Season 1

I never thought I would actually start One Piece. Being part of the anime community for as long as I have of course I heard of the series, but never had any desire to watch it, at least until it was concluded, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Naruto was my proper introduction to the anime medium and itself alongside Bleach and One Piece, often discussed together as the "Big 3" were constantly compared and often argued about ad-nauseam. I'm not entirely sure if these constant comparisons are what caused me to not even attempt to watch the other two, or if my complete uninterest in Bleach and One Piece in general are what put me off for so long.

Out of mild curiosity, I decided to just peek at the first episode, and to my surprise, it wasn't terrible. Before watching I read no reviews or critical reception so I didn't have that influence my opinion either way in how I felt about this adaptation. From my non-fan perspective this seems like a well-paced introduction to the vast and ever-expanding world of One Piece I hear so much about through osmosis.

It has that cringe that I expect out of any anime being brought to live action would have, it's simply a consequence of the medium and how anime stories are told, but even that didn't ruin the experience. I haven't read the One Piece manga, so I can't speak to how faithful an adaptation it is either but, knowing how positive fan reception to the live-action is so far and how the people behind this adaptation are apparently super fans of it, I'd assume there's little to worry about.

I don't think I'd mind seeing this continue.

(994-word review) Putting the topic of adaptation aside, this was a splendid first season, considering that's what it is. Usually, as with premiere episodes, the introductory season of a show has spurts of rocky territory while generally being good enough, though it's seen in a slightly lesser light after the following seasons because they're way better, and sometimes they're appreciated further, whether the premiere/season was wrongfully judged or simply because of nostalgia and looking back on it with a deeper connection to the world, characters, and whatnot: comparing beginnings to what it developed into over time.

Things usually are a massive improvement afterward is the point. But this already felt like that, and it's only the first one, not to mention (and this could be due to my viewing of its entirety taking place through the course of weeks) it seemed like much happened while simultaneously feeling like everything zoomed by, only for the increased shocker that it consisted of merely eight episodes – all you have to do is rewatch the premiere and then the finale; it's a palpable enough difference to warrant shock at the number, as you would've had the automatic assumption that it was more, or at least with longer runtimes.

Each episode had its fair share going on, with concurrent and consistent moving pieces throughout the season, while never seeming excessive and extreme; it's interesting to look back on it after finishing it and having that different perspective of seeing how tightly compacted and well-done everything was. The pacing was immaculate; the right amount of time was allotted to every scene, in addition to their placement within the episodes and when to switch the focus. The most noticeable example was the flashbacks, and they were incorporated so well, from their overall (perfect) runtime to the smooth transitions back and forth into them – and the placements of those transitions.

This kept getting progressively better with each two-parter story arc, though the two-parters began with the third episode. And conveniently/coincidentally enough, the beginning was the weakest with the first two episodes when considering all eight; therefore, the gradual progression to higher heights was constant and didn't falter or ruin that straight-up direction.

However, only concerning the two-parters, Usopp's story arc was the weakest: an opinion held by many from the look of it. It was also supposedly the same way in the manga: it wasn't that giving compared to the introductory story arcs of the other Straw Hat crew members, so adapting it well would've had a similar result; there wasn't much leeway to do more with it. But, in all honesty, despite the truthfulness of the sentiment that those episodes were the weakest ones – the first one, in particular – they were still a contribution to the upward trajectory, especially the fourth episode, the concluding part.

In the same spirit of getting progressively better, which suggests the likelihood of the second half being the best, that's precisely what happened. The last two arcs/four episodes were incomparably the best and at the mountaintop of this show's introduction, especially the final two. And it can get MUCH HIGHER, SO HIGH. It likely will. All the material adapted here is barely even dipping a toe in the ocean; it's more akin to tossing something in from afar.

And, of course, all of the performances were good. Steven John Ward stood out, nailing Mihawk's character – but the writer(s) and director(s) deserve additional applause for doing an equally fantastic job with Mihawk's introduction. Emily Rudd was another distinct performer whose performance stood out, most notably at the end of the seventh episode. The other obvious one, Jeff Ward, did well, nailing Buggy. It is the same with Iñaki Godoy, who has a particular presence as Luffy, even if the characterization and the way he plays him aren't as manga-like as some would like.

The remaining Straw Hat actors (Mackenyu, Taz Skylar, and Jacob Gibson), standing out slightly less compared to those already mentioned, particularly Taz and Jacob, still handled each character efficiently. As far as the non-Straw Hat performers are concerned, Vincent Regan carried, as Garp had the most prominent role and screen time. But Peter Gadiot and Craig Fairbrass played their parts proficiently, while Alexander Maniatis did so to an even greater extent.

