Genre: Action adventure; Comedy drama; Fantasy, Swashbuckler
Developed by Matt Owens, Steven Maeda
Based on One Piece; by Eiichiro Oda
Starring: Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Vincent Regan, Jeff Ward, Morgan Davies, Jacob Romero Gibson & Taz Skylar.
Narrated by Ian McShane
Composers: Sonya Belousova, Giona Ostinelli
Executive producers: Eiichiro Oda; Marty Adelstein; Becky Clements; Matt Owens; Steven Maeda
Producers: Takuma Naito, Amie Horiuchi
Production Location: South Africa
Cinematography: Nicole Hirsch Whitaker, Michael Wood
Editors: Eric Litman, Tessa Verfus, Kevin D. Ross, Tirsa Hackshaw
Production companies: Kaji Productions, Tomorrow Studios, Shueisha
Network: Netflix
Plot: Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew explore a fantastical world of endless oceans and exotic islands in search of the world’s ultimate treasure to become the next Pirate King.
Season 1 of One Piece was Great.
Pros: Iñaki Godoy was excellent as the main lead Monkey D. Luffy. I come to like the full crew he put together. The series doesn’t take itself seriously. Story is simple and grounded and the prosthetics and makeup for everyone was fantastic.
Cons: Some moments do get goofy at times. Certain characters I wasn’t clear of their motivation throughout the series and I didn’t care for the side villains that much.
Casts & Characters:
Main:
- Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, an enthusiastic prospective pirate both cursed and gifted with powerful rubber-like abilities from accidentally eating a mysterious Devil Fruit, the Gum-Gum Fruit. His goal is to travel out of the East Blue with a crew of his own, find the mythical “One Piece” and become the King of the Pirates.
- Colton Osorio as young Monkey D. Luffy
- Emily Rudd as Nami, an enigmatic thief who hides her past behind an aggressive indifference in search of a map to the Grand Line, where the One Piece is strongly rumored to be located. She’s taken it upon herself to navigate and map out the entire world.
- Lily Fisher as young Nami
- Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, an accomplished master swordsman and bounty hunter, who uses the art of “Three Swords Style”. He aims to become the world’s greatest swordsman.
- Maximilian Lee Piazza as young Roronoa Zoro
- Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, who is boisterous, yet noble to a fault, to his friends and allies; Usopp specializes in marksmanship, cunning and invention. He intends to be a brave, famous warrior of the sea, recognized by his infamous pirate father, Yasopp.
- Kevin Saula as young Usopp
- Taz Skylar as Sanji, an abrasive, woman-loving, yet charming master chef who is a practitioner of martial arts primarily using his legs taught to him by his mentor and head chef Zeff. His purpose is to find the All Blue, a mythical sea that connects the four seas together and provide quality meals to all.
- Christian Convery as young Sanji
- Vincent Regan as Monkey D. Garp, a prolific Vice Admiral in the Marines and Luffy’s estranged grandfather, who becomes Koby’s mentor
- Jeff Ward as Buggy the Clown, the clown-themed captain of the Buggy Pirates whose Devil Fruit he ate, the Chop-Chop Fruit, gives him the ability to split his own body into pieces and control them as he sees fit
- Morgan Davies as Koby, a cabin boy of the Alvida Pirates who dreams of joining the Marines
Recurring:
- Aidan Scott as Helmeppo, the son of Captain Morgan who uses his father’s status as a Marine Captain to bully others into doing his bidding. He later becomes a marine cadet after the defeat of his father.
- Peter Gadiot as Shanks, the captain of the Red-Haired Pirates who was Luffy’s childhood hero and inspiration to start his own crew
- Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Alvida, the ruthless leader of the Alvida Pirates who fights with a large spiked iron club
- Langley Kirkwood as Ax Hand Morgan, a corrupt self-obsessed Marine Captain who imprisoned Zoro, and the abusive father of Helmeppo
- Tamer Burjaq as Higuma, a sinister bandit who tried to kill Luffy in his youth
- Kathleen Stephens as Makino, a bartender from Windmill Village, Luffy’s home town
- Armand Aucamp as Bogard, a Marine officer and Garp’s right-hand man
- Sven Ruygrok as Cabaji, an acrobat who is an officer of the Buggy Pirates
- Stevel Marc as Yasopp, an officer of the Red Hair Pirates and Usopp’s father
- Ntlanhla Morgan Kutu as Lucky Roux, an officer of the Red Hair Pirates
- Laudo Liebenberg as Benn Beckmann, an officer of the Red Hair Pirates
- McKinley Belcher III as Arlong, a strong, ruthless fish-man who is the leader of the Arlong Pirates and ruler of Arlong Park
- Celeste Loots as Kaya, an orphaned heiress and Usopp’s close friend
- Alexander Maniatis as Kuro, alias “Klahadore”, the captain of the Black Cat Pirates and Kaya’s butler
- Bianca Oosthuizen as Sham, an officer of the Black Cat Pirates and Buchi’s partner
- Albert Pretorius as Buchi, an officer of the Black Cat Pirates and Sham’s partner
- Jandre le Roux as Kuroobi, a fish-man who is an officer of the Arlong Pirates
- Brett Williams as Merry, an attorney and legal guardian of Kaya’s assets
- Craig Fairbrass as Chef Zeff, a former pirate and the current head chef and owner of Baratie, a floating restaurant, and Sanji’s father figure
- Steven Ward as Mihawk, a pirate regarded as the world’s greatest swordsman and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea
- Len-Barry Simons as Chu, a fish-man who is an officer of the Arlong Pirates
- Chioma Umeala as Nojiko, Nami’s adoptive older sister
- Kylie Ashfield as young Nojiko
- Grant Ross as Genzo, the sheriff of the Coco Village
- Rory Acton-Burnell as Nezumi, a corrupt Marine Captain who covers up for Arlong’s misdeeds
Guest:
- Michael Dorman as Gold Roger, the former King of the Pirates
- Ben Kgosimore as Mr. 7, a swordsman sent to meet Zoro by a criminal organization named Baroque Works
- Nicole Fortuin as Ririka, a bartender in Shells Town
- Chanté Grainger as Banchina, Usopp’s mother
- Audrey Cymone as Shimotsuki Kuina, Zoro’s childhood friend and skilled swordswoman
- Nathan Castle as Shimotsuki Koushirou, a master swordsman who was the teacher of Roronoa Zoro
- Milton Schorr as Don Krieg, a pirate fleet’s captain who wears an armor filled with hidden weapons
- Litha Bam as Gin, a combat commander of Don Krieg’s crew, who was fed by Sanji
- Genna Galloway as Bellemere, a former Marine who adopted Nami and Nojiko
Additionally, Ian McShane voices the narrator in the first episode.
I highly recommend watching this series on Netflix.
Rating: 10 out of 10 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident TV reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe