Netflix’ One Piece Is Giving Back To Its Source Material

Netflix’s live-action One Piece adaptation was certainly a big hit with viewers on the streamer and earned its early renewal with ease, but now fans have confirmation that the show’s pleasantly surprising success has had a positive effect on the rest of the franchise.

One Piece has been at the pinnacle of manga and anime popularity for decades, with the ongoing manga series by Eiichiro Oda quickly growing into a multimedia juggernaut both in Japan and international markets. Despite this, a live-action show was seemingly never on the agenda in no small part thanks to the series’ very unique style and vibe. As such, fans were only cautiously optimistic when Netflix greenlit a live-action adaptation of the series set for a 2023 release. Against the odds, the show was a massive hit on the streamer, pleasing longtime fans and bringing in lots of new viewers as well. With confirmation that filming of the second season of the live-action One Piece adaptation wrapped this month, fans are more excited than ever to get back to the adventure with the show’s stellar (and ever-expanding) cast of contributors.

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While fans will have to wait a bit longer for the second season of Netflix’s One Piece, the show’s first installment is still making waves amongst viewers, and it even managed to net a win for the rest of the franchise as a result. As reported by Popverse, a Japanese news article was recently published with a headline that translates to “Netflix’s Live-Action ONE PIECE Has Led To A Major Boost In Sales Of Both Merchandise And The Original Manga Abroad,” indicating that the show wasn’t just a win for Netflix, but also manga publisher Shueisha and the myriad partner companies involved in the localization and merchandising of the IP. A One Piece editor was also quoted in the article saying that, “We want people around the world who haven’t yet encountered [One Piece] to ‘discover’ the original manga, thanks to Netflix and anime streaming.” This is great news for all involved, and fans on social media have attested to this phenomenon since the article was made public.

One Piece has long been a top seller for both manga and merchandise in Japan, and has seen proportional success in foreign markets in the past. However, the addition of a live action component has finally corralled the last holdouts in foreign markets, as even viewers that don’t fancy animation can now check out the series. Better yet, a good number of those fans will be interested in seeing the source material, or too impatient to wait for a second season to see what comes next for the characters. The Netflix series boosting merchandise and manga sales in foreign markets is a great example of a rising tide raising all pirate ships, and it’s a good omen for all those facets of the franchise. While some fans have previously expressed disdain for Oda’s very personal involvement with the live-action One Piece adaptation, which they see as counterproductive to the manga’s tight schedule, this confirmation of a direct benefit should make it crystal clear why the show deserves the famed mangaka’s personal oversight. Manga might be a well-loved medium with its own unique appeal, but a live-action series in English was always going to be the key to an even wider audience. However, it’s worth noting that this effect was likely only possible due to the show capturing the spirit of the manga, unlike many other adaptations before it.

Now that the benefits have been made clear, fans can certainly look forward to more content from Netflix’s production. With rumors circulating alleging that One Piece already got a third season greenlit, it’s clear that everyone involved knows that the show going on is a winning proposition all around. The live-action entry point to the franchise is sure to only get more potent as more seasons roll out, and combined with the planned reboot of the anime that intends to redo older arcs with a more modern art direction, things could be shaping up for a resurgence in One Piece’s dominance over the anime and manga world, stretching out its titanic popularity to even greater heights.

Netflix’s live-action One Piece is available to stream on Netflix.

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Source: Popverse