Spoilers

“Romance Dawn”

What a joy this was.

I had no idea what this was. I had never heard of the manga cartoon this new Netflix series was based upon. I actually never even heard of this adaptation coming on the streamer. I happened to come across some reviews of it on YouTube earlier today. So I figured…

I love me some pirates…

This is the perfect month for a new pirate themed series, since we are just 18 days away from Talk Like A Pirate Day on September 19th. It also gives me a new series to watch along with season two of The Bear and season three of Only Murders in the Building.

My guess is that the lead character, Monkey D. Luffy, was a vital role for this adaptation to cast and Iñaki Godoy brings amazing charm and likability. I was in on this guy immediately. He was so fun to watch and he had brilliant chemistry with his ‘crew’ who does not want to be known as a crew.

Emily Rudd is Nami, a thief, and Mackenyu played Roronoa Zoro, a pirate hunter, create a trio that is awesome. The three of them have their own talents. I was shocked when Luffy was revealed to have stretching powers that he received as a kid when he ate a demon fruit.

Eiichiro Oda is the reclusive creator of the manga One Piece and he, in a video shared on the show’s Instagram, supported the new live action adaptation.

“As a Hollywood production, the action and VFX are great, not to mention the performances by the cast. But above all I want to call attention to how perfect the Straw Hat cast are,” says Oda. “It’s like you’re watching the Straw Hats in real life, which I’d love for you to savor.” (Petski, Deadline).

The cast absolutely is the strength of this first episode and that is really important. The fight choreography was excellent as was the special effects.

One Piece has dropped eight episodes on Netflix and I am excited to continue to watch this series. I do not plan to binge this necessarily, but I am looking forward to work my way through the first season.

The end of the episode a cool pirate named Buggy the Clown that looks to be coming next episode. Buggy is being played by Jeff Ward (the awesome Deke from Agents of SHIELD).