 So the One Piece live action trailer is out and we have to talk about it. I'll admit that I've been pretty hyped about it throughout the entire process but seeing the trailer has actually exceeded my already quite high and hopeful expectations, you know, even more. So I genuinely can't wait until August 31st. The first thing I want to point out is that it's clearly not a one-to-one direct translation of the manga which is something that we could already tell from the teaser trailer and also Oda recognized this. In fact, it actually seems like Oda might have even had some of the same reservations that some fans might have. You know, questions like how will some of the dialogue work and why they're changing this character or how is it going to work when they alter this timeline. But overall, from what we can see so far, it does seem like the showrunners have been very mindful of this as well and that they've also been trying their best so that no matter what the changes, they're really trying to keep the heart and the spirit and the soul of One Piece alive and where they can that they're going to stick to some of the most minor details and really get the intricacies to make the show feel a lot more whole and complete. So for example, they use a lot of inspiration from the color spreads and the color pages especially for the costumes and most notably for Nami, other characters as well but it's most clear with Nami, you know, whatever scene she's in. You can guarantee that we've seen it somewhere before, you know, in a color spread somewhere. And now I think this is cool for a number of reasons. Firstly, it adds a nice layer of more, I don't know, more realism to the series, you know, because in real life, these characters can't actually wear the same clothes day in and day out for an entire week. I mean, I guess some characters can because, you know, Luffy doesn't shower but it's not like the manga or the anime where a character wearing the same clothes for an entire arc is something just a lot more acceptable. But also, seeing these touches is really fun and it creates a lot of Easter eggs for, you know, some of the more hardcore fans. And also, for me, it gives me further assurance and confidence that this show has been treated very carefully with a lot of thought, a lot of care and a lot of love. But we're going to get into all of the specifics, so let's do a breakdown. Okay, so the opening scene with Roger going up to his execution, the first thing I noticed is the music. So far, I actually think that the music has been the strongest element of both this trailer as well as the teaser in both of those promotional materials. The music just really elevates that thrilling sense of a journey and adventure and I do feel very much swept away into the story. Now, obviously, the music that's used for these materials would probably be different in the actual show itself, but if the trailer is just the reflection of things that we're going to see in the show, then I'm really, really excited, especially because Romance Dawn, that saga has so many key iconic moments, lots of scenes that hit very close to heart, key points of nostalgia and the music in the anime also plays a big role in that. And because we can tell from the trailer that season one is going to deal with a lot of these moments, I'm really looking forward to how they execute that with the soundtracks. Something that surprised me quite a lot is how gritty and rough Roger looked. From the teaser trailer that came out earlier in June, the world felt a lot more romanticized, a lot brighter. I think clean was the word that was used at times. Whereas noticeably in this trailer, the opening had a much darker atmosphere and then that was sustained for a majority of the trailer, so for a majority of the scenes that we watched. And so tonally, this darker, rougher, grittier world really sells that this is a pirate's world. And I'm going to assume that this scene of Roger's execution is going to be the first opening scene of the live action series, much like it was in the manga. And if that's the case, then I think that tone is also going to play a big role in situating the audience in the type of world that we're in, and particularly for new watchers who are unfamiliar with the series. It's going to be a very clear indicator about the type of world that this is set in. From Roger's appearance alone, you know, with his dishevelled hair, uneven skin, even his way of speech. It's quite a contrast to the manga and the anime, and it definitely does feel a lot more piratey. And I don't know if this is on purpose or not, most likely is, but you actually get a greater sense that Roger is actually sick, that his unwell, that he had this incurable disease. It's much more believable with the way that he's been portrayed here. Something else to note, and this isn't actually just specific to Roger and will come up again about a lot of the other characters, but that's his size. The characters in the live action are noticeably smaller. They're not too size, they're not too scale. But, you know, I can understand why that's the case. And again, I actually think that it could benefit the series and make this world feel more realistic rather than seeing humans that are, you know, like three meters tall, right from the get-go, right from the opening scene, we get a lot of easter eggs. There's someone in the crowd in a green cloak, so that seems to be Monkey D. Dragon in the crowd, which we do know from chapter zero that Dragon was, in