenter described the costumes as "high-quality cosplay." Some viewers were dissatisfied with the trailer's action, with one remarking that Zoro's battle scene was "so so." Others were unsure how to feel, with one reply simply saying, "I want to watch it...?"
In 2020, Netflix announced its impending live-action version of the popular manga series. Prior to the release of the first trailer, the firm released new tidbits from the series on a regular basis to build anticipation for its launch. Netflix revealed photographs of Luffy's trademark Straw Hat and the crew's flag in May 2023. One Piece fans received their first glance at Luffy's ship, Going Merry, a near-exact reproduction of the vessel from the manga a week later. Netflix released the live-action version of Luffy's pirate attire on June 15.
Netflix's live-action One Piece series stars Inaki Godoy (The Imperfects) as Monkey D. Luffy, Emily Rudd (Hunters, Fear Street: Part Two -1978) as Nami, Mackenyu (Pacific Rim: Uprising) as Roronoa Zoro and Jacob Gibson (Blairsden) as Usopp. Steven Maeda (The X-Files) and Matt Owens (Luke Cage) are directing the production with assistance from One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda. While Oda once stated that he and the show's crew were initially not all "on the same wavelength," he also clarified that they had managed to overcome this and start "working in sync."
Netflix's live-action One Piece series has a scheduled premiere date of Aug. 31. The One Piece manga is available in English from VIZ. The popular anime adaptation is available on Hulu, Netflix and Crunchyroll.
Source: Pannchoa