McKinley Belcher III and Morgan Davies were the weak links. That's likely an unpopular opinion, but the bug-eyed jitteriness done by Morgan, regardless of source material accuracy, was tiresome to watch. It was enhanced by the on-screen frequency of Koby, the cherry on top being how that subplot was the least engaging. But its climax was a decent "payoff" with the revelation that Garp was only testing Luffy (though that was expected), in addition to Koby disobeying direct orders for Luffy, followed by Helmeppo doing the same, which likely revolved more around the newfound friendship between the two rather than for Luffy: the character growth/redemption arc there was efficiently executed. And I wasn't buying the intended menacing and evil characterization of Arlong because the way McKinley played him came across as goofy to me, among other things. Alexander Maniatis had better success with Kuro's execution.

My only complaint (a minor one) is that Sanji's screen time shouldn't have been as little as it was. He was the least fleshed-out Straw Hat, and that could've been easily different by cutting down some of the Garp/Koby subplot, which was exclusive to the show, essentially being the primary obstacle in the way of that. Looking at it from another perspective, however, it's one of those things that can be put off in favor of other subplots, like the one with Garp and Koby, having the intention to remedy it in the next season, though a lot of faith in a renewal would be necessary concerning that mindset. There will be plenty of him moving forward to make up for that, but the lack of him and the abundance of that duo was noticeable.

In the age of Marvel, where studios are starting to use greenscreen & CGI for all but the actors, One Piece asks what it's like to have artistic integrity.
I didn't realize just how badly I missed sets and special effects until the live action version of One Piece wowed me with the skill of it's set designers and special effects team.
And this effort, of all things was made for a live action adaptation of an anime, which live action adaptations tend to be notoriously bad. And of all anime, it was One Piece, one of the most fantastical, cartoonish anime ever made. And of all studios making it, it was Netflix, known for the masterpieces of live action anime adaptation like Death Note, and Cowboy Bebop. 3 things that are going against any possibility that this series could have been good, which is why it's utterly shocking that out of all of Netflix's anime adaptations, One Piece ended up being genuinely great.
Sure, they changed the story a bit, but most changes were necessary to transition One Piece into live action better, and if they weren't, they were simply the product of a tight episode count, which I'll get to.
But you can just tell the passion and hard work that each and every person put into this. They had an enormous task in not ruining Eiichiro Oda's legendary manga, and they delivered. The set designers are so skilled at bringing the One Piece world to reality, the special effects team does an extraordinary job with making all of these fantastical elements blend together into a realistic world, the actors are phenomenal and perfect for their roles. Especially Inaki Godoy as Luffy, it feels like he was born for the role. And the fight choreographers, who had the difficult job of transforming anime battles to more realistic action scenes, the camera crew, directors, everyone. It's a miracle that they turned a live action adaptation that by all rights should have been awful into something great.
But that doesn't mean it's perfect. The only real issues I have with this series are the script and Netflix.
Generally the script is alright, but there were many times where I felt like the conversational flow was weird, like a character starts a new thread of dialogue that has no relation to what came before.
And Netflix, unable to resist their urge to taint anything they touch didn't help with this.
By giving season one only 8 episodes to work with, the script had to be tighter than if they had more episodes to work with, and changes to the story that didn't need to be there happened because of this. In a season two, I do hope Netflix gives more episodes for the team to work with. Of course, that comes after they pay the teams a fair wage. Keep up the strike SAG-AFTRA, I wish you nothing but the best.
... Jesus Christ, how did this comment get so long? I have never written one this long before, but I guess I just had a lot to say, though I guess as a tl;dr: Good Show

As a One Piece fan, I truly believe they did their utmost best with the amount of episodes and it turned out not just okay but excellent. I don't get the hate some people give. Just be glad we got something that was so hard to make a live action series from. I'll take every season of this. The costumes, scenery, sets, I really felt like being there and my teen memories of watching anime came all back.

The acting was also very good, considering the source. I mean we all watched and quit the dubbed anime version of episode 1, because it was sooo cringy? Only to return and watch the subbed version and love it. The casting was so on point and I liked their performances. Let's also give them some grace, since it's just the first season, they'll get far better once they work some more together. I'm looking forward to seeing Frankie, Robin and especially Chopper in season 2. Oh, and also Ace.

The only fear I have is Netflix always cancelling shows after a few seasons and we'll be left hanging. They'd be so stupid to do it with this show, since it goes on forever and gets better every arc.