One Piece Live-Action Show Writer Explains How The Anime Saved His Life

The head writer on Netflix’s One Piece adaptation, Matt Owens, says that the anime saved his life when he was in a dark place. The franchise, born of the manga series by Eiichiro Oda, follows zany Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates, a band of talented dreamers such as jokester Usopp, spunky navigator Nami, and triple-blade wielding swordsman Roronoa Zoro. Together they search for the One Piece, a legendary treasure left by the deceased King of Pirates, to fulfill Luffy’s dream of inheriting the King’s mantle.

Netflix ordered a 10-episode live-action adaptation of the beloved franchise. The snag, of course, is the immense size of the property, as well as the cartoony action and ever-changing setting of the goofy pirate adventure. Netflix will have to offload monumental chunks of the story if they hope to produce a coherent plot within a reasonable runtime. Fans are wary of what the series will look like, especially given Netflix’s famous fumbles in the realm of anime adaptations. However, they’ve hired Matt Owens to write the series, and based on his personal experience, he might be the best man for the job.

Per LRM Online, Owens, head writer on the adaptation, said he gained creator Eiichiro Oda’s trust by explaining how One Piece saved his life. Speaking on Reverie, a YouTube collaboration between One Piece internet personalities,  Owens explained that he first read the manga in high school, but wasn’t able to get into it. It wasn’t until Owens was in his early twenties (and amid a deep depression) that he turned to the anime and got caught up. Years later, when he finally got a chance to sit down with Oda, Owens replayed the story and got the One Piece creator’s blessing to work on the live-action series.

“I told Oda, ‘One of the great things about One Piece is it’s really a story about how everybody has tragedy, pain, sadness in their life, but it’s not what defines you. What defines you is how you use that to motivate your future, and that no one has to do it alone. No one has to be alone. When you find those people around you who motivate you, lift you up, and help you, that’s the greatest power in this world. And that is the story I want to put out into the world. So I know that One Piece means a lot to you, Oda. It means a lot to me, because I honestly think that One Piece saved my life.’ He looked me in the eye, and he held his hand out across the table and said, ‘I have 100% faith in you now.’”

It’s a touching story, and Owens certainly seems to have identified the emotional appeal of the series. Oda says the massive manga will soon come to an end – in four to five years. Though an adaptation will surely never achieve the scope or incorporate all of the fantastic battles and plot twists of the source material, it could carry the same message. There’s more than action and adventure to any enduring story – it must have a heart.

Still, the question of what exactly a live-action series will look like lingers. At this point, it’s entirely conjecture. Overarching and vital mysteries still loom over the series proper, chief among them the true nature of the fabled One Piece. If the series hopes to attach an ending to the journey, it will likely have to be different from the conclusion of the manga, which has yet to be penned and inked. It’s heartening for fans, no doubt, that there’s a true believer behind the wheel, wherever he steers the ship.

Source: LRM Online

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