One Piece, arguably more than its contemporaries, was always a manga that embraced the absurd, the cartoony — as seen by a recent anime episode making headlines with a Looney Tunes comparison — which was always going to be a big challenge when adapting Eiichiro Oda’s masterwork to live action. Take, for example, the effects of the Devil Fruit, of which we see another in this episode with the introduction of Buggy the Clown, whose powers allow him to literally split his own body into pieces and control them. It’s the type of cartoony power that works best as a literal cartoon in the manga. Or, at most, in a very dumb and goofy movie like The Suicide Squad when played for laughs.
While Buggy’s very silly — his nose literally looks like a big red ball — and he acts very much like a clown trying to make people laugh, he’s more like the psychotic killer Art the Clown than children’s entertainment. Through Buggy, we also get a continuation of the underlying theme of Luffy being like no other pirate. He believes all pirates are friendly co-workers who talk things out and respect each other but keeps being proved wrong. Like Alvida, Buggy’s very cruel and violent toward both innocent people and his own crew. He’s also quite insecure about his nose, which he hates hearing about, and murders for it and for his powers. Buggy’s feeling of abandonment by his former crewmate (who turns out to be Shanks!) starting a pirate crew of his own without him has made Buggy bitter and resentful, and he expects Luffy to feel the same way, especially since Nami literally left him to die the moment they were captured.
But that’s not Luffy. If Buggy’s constantly weary of his crewmates betraying him because pirates only care about themselves, Luffy’s the opposite and cares more about the crew than his own life. He’s not that kind of pirate. Even when Buggy’s crew tortures him after he’s been abandoned, Luffy still believes his friends — not crewmates, friends — will save him. Not even the prospect of being drowned in a glass tank filled with seawater — the big weakness of those with Devil Fruit powers — dissuades him from trusting his friends, whom he cares about second most after his hat.
We also find out about the hat, as we get the second part of the first episode’s flashback to Luffy’s time in Windmill Village, where Shanks’s crew fights some pirates to defend Luffy. We see they are quite skilled at fighting and killing, not stopping their eating or drinking as they shoot and slash their way through the rival pirate crew. It’s all part of a good time. This is what Luffy thinks of pirates — not thieves or murderers but free-spirited adventurers who won’t back down from a fight, except to protect their friends.
Sadly, in the commotion, one of the pirates kidnaps Luffy. Shanks heads out to sea to rescue him, but not before a giant sea serpent attacks. It seems Red-Haired Shanks also has some kind of power, and he commands the serpent to leave them alone. Except all is not well, for Luffy notices that Shanks lost an arm to the serpent in rescuing him. “It’s only an arm,†Shanks says, a small price to pay to keep your friends safe. It’s easy to see this makes a big impression on Luffy, as he later tells Shanks he now realizes he wasn’t ready to be a pirate but will be soon. His dream of becoming King of the Pirates would prove to Shanks he did not lose his arm in vain, that his investment was worth it. Luffy will not only become a renowned pirate but one Shanks can be proud of, a pirate with a crew as happy-go-lucky and close as Shanks’ own crew.
In the present, Zoro and Nami work together and free themselves before beating up Buggy’s entire crew. The final fight with Buggy himself is quite fun, with director Marc Jobst keeping the fight in the dark so the VFX stands out less, while still keeping the scene lit and full of color (unlike in most other big TV shows). After defeating Buggy by trapping his individual body parts in separate chests, Luffy frees the townsfolk, who were forced to watch Buggy’s circus act on repeat and laugh with him, or else. The mayor asks Luffy if they’re to be his prisoners now, but — again — Luffy’s not that kind of pirate. He helps those in need and asks for nothing in return — though he won’t say no to free food.
While Luffy won over Zoro from the beginning, thanks to his contagious overconfidence and his constant talk of following one’s dreams, this is Nami’s big episode. After she explicitly shared her hatred of pirates in these two episodes, she comes to believe in Luffy by the end after seeing his kindness toward both his friends and strangers. She even repairs his hat after mocking it earlier! Sadly, this is but a front, because she’s actually a traitor, one taking the map to some unseen boss.
While Luffy’s discovering that pirates are not all he imagined them to be, Koby’s having a bit of an awakening of his own. Shells Town is visited by the big-time Marine vice-admiral from the end of last episode, Garp, Hero of the Marines — and the guy who captured Gol D. Roger. Garp’s also a guy who wears a very silly dog hat (honestly, though, the costume designs in the show are fantastic).
Captain Morgan lies about Luffy stealing the map, making himself out to be a tragic hero while painting Luffy as violent and merciless. But Garp’s smarter than that. He not only sees through Morgan’s lies but immediately recognizes Koby’s story about joining the Marines a mere day after such a big assault doesn’t add up. Koby confesses that he did work for a pirate, but not willingly, and manages to sway the vice-admiral by giving a speech about how the Marines are good and protect people — another person Luffy’s confidence has rubbed off on. Garp ties Morgan to his own crucifix in front of all his men and seems to have taken Koby under his wing, just as the young lad dreamed.
But there is one problem: The two are now setting up together to personally hunt Luffy down. Pirates should face justice, and Luffy needs to be made an example. Worse yet, when Garp addresses the other cadets, he specifically says the key to beating the pirates in this golden age is to take away their dreams. Koby’s going along with the others, but he looks concerned, and a crossroads lies in his future.
X Marks the Spot
• Garp feeding Morgan’s transponder snail some lettuce is stupidly cute and funny, especially since the snail has a metal jaw like Morgan.
• The live-action show’s making some understandable choices, seriously condensing Buggy’s story arc from the manga (though there’s a nod to the best part of the arc, the dog). It’s probably for the better, since these small islands in early One Piece are rather repetitive, and it makes sense they’d instead devote more time to more distinct and consequential locations, like Arlong Park, which will appear later this season. It’s a shame, though, because we’re missing out on Chouchou, the best dog in fiction and one of the earliest examples of One Piece balancing goofiness with backstories that completely tear your heart to shreds.
• Garp and Koby’s story line is not part of the main plot of the manga but one of the small side stories that pay off much, much later. This is possibly the smartest adaptation choice the show’s making, as there can never be too much Garp.
• One thing the show’s quite lacking in is iconic imagery. Oda has a keen eye and is incredible at making individual comic panels feel important and memorable. The anime re-creates this by constantly using still frames for the big moments. The Netflix series is moving too fast for these images to stick. We see Shanks give Luffy his hat (one of the most iconic moments in the source material), but it doesn’t feel monumental. On the contrary, the moment is done away with extremely quickly to get to the next thing, an unfortunate effect of condensing so much story into just eight episodes of TV.
• The closing credits show a map that traces the crew’s path, which is a great choice. Every show with extensive travel needs a map. Them’s the rules.