The Irony of One Piece Live Action's Mainstream Appeal

One Piece is a story about pirates, social outcasts, which take to the seas in order to achieve their full potential and live freely from society. With that in mind, I can't help but recognise a deep irony in such a story being sanitised for a mainstream audience to find more "socially acceptable". That is the One Piece Live Action.

Each of the main characters have had their personality altered to conform to more traditional showcases of virtue. This runs counter to the original source material, which showed their potential for the deepest and most sincere virtues existing alongside their unabashed social deviance.

Luffy has demonstrated a child-like understanding of social concepts. When Koby tells of his traumatic experience, Luffy calls him an idiot, a wimp, and a coward. From a conventional view, this demonstrates a lack of consideration, kindness, and empathy, however Luffy's display of emotional intellect breaks this traditional sense-making frame. In the live action, Luffy shows more consideration and encouragement for Koby. There is no notable shift or challenging of convention in this behaviour. It demonstrates that Luffy's status as a social outcast is merely due to his pursuit of his dream and nothing more. Failing to show social deviance in these characters perpetuates an unchallenged, comfortable view of these topics. In being depicted synonymously with performative traits such as being considerate, this conflates the virtue with the social performance. That is, the live action version of Luffy could feasible integrate into society as we know it, unlike the manga/anime version which depicts socially unacceptable behaviours such as pointing out insecurities like Buggy's big red nose, clearly in contrast with the other characters conforming to the social environment. This isn't given the same narrative significance in the live action.

Similarly, Nami's deeply personal manifestation of her trauma has been altered to a more traditional display of emotional distance as coldness. Nami is never shown to be emotionally cold. Her enthusiasm for money, distaste of pirates, frustration, and hatred are emotionally heated, in fact. Nami draws upon these traits from her view of strength; Bellemere. Her femininity and cheerful personality are her attempt at staying strong to avoid the weakness that she internalised with her trauma when she asked for help. In contrast, the live action depicts her emotional repression as coldness, and Bellemere's key traits aren't depicted at all, not even through Nami. This depiction of trauma is easier to understand for audiences, however infinitely shallower in relation to Nami's character. Nami's farewell to her village is also altered, removing the powerful act of social deviance, her thievery, that marks her new beginning of true freedom out on the sea.

The unsightly portrayal of Usopp's cowardice and tendency to lie is his display of social deviance. Even within the audience, there are people who look upon these traits with a certain distaste, however I believe these "dislikeable" traits are central in all the main characters of One Piece. This is evident in Usopp's juxtaposition with Kuro, a professional butler who merely performs socially acceptable behaviours with no virtue. He is kind and considerate to Kaya and he is friendly with all the townspeople, while Usopp shatters Kaya's reality, trying to forcibly take her out of her room, and the townspeople are distrusting of him, yet he holds an earnestness and pride for his lineage that Kuro keeps hidden.

Sanji is a pathetic simp and pervert. His social deviance has a complicated relationship with traditional notions of masculinity. In the live action, he is presented as a cool, suave guy, just like the suit he is wearing. As a result, he is much less bratty, impulsive, and violent. His behaviour does not demonstrate the social deviance of his manga/anime counterpart, resulting in a relatively flat character and personality that fails to challenge the masculine ideal in the bombastic, confrontational, in-your-face way the original character of Sanji did.

Zoro was labelled as demonic before Luffy even met him. His lack of sociability and one-track mind likely led him to be rumoured as such. The treatment of Zoro from the marines due to his defiance against them forced him into a situation where Zoro had to choose between Luffy's offer of total societal ostracism or death. This choice (or more appropriately, lack of choice) reflects the undesirable in society being forced into a position where they must turn to extremes for survival, community, etc. This scene and its effect are also absent from the live action's storyline.

A motif that is present throughout the manga/anime's East Blue Saga is the main characters being chased off an island or out of town. This social outcast motif isn't in the live action. Ultimately, I feel OPLA failed to grasp this major theme that is prevalent throughout the saga, instead reinforcing societal performativity and misrepresenting the nuances and character work that were weaved into the narrative of the original source material.

*These are just my general observations. I definitely misused a loaded term somewhere in there. At least I got to appreciate Oda's writing once again.

Bachira Meguru & The Bare Minimum

There is the idea of settling with the bare minimum within people who’ve faced relentless mistreatment. The constant disappointment that arises from it creates a sense of hopelessness, from which even the bare minimum can seem like a heavenly grace. This idea is explored in the series Blue Lock through the character of Meguru Bachira and his metaphorical ‘monster’ through soccer. In the ‘awakening’ of his ego in episode 22, Bachira declares, “So even if I get teased for being strange… Even if I end up alone again… Even if I don’t have any friends…”, essentially conceding to being alone, relinquishing everything he ever wanted, in the name of staying true to himself.

“I’ll be sad if there’s no one else at the end of all this, but from now on, I’m going to be dancing alone. Goodbye, monster. Goodbye, Isagi, the guy who’s been my soccer buddy up to now. I have to get back my solitary soccer!” –Bachira Meguru, Blue Lock episode 22

This echoes the sentiment of a sacrifice, however it is reframed by Isagi surpassing Bachira’s imagination. This ‘goodbye’ was more of a risk that Bachira accepted the consequences of. This ‘awakening’ can be likened to circumstances in relationships, in which one party had been content with the ‘bare minimum’ and, at the risk of losing the relationship and ending up alone, demanded more from them. In season 1 episode 23, Bachira says, “I ain’t gonna pass to someone who won’t go beyond my imagination” which can be seen as a rejection of this ‘bare minimum’, to which Isagi responds, “I’ll adjust to you!” This idea can be applied to minority groups and the social majority, in which even the bare minimum humane treatment is praiseworthy. Blue Lock, through the development and nurturement of the ego, emphasises the importance of concretely grasping one’s worth and setting expectations. This is a breakthrough of character through the sacrifice of normality and expected happiness.

*Written in late 2024.

The entire second selection of Blue Lock can be analysed through relationships; depicting codependency and power dynamics through soccer equivalents. I feel like that reading is pretty straightforward though. I might get back to you on that one.

Extra Reading: The Queer Narratives of Blue Lock by Suzels and @reilly913