fact, present at Roger's execution. It also actually seems like Young Garp is at the execution, which isn't how it happened in the manga, but I can understand why you'd want to include a big name like that from the opening or from very early on in the series. You know, it really seeds the excitement, especially for future seasons, if we can get there. Another easter egg, which I love, goes back to the costuming, and I really do love the amount of energy they put into the costumes. But you can see on Roger's back, at the back of his cloak, he has his little jolly Roger, and so I thought that was a really nice touch. Now, moving on to some of the other locations, other moments in this trailer, and there really are a lot because, seriously, this trailer is just jam-packed with all of the iconic moments from Romance Dawn. So we're gonna start off with the portrayal of Fusha Village and Luffy's origin point, and in terms of tone, the scenes that we saw of this location felt a lot brighter, probably the brighter, brightest moments compared to all of the other bits of the trailer, which, again, I think works quite nicely with the idea of a Romance Dawn in the beginning of Luffy's journey. It's only minor, but I did feel that some of the shots of Shanks felt a little awkward. It was most notably when he was making that finger gun motion, which I don't remember if he's ever done that in the series before, and it was also when he was giving his hat to Luffy. Actually, specifically, it actually seems like that straw hat looks too small for Shanks, and the way that he deals with it feels much more like a prop, which isn't the same sort of feeling that I get when it's on Inaki, when it's on Luffy. Anyways, I thought that that was quite surprising when it came to Shanks, because I actually thought that the actor who played Shanks seemed most fitting for the character compared to the entire cast when the cast was initially announced. On the other hand, The Lord of the Coast, and I thought this about the teaser trailer as well, but the CGI for The Lord of the Coast is actually really well done. Newsku was also a cute detail, and Luffy's quip, his little comment there, is actually a really great example of a line that's something that the original Luffy wouldn't say for the original Luffy, as per the manga, a bit too smart for him. But in the context of this live action, I actually think it works quite well. I mean, sure, Luffy's not the exact same character as we know him from the manga, but importantly, in the other scenes, we still see that the goofy, adventurous, thrill-seeking, freedom-loving, fun-loving spirit that joyous spirit is still intact. And so it's more like that Inaki's Luffy is a different take on the character that captures his goofiness, while also making him a more believable human character. And because it's a live action, maybe it wouldn't work as well to have a very dumb, lovable and intuitive, but very sweetly dumb main character. Anyways, the more I see of him, the more I hear his dialogue. The more convinced I feel about this portrayal of Luffy for this iteration of the series. We also saw Alveda's ship in this trailer, and the more I see of the set designs, especially the ships, I'm really blown away by their level of detail. And I know that the running joke was basically that the live action cast members are all basically just really, really good looking, but that has to be the most true for Alveda because she looks like a total baddie. Another example of a really minute detail that the showrunners obviously paid a lot of attention to are minor background characters such as a pirate from Alveda's crew, who very much seems to be inspired by a crew member from the manga. And I really do think that including these sorts of details, apart from being just, you know, very fun Easter eggs, really just cements the feeling that the showrunners have an incredible deep love and respect for the original series. And it almost feels like it's reflecting the level of detail that we know Oda to put into a series. And the level of thought that he puts into, you know, even some of the most minor background characters. We see more of Shelstown in this trailer, which we did also see in the teaser as well. And again, like we knew from the teaser, Nami is present at Shelstown. And I'm really intrigued as to how she's gonna be incorporated here, because it actually seems like she's been involved in the action taking place here as well. The ending scene of the trailer, which I assume to have been taken from the Shelstown episode, couple of episodes. That also contains loads of Easter eggs, as Luffy and Kobe are looking at the bounty posters. You might recognize names like Foxy and Alveda, but Cavendish and Bellamy as well. And Luffy's closing line here is also quite comical, but a really good connection to a gag and to the original series, where Luffy's always eager to get a bigger, badder bounty because it's a sign of being a successful pirate. This scene also had me feeling that Kobe is superbly casted. We don't see very much of him, but from what I do see, I do very much get the sense that he is a young and well-intentioned boy who still hasn't really fully come into his own yet, but probably the biggest highlight for me from this trailer has to be Buggy, which was also the case of the teaser trailer, but the portrayal of Buggy and overall the circus-themed pirates, I think that was just done brilliantly. Keeping in line with the darker, grittier tone of the opening scene of Roger's