The live-action One Piece is being praised for being one of the best adaptions of an anime/manga series of all time. I think part of that credit goes to the fact that Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, was directly involved in the live action show’s development. So it wasn’t just licenced to a studio who felt they could “appeal to a wider audience” with their own version; they actually wanted it to be faithful to its source material, which is already loved by global audiences.

The show made a few minor changes from the original source material that helped it flow better in a short 8-episode live action format, but overall, the show itself was very faithful and well done.

They’ve already gotten approval for a 2nd season (they claim the script is already done and they’re just waiting on the writer’s strike to end before filming) and they have at least a 12-season plan in the works.

Also, as someone who watches the anime in its original Japanese, I’m stoked to learn that the original anime cast was hired to do the Japanese dub of the live action show.