In the second season of the Netflix series One Piece, some things were designed differently than in Season 1. Eiichiro Oda himself, the author of the original manga, has now commented on it and explained how he slowly became friends with the adaptation of his story.
Anyone who has worked on their grand, broadly told story for years has the right to be skeptical about a series adaptation. This also applies in the case of Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece.
In the official companion podcast on Netflix, he spoke with Luffy actor Iñaki Godoy about the series. Among other things, they discussed how Oda initially thought about the adaptation.
In the first season, his image of Luffy was very much shaped by the manga. He insisted that the character would not do or say certain things, and shared his feedback with the team.
When he finally saw Iñaki Godoy as Luffy and got to see the finished scenes, a large part of his initial skepticism fell away. In the podcast, Oda praised Iñaki Godoy’s performance and emphasized that it became clear after Season 1 how this version of Luffy would behave.
This made it easier for Oda himself to continue working on the series. Changes in Season 2 were made very thoughtfully thereafter.
A Conscious Change
What does Oda say about the second season? The two seasons differ consciously from each other, as they want to tell different stories:
In the first season, the responsible team for the adaptation was very much focused on bringing out the human side of the story. It is not an absurd fantasy, but a story where humans are in the foreground. If we don’t highlight the fantasy elements in Season 2 more than in Season 1, Luffy would not be able to confront his future opponents.
Eiichiro Oda
Also, Iñaki Godoy is of the opinion in the podcast that Season 1 was meant to establish the setting and the characters. Seasons 2 and 3 can now become significantly more extraordinary – both in terms of the story and the characters. Two characters will even appear significantly earlier.
The pacing of the story can change and the action can take up more space when the audience already knows the world and the characters.
By the way, changes from the manga template count among some of Oda’s favorite moments in the Netflix series. In the podcast, he mentions the scene where Luffy sings with Laboon. It would be “unforgettable”.
The last scene with Chopper also greatly excited Oda. He does not want to impose his own personal preferences on the series, but rather support the team to bring its own vision to the screen.
Overall, the creator of One Piece praises the work of the team and says how happy he is about it. It shows once again that an adaptation does not have to stick slavishly to the original in order to be successful. In Season 2, the Baroque Company wreaked havoc: One Piece reveals what happened to a major enemy from Season 2 of the Netflix series
