Netflix’s One Piece Success Has Us Hopeful For This Major Upcoming Live-Action Anime Adaptation

Summary Netflix's successful adaptation of One Piece sets a high standard for future anime adaptations on the platform.

The upcoming live-action Death Note show comes after the failure of Netflix's 2017 movie adaptation of the manga.

The Duffer brothers will helm the Death Note adaptation, aiming to stay true to the original source material and avoid past mistakes.

Netflix's live-action One Piece adaptation was a sleeper hit for the streamer when it premiered its first eight-episode season in 2023. Based on the best-selling manga series of all time, One Piece adapts Eiichiro Oda's beloved characters and world. Perhaps most surprisingly, it does so to the delight of One Piece fans. In the past, translating anime and manga to a live-action format has proved difficult. Netflix's adaptation of Cowboy Bebop faltered big time, while the well-received YuYu Hakusho didn't hit the same highs as the record-setting One Piece.

Netflix seems determined to continue mining animated hits for content...

Even so, Netflix seems determined to continue mining animated hits for content, as seen with the recent adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's hard to say if One Piece is the exception to Netflix's anime adaptations, but it's certainly possible it has become the new rule of thumb. Other adaptations have a high bar to live up to, though there's also a template for success to refer to — something the streamer didn't boast back in 2017 when it adapted the ultra-popular Death Note into a whitewashed live-action movie. That said, One Piece's success is good news for future shows.

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Netflix’s One Piece Success Is Good News For The Upcoming Live-Action Death Note Show

The Death Note Manga Was Adapted Into A 37-Episode Anime

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Although Netflix's 2017 feature-film adaptation of Death Note was a failure, the streamer is taking another stab at translating Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata singular manga-turned-anime into a live-action story. The live-action anime adaptation of the series will be helmed by the Duffer brothers, who created Stranger Things. Even with some talent behind the scenes, it's hard to have a ton of faith in the streamer's approach to Death Note. However, the runaway success of One Piece definitely helps. Although the projects are completely different, Netflix has seen just how successful an anime adaptation can be.

Related Netflix's Success With One Piece (And Now Avatar) Makes 1 Live-Action Anime So Much Worse The success of Netflix's live-action One Piece further emphasizes how much of a letdown one of their movies was, but it gives hope to Avatar fans.

The show's creative team clearly has a lot of love for the source material and anime...

While series like Cowboy Bebop might have suggested that Netflix couldn't make a solid anime adaptation that pleased new and returning fans alike, One Piece tells a much different story. The show's creative team clearly has a lot of love for the source material and anime, allowing them to capture the essence that makes One Piece so beloved and unique. Although the series makes alterations to better suit its live-action medium, Netflix's One Piece stays true to the franchise in ways that really matter, making it a master class in adapting a beloved story.

One Piece (Live-Action) Based on the popular manga/anime series, One Piece is a live-action Netflix adaptation of the story from Eiichiro Oda. The show follows the exploits of a band of pirates, the Straw Hats, led by the energetic and adventure-loving Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is a young man cursed with strange powers after accidentally eating a mysterious fruit. With his friends Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji, Luffy will head across the vast ocean to find the legendary treasure, the One Piece. Cast Iñaki Godoy , Mackenyu , Emily Rudd , Jacob Romero Gibson , Taz Skylar Release Date August 31, 2023 Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Netflix Franchise(s) One Piece Writers Matt Owens , Steven Maeda , Tom Hyndman Showrunner Matt Owens

Everything We Know About Netflix’s New Live-Action Death Note Adaptation

The New Series Comes In The Wake Of The Failed Death Note Movie

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Aside from the announcement that the Duffer brothers will adapt Death Note for Netflix, not too much is known about the series. However, given the success of One Piece, it seems logical that the Duffers will stick closely to the original Death Note story. In the manga and anime, the narrative centers on genius high school student Light Yagami, who finds a notebook that belongs to the shinigami Ryuk. Called the Death Note, the notebook grants its user the ability to kill anyone so long as they write the person's name on the pages of the Death Note.

Netflix previously tried to condense Light's Death Note story into a single feature-length film.

Emboldened by his newfound shinigami (death god) power, Light Yagami begins a worldwide massacre of people who he deems to be immoral or bad. While his intentions are noble — he wants to create a crime-free world — it's hard to support any one person wielding such unstoppable power. An elite task force, led by the mysterious detective L, attempts to apprehend Light, the conflicted genius with god-like powers. The show unfolds over 37 episodes, though Netflix previously tried to condense Light's Death Note story into a single feature-length film.

Related Death Note Is Still Popular Today, But Not For The Reason Fans Think Despite being almost 20 years old, Death Note is still one the most easily recognizable anime of all time, for one unexpected reason.

What Went Wrong With Netflix’s Death Note Live-Action Movie

Netflix's Death Note Movie Didn't Understand Its Source Material

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So far, every Death Note movie has struggled to adapt the iconic story, but a Netflix series might actually have the time to fully explore Death Note's complicated characters and narrative. Netflix's 2017 movie fails for a number of reasons, though rushing through the slow-burn story is definitely a big one. Overstuffed with new concepts and characters, the Death Note film isn't accessible. In making drastic changes to the existing material — and by whitewashing its characters and moving them to Seattle — the movie also bombed with fans. That said, Death Note could really learn something from One Piece's success.

As of April 2024, the Death Note anime is streaming on Netflix.