Summary
- Director Emma Sullivan explains how the live-action One Piece will avoid the pitfalls of previous anime adaptations by focusing on nailing the characters and creating an emotionally real approach.
- The changes made to the stories and characters in Death Note and Cowboy Bebop were criticized by fans, causing a drop in viewership and cancellation for Cowboy Bebop after one season.
- The key to a successful adaptation lies in finding a grounded approach and tapping into the relatability of the characters, as audiences can connect to the positivity and dreams of characters like Luffy in One Piece.
With the streamer also behind the prior adaptations, director Emma Sullivan explains how the live-action One Piece will avoid the pitfalls of Death Note and Cowboy Bebop before it. Netflix first dipped their toe into anime/manga adaptations with the 2017 movie based on the former about a teenager who comes into possession of the eponymous notebook that can kill anyone whose name is written inside, eventually returning for the 2021 show based on the latter of a group of dysfunctional bounty hunters in space. Critics were decidedly mixed on both Death Note and Cowboy Bebop, with a dramatic drop in viewership leading to cancellation after one season for the latter and ongoing development of a sequel for the former.
In honor of the show's premiere, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with Emma Sullivan to discuss Netflix's One Piece. When asked about any reservations in tackling the live-action anime adaptation after prior failed attempts in the genre, the director explained how the new show will avoid the pitfalls of the likes of Cowboy Bebop and Death Note, with the creative team focusing on nailing their characters more than anything else.
I've watched a few of these shows and lots of different anime. I'm a big Studio Ghibli fan, but you can't make actors do those big actions and faces that we can get in the anime, so it wouldn't work. And if we tried, it would be really awkward, and I think it would throw everybody out of the story. I think what we had to do is we had to find a grounded approach, and we had to find an emotionally real approach to it. We have to kind of tap into these characters, and feel what makes us relate as an audience to them. I think we can all relate to just following our dreams and the positivity of Luffy, especially now, at all times.
Editor's Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the show covered here would not exist without the labor of the writers and actors in both unions.
Where Death Note & Cowboy Bebop Went Wrong
Death Note was already encountering much backlash from fans of its source material prior to its release for entirely shifting its setting from Japan to Seattle and casting an almost entirely white roster, drawing the same accusations of whitewashing as Ghost in the Shell the same year. Upon its release, fans of the manga and anime found this the least of their concerns, as a variety of other changes were made to its story, including the addition of a love interest for Nat Wolff's Light, and a change in the dynamic between him and opposing detective, Lakeith Stanfield's L.
In contrast, Cowboy Bebop had a lot of anticipation heading into its premiere, with the adaptation of such iconic moments as Spike and Vicious' church fight to the return of original composer Yoko Kanno indicating a faithful adaptation. Unfortunately, most reactions proved just as divisive, with criticism aimed at its over-the-top visual aesthetic, lackluster writing, and pacing. Original Cowboy Bebop fans took particular issue with the changes made to the source narrative, feeling the shift to hour-long episodes resulted in bloated and convoluted subplots that lacked the same punch as the anime.
Across both Death Note and Cowboy Bebop, the consensus from critics and fans of their source materials looks to be that the ultimate place they went wrong was in their stories and characters, veering too far from what they had come to know and love before. In addition to having original creator Eiichiro Oda overseeing the whole production, Sullivan's discussion above about the live-action One Piece focusing on its characters above all else is a promising sign that the show will be one of the rare adaptations that works.
One Piece begins streaming on Netflix on August 31.
