Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, once mentioned as a sort of clone of Dynasty Warriors, has been a global phenomenon for quite some time now thanks to both the anime and the manga. The latter was enough reason for Netflix to make a film adaptation, which has now proven to be a great success. During the opening weekend, One Piece apparently broke quite a few records previously set by well-known top series (including Stranger Things) on the pay channel.
Between August 31 and September 3, One Piece was viewed no less than 18.5 million times. That would correspond to no less than 140 million viewing hours. It is certainly a worldwide success because Netfilx also confirms that One Piece took first place in 86 countries worldwide. The series also scores unprecedentedly high on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of no less than 96% (more than 10,000 observations).
It means One Piece is the most successful Hollywood adaptation of an anime to date. It makes sense that One Piece fans are already begging for a second season.
One Piece
With more than a thousand published chapters and almost as many episodes of the anime, the story of One Piece can be described in a few sentences. One Piece is the best-selling manga series of all time and the story of Monkey D. Luffy, a young man who has only one dream: to find the legendary treasure known as the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates.
Together with a colorful crew of trusted friends, our Monkey D. Luffy sails the dangerous seas of the Grand Line to find Laugh Tale, the hidden island where the One Piece resides.
On his journey, Luffy encounters many dangerous enemies, including fellow pirates who want to conquer the seas and the Navy who want to cleanse the world of the pirate plague. As a viewer you have to get used to the fascinating style of the series that follows the storylines of the anime. But once you get used to it, the series is addictive and you can just binge it the old-fashioned way (or not) and you will understand why One Piece is a success.
Manga
For those unfamiliar with manga and anime, a brief explanation: Manga are Japanese comic strips or comics. They are published in both black and white and color and consist of drawings and speech bubbles, similar to our comic books.
These comics are read by children as well as adults and are an integral part of Japanese (pop) culture. Many popular manga series are later turned into anime.
Anime
Anime is the Japanese term for animated TV series and films and is often based on manga. It is internationally popular and has a large fan base all over the world.
Also read: Learning to understand anime
An important characteristic of both manga and anime is the great diversity in storytelling and artistic style. With characters that are often deep and fascinating, they appeal to a wide audience. Many well-known manga series have been turned into anime (or vice versa).
Images and videos copyright Netflix