execution, it seems like the portrayal of Orange Town will also be a lot darker as well, which is quite different to what I had expected because I'd actually expected after the teaser trailer that the introduction to Buggy might be a lot scarier, might be a lot darker, you know, to establish him as the villain, but then things would get lighter and, you know, more comic-cool, much more goofy quite soon afterwards. But now I don't feel that at all. And this portrayal of Buggy and his crew, it does a really good job of evoking that sense of a circus, like an eerie, almost horror-themed circus, a rundown circus that gives kids nightmares, you know, with things like the fire show. It's a perfect blend of theatrics and amusement, as well as a much more sinister backdrop. And of course, Buggy himself stole the show. Huge props to the actor and all things involved in making the Barabara no Mi feel so damn believable and terrifying. You know, Buggy himself is played terrifically, and especially when he's shouting out the name of his attack, it's the perfect balance of containing a slight hint of a comedic touch, but then also making him feel totally believable as a cruel, brutal villain. And not to mention the special effects, because seriously, that scene did confirm that, yes, devil fruits can work in live action. I mean, I honestly cannot believe how good it looked. And so this has also given me quite high expectations for the next villain, Captain Kuro, because when I think of Romance Dawn, he's probably the antagonist that feels the most creepy, most dark, most eerie, that very sinister evil villain. And although we don't really get to see him himself, we just see his claws from what we do see of him, you know, from what we see of poor Mary being surrounded by his claws. I do have very high expectations about how his character's gonna be pulled off. There's an obvious shortage of Usopp in the trailer, so there's not too much to assess of him, but there is a very short glimpse of the comedic goofiness that I think he's going to play and I think he's going to bring in his role on the show. And the feeling that I get from this trailer is he's going to play that background character that responds to situations and really lightens the tone in a lot of the tense moments. And the scene of him next to Luffy in that booth, which seems to be at a tavern, so maybe it's at Syrup Village or maybe it's in the restaurant at Baratier. It was only a very short glimpse, but I felt like I could really feel Usopp's cheekiness in that short moment. It actually seems like all of Usopp's moments was given to Sanji because we get a great deal of Taz Skylar in his portrayal of Sanji. And I have to say, I am thoroughly impressed. Now, whereas all the previous materials, like the teaser trailer, had me feeling most confident about Inaki's portrayal of Luffy and Makenyu of Zoro. The one that really stood out for me in this trailer was Sanji. The shot of him, what I assume is him leaving the Baratier, perfectly captured Sanji's feeling of bittersweetness. You know, that bittersweet feeling of him getting to leave to chase his dream and find the all blue and starting his journey. But then also the sadness about having to leave Zeph and the rest of the Baratier. And then whereas when it came to his interaction or what I think was his interaction with Nami, that little smile, that sense of love-struckness, you know, his woman obsession, seemed to be a lot more toned down, it gave off much more of a flirty vibe, which was the word going around about the choice that they made. And so if that's the case, and I think that portrayal of Sanji also much better fits the tone and the nature of a live-action series. And so both of these scenes, I think just brilliantly captured Sanji's charm and the trailer also focused on Sanji's fighting and his combat skills. And I have to say, I am thoroughly impressed. Those scenes of Sanji kicking seriously slapped. Or do I have to say seriously kicked in this situation? But especially when he came out of nowhere to kick that fisherman while Zoro was taking care of Chu. I mean, seriously badass. And speaking of which, I actually really liked that interaction between Zoro and Sanji, you know, seeing them little squabble. Obviously that relationship is such a core element, such a core relationship within the series. And so it was really fun to see just the little hint of that in the trailer as well. But then also at the same time, the trailer also showed how well they actually work together side by side in combat. And so from what I can see so far, it looks like Makenyo and Taz has really great chemistry. A noticeable detail is Sanji's accent. He's British English accent, which is really interesting element because on one hand it really does sell the idea that they are all characters from different parts of the world, you know, different countries, the East, Blue, North, Blue, certain villages, whatever. Now the accents themselves don't obviously perfectly fit in with the countries of origin that Oda shared for some of the characters. You know, some of the characters it does like Luffy in Brazil and Zoro in Japan. But then in Sanji's case, Sanji has a British accent instead of a French accent. And so I do wonder how this is all going to play out, especially in the later seasons. And when we have more characters get introduced, I mean, for example, will everyone from Fusha Village have the same accent to sell the idea that they all come from the same village? Or is it