My Review of "One Piece: Season 1 (2023)"

One Piece: Season 1 (2023) has recently been released exclusively on Netflix. It's a live action TV series based on the long running manga and anime series. I for one haven't seen or read the manga or the anime so I was coming into this with a clean slate. Unfortunately and fortunately, I do know all of the usual overexaggerated tropes that come with anime. A little of me was worried that these nuances would ruin the show.

It all starts off explaining the story of the One Piece. There's an infamous pirate by the name of Gold Roger. He was known as the king of the pirates back in the day. Somehow he got caught by the authorities. For his crimes he was sentenced to execution. Before his execution he inspired tons of people out there to become pirates as he told them that the One Piece exists. Now everyone is looking for this coveted prize to become the king of the pirates.

We then get introduced to our main protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. He's a wide eyed naive and enthusiastic young man dreaming of becoming the king of pirates. His kind nature wins over everyone in his path but because he wants to become a pirate he also creates some enemies. His plan is to get a crew together, get a ship and then sail forth to obtain the One Piece. Easier said than done.

The majority of this season revolves around introducing us to the rest of his crew. Each episode consists of a new potential crew member. They go into their back stories and describe why Luffy wants them. Essentially Luffy only wants kind hearted people to join his crew. When they display this sense of nobility Luffy deems them worthy of joining his crew. Once they're in his crew he's friends with them for life.

Each one of these crew members are reluctant to join Luffy because he seems like a dreamer chasing illusions of grandeur. Each episode Luffy wins them over with his sense of loyalty to them. We continue to learn what their life goals are. This show basically finds Luffy and his friends supporting one another in achieving their ultimate goals.

The real draw to this show is the building of the characters and the relationship with one another. They bring in some very tragic situations that really elevate our vested interest in these characters.

They got me so involved with the characters that I ignored all of the zany over zealous reactions and situations that come with this show. There are very weird awkward laughs and cheers along the way that really remind you that this was originally a cartoon. If you can get over these wild nuances of the show you will have a great time.

Being from a cartoon, they also had to add a lot of CGI to mimic some of the weird and outrageous elements of the cartoon to real life. There are times when they look pretty weird but for the most part they're done well. It doesn't really take you out of the show and I was able to lower my sense of belief.

This show also does a really good job in building urgency and anticipation with each episode. They know how to put seeds in our heads to understand why the next situation is going to be epic. It's probably one of the few times I had that feeling where I wanted to binge the whole series in one sitting. There are only 8 episodes and each of them are an hour in length.

Overall, this was a really fun watch. It makes me want to watch the anime because I want to see what happens next with Luffy and his crew of straw hats. There's a great sense of anticipation so they made this show very well. I have to give this season an 8.5 out of 10. I really hope their next season will be just as good. We got all the introductions out of the way. Let's get to the real meat of the show.