I’ve been holding off on watching Netflix’s live-action One Piece series because I was afraid they would ruin another of my favorite anime. As a long-time fan, I needed this series to be good. I can forgive Netflix for a lot of the garbage they put out, but I could never forgive them for ruining One Piece. That said, I did my best to come into the series as open-minded and unbiased as possible. I didn’t rewatch the anime, stayed away from spoilers and news, and didn’t even watch the trailers. I wanted to go into this series as removed from the source material as possible because I didn’t want my experience to be affected by nostalgia or fandom. After sitting through the series, my only complaint is that I didn’t start it sooner. If you haven’t watched it yet, you need to do so now!
The series covers the events through the Coco Village arc. This is a condensed version of the events, but the changes made are appropriate and appreciated. For those unfamiliar with the source material, Luffy dreams of being king of the pirates and sets off to find the crew that will help him find Gol D. Roger’s infamous treasure, the one piece. But the sea is a dangerous place, full of pirates, marines, and monsters. Despite having the powers of the Gum-Gum Fruit, Luffy has a lot to learn before he can be king of the pirates.
I love how faithful of an adaptation this series is. The attention to detail is astounding. The costumes, the sets, the characters, and the story are a perfect interpretation of the source material. I can’t believe how good of a conversion Netflix is capable of, especially after all the garbage I’ve sat through. As a fan, even though I haven’t seen the first season in a while, it made me giddy to catch the subtlest of references.
But you don’t have to like anime to enjoy this series. It has a fantastic cast that shares excellent chemistry, fun and exciting action scenes, and a well-written and tight season. I was afraid they would drag this out like streaming services tend to do, but One Piece gets to the point and leaves viewers wanting more.
I can spend hours talking about the series, comparing the versions, and overanalyzing the plot, characters, etcetera, but I’ll leave you with this: Go watch it now! If you are a fan of the series, this is the adaptation you didn’t know you wanted. It makes me hopeful for Avatar the Last Air Bender live-action series Netflix is also working on. If you’ve never seen One Piece, or even know what it is, this series is going to make you watch the anime. I know it made me restart it all from the beginning. If you do start watching the anime, I recommend you skip the filler episodes. One Piece isn’t as bad as others when it comes to filler, nor are they bad episodes, but when a series is this long, it’s nice to get to the point. I love the live-action and can’t wait for there to be more!
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is a fun but cheesy live action adaptation of a pretty cool concept that should at least be on your watch list
My first exposure to Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is the live-action movie on Netflix, and absolutely love it. I understand the stigma behind live-action adaptations, but if you ignore the source material, it works. Zom 100:Bucket List of the Dead is a quirky and cute road trip comedy about a zombie apocalypse that should at least be on your watch list.
Akira believes he’s gotten his dream job after graduation but discovers he works for an exploitative company that has no problem working him to the bone. Akira spends the next year of his life as a zombie for his company, working tirelessly at a job he hates. Luckily for Akira, there is a zombie outbreak to free him from his misery. For the first time since he started his job, he is free to do whatever he wants, and he plans not to waste this new freedom. Akira makes a bucket list of the 100 things he wants to do before he turns into a zombie and sets off to complete it.
I love the contrast between the corporate life Akira had and the one he has in the apocalypse. Akira will often remember how miserable he was before the zombie outbreak and use that as motivation to live his life to the fullest. It is a very unique take on the genre because the story isn’t about a group of people simply surviving, but rather a quirky road trip comedy of people learning how to live.
The live-action movie is incredibly over the top and cheesy, but it gives the movie its charm. The tone is silly, the action is over the top, the soundtrack is fantastic, and the story is cute. I love the references to Super Sentai and how exaggerated the action scenes are. The music they choose for the action scenes made this movie for me. If you want to watch a fun cheesy movie and enjoy some cool JPop, watch this movie.
I love this movie and have already watched it a few times. I recommend you check it out in the original Japanese, but the English dubbing is a solid option for enjoying this movie. If you a cheesy road trip comedy with a solid story, this is a cute one with a lot of charm. I don’t know how it compares to the source material, but intend to soon. You can stream Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead on Netflix.