even a thing that's going to get addressed in the show? And you know, it doesn't have to, you know, it's not necessarily saying that they do have to address it in the series. But then in terms of changes, Boratia as a whole seems to be blown up and modified the most. And it's become like a massive central location, which I love because Boratia is such a, such a good art so close to my heart. But then on top of the set design for the ship itself, which I have to say is a very different, but all the same, a very, very exciting interpretation of the humble sea restaurant from the manga. But then also from this trailer, it seems like on top of being the introduction to Mihawk, Boratia is also going to serve as our introduction to Arlong. And before we get into that, just quickly about Mihawk. His aesthetic in this trailer also looks super well done. His eyes as well, looks very good, very believable. His appearance on the whole looks a little bit younger than I expected, but still super believable. I really just like his appearance and vibe and aesthetics overall. I'm obviously very excited about the scene between him and Zoro. Just that little snippet of the jewel already has me feeling very excited. And there's also a scene with Zoro in a well, you know, appearing up. And that seems to be inspired by a line from Mihawk from the manga. Mihawk says a line about a frog in a well. And so I wonder whether this is going to play out more like a dream sequence, or whether we're getting a very literal representation and portrayal of a metaphor from the series. And there may be more than one occasions of that. Because there's also a scene where Luffy, Zoro and Namiya are traveling at sea and there's some red flare lights going up into the air. And I'm not really entirely sure what that's supposed to be either. Also, Zoro showing his loyalty to Luffy was just great. And I'm really excited to see what part of the series they're going to put that in. And because, you know, although the dialogue isn't, you know, directly one to one, I'm guessing that's supposed to be the scene when Zoro declares that he's never going to lose again after he loses to Mihawk. But I think the line in the trailer was very well delivered. And I think overall actually, but can you Zoro, that very stoic, serious Zoro? Seems to be one of the most faithful representations of the character from the original series. Especially the post-timeskip, very serious stoic Zoro that we've seen in the post-timeskip. A key question about all of the scenes that we saw of Boratie from the trailer is where is Krieg? And along with Gin, who are both noticeably absent from this trailer. But seeing as the actor for Krieg was casted, it's probably the case that he will actually be there in the series. He just wasn't there for the trailer. You know, in the trailer, they probably just decided to focus on Arlong, who is, by all accounts, the more iconic villain. And speaking of which, on top of Nami being present at Shellstown, introducing Arlong at Boratie is probably one of the biggest changes to the original timeline that we've seen so far. I'm guessing that the way that this is going to happen is that after Luffy's fight with Krieg, Arlong's going to appear, maybe take Nami away, or maybe Nami even led them to Boratie as part of her betrayal of the crew. Either way, the fishmen will take Nami and then the crew are going to go after her to save her. Especially because that shirt that Luffy's wearing where he seems to be kicked out of Boratie by Arlong seems to be that same blue shirt that he was wearing when he was drowning and getting saved by Sanji from the teaser trailer. And speaking of Arlong, terrific casting here as well. In terms of appearance, his size is obviously again smaller, not to scale, not to size, as per the original series. But apart from that, he is a very, very, very believable Arlong. After seeing Usopp not having, you know, that long nose from the teaser trailer, I was wondering what direction they'll take with Arlong. But they did super, super well. His voice, that gruffness, the way that he speaks. I don't know, I really, really believe it. He looks terrifying. Definitely embodies that final boss villain for the saga vibe that I was really anticipating and hoping for. And so again, apart from the size, which I think is very understandable and I personally don't have a big problem with it, the portrayal of Arlong here so far has been brilliant. And the set for Arlong Park looks so amazing as well. So many different shots of different locations at Kokoyashi Village. And it really has me excited for all of these scenes to play out in action. You know, even just that little tease of the Nami's help me scene, even just that little snippet got me feeling goosebumps already. The weakest part for me probably has to be Luffy and the scene of his, you know, barrage of punches against Arlong, just with the CGI. But seriously, it wasn't that bad. And it was actually still much better than I expected of Luffy's devil fruit playing out in live action form. So overall, I am super duper, duper excited. I have watched this trailer more times than I can count. And so I just cannot wait for the actual entire series to come out in all its glory. But anyways, those are just some of my thoughts. Let me know yours by leaving a comment below. Subscribe, like, do all of that jazz, do all of our Patreon and channel members. And thank you for listening to another one of my ramblings. This is your girl and I'll see you again soon.