Netflix’s live-action remake of One Piece makes several big and small changes from the manga.
One Piece Live Action premiered on Netflix with a total of eight episodes that follow the beginning of Luffy’s journey to finding the titular treasure, finding maps, and making friends.
Including several major arcs and introducing important characters right off the bat, there are several key changes that the Netflix series makes from the manga. Here are seven such changes that alter the story for better or worse:
Garp is introduced way earlier
Vice-Admiral Garp is Luffy’s grandfather and chases after him to see for himself if his grandson has the mettle to survive in the cruel seas full of perils and perilous men. He chases after him because he cares for him.
All of these facts come as revelations very far into the manga. In the Netflix remake, Garp is introduced in the very first episode.
In fact, he’s one of the very first characters to appear onscreen in the series, as he conducts Gol D. Roger’s execution, something that didn’t happen in the manga. Also, Garp is immediately shown to have been chasing after Luffy in the show.
In the manga, he begins chasing much later into Luffy’s journey. In the Netflix One Piece remake, he serves as one of the primary antagonists to Luffy and his crew.
Nami is much more capable
Nami has always been a skilled and elusive thief, in addition to having a real penchant for jewels and money.
However, she’s often the victim of the classic manga tropes where women are generally weaker while men take prominence during the battles. That’s not the case in the remake.
Nami is all gun-blazing and staff-swinging right out of the gate. Shortly after her introduction in the first episode, she engages in combat and holds her ground along with Luffy and Zoro who take care of their bunch of villains.
Don Krieg is replaced by Arlong
In the manga, it’s the pirate Don Krieg who shows up at Baratie and fights the Straw Hats, not Arlong, who shows up in the next arc.
In Netflix’s One Piece, Don Krieg and his crew are decimated by Dracule Mihawk before they can ever reach Baratie. In the manga, Mihawk does turn his crew into rubble but in the live-action series, he kills Krieg before he can get a chance to hit Baratie.
The Usopp Pirates are absent
Usopp’s introduction in the Netflix One Piece is very different from the one in the manga. When the Straw Hats first arrive in Syrup Village, they’re met by Usopp and his friends who hilariously try to stop these pirates from coming to their hometown.
Their shabby ruse is immediately clear to Zoro and Nami but Luffy buys into it for a moment. Usopp’s penchant for lying is immediately established as well as his friends who serve as his lackeys. Together, these adorable kids refer to themselves as the Usopp Pirates.
Usopp and Kaya kiss
Usopp and Kaya have been best friends since their childhood in the manga. They are very close and have always loved each other’s company. However, nothing more than a strong friendship is ever directly offered there.
In the live-action remake, their friendship progresses to romance as Kaya and Usopp kiss when the latter leaves Syrup Village and she bids him farewell. This essentially makes their romantic relationship canon since Eichiro Oda himself gave this change a nod.
Luffy is uncharacteristically wiser
Luffy is famously a thick-headed guy. Although he’s emotionally one of the most intelligent guys in the story, when it comes to logic, he only knows how to defy it, and his absurd powers make it possible as well.
In the Netflix series, Iñaki Godoy plays a much less animated and more mature Luffy, one who sometimes is almost distractingly wiser than his manga counterpart.
Character designs are different
One of the most immediately noticeable changes from the manga in the live-action One Piece is the character design. Two of the core Straw Hat members — Sanji and Usopp — look different from their manga counterparts.
Sanji in the manga sports two eyebrows that have a natural curve to them and they are even hilarious caricatured in one of his wanted posters that he famously hates.
Meanwhile, Usopp’s unnaturally long, cylindrical, and pointed nose is the most prominent part of his disposition. That is not present in the Netflix remake, which has Usopp sport a regular-sized nose.
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