For IGN, it’s a downside for the One Piece Live-Action to be faithful to the Manga
If there’s one thing I tend to avoid doing on this website, it’s a critical review of anything. The “Commentaries” (a category of posts where I watch anime and provide commentary) are just that – commentaries. These posts are where I simply share my thoughts on the episodes, my opinion, and they are not a critical analysis.
So, when certain websites dedicate themselves to critically analyzing a game, TV show, or any other content, if it is inconsistent, it can end up being bombarded with messages from fans who always notice these things.
For IGN, it’s a downside for the One Piece Live-Action to be faithful to the Manga
The IGN website is notoriously known for engaging in various controversial reviews. Fans never forget the “Too much water” comment that Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire received when IGN pointed out that the excessive water was a negative aspect.
Now, with all the positive reception the One Piece live-action series is getting, IGN reviewed the series, and their reviewer gave it a score of 6, essentially blaming the attempt of the One Piece live-action to stay faithful to the manga as the reason for its failure.
In his verdict, the reviewer, Kenneth Seward Jr, says the following:
“Netflix’s One Piece strives to recreate the magic of its source material in live-action, but this requires discarding some parts of the plot. This creates an interesting variation of the long-running manga and anime that works in parts, and the Netflix series is at its best when charting its own course in response to changes made by showrunner Matt Owens and the writing team.”
In the above passage, he suggests that the series is at its best when presenting its original scenes, implying that it should not necessarily follow the original manga. Continuing, he says:
“Unfortunately, instead of fully committing to this retelling, One Piece constantly navigates back to familiar waters and fan service, muddying the experience. It’s a shame, considering that most other aspects – from visual and practical effects to wild action scenes and a captivating cast – work well together.”
By giving it a score of 6, the summary of the review is as follows:
“Netflix’s One Piece is a fun adaptation that is hampered by the desire to recreate all the major events found in its source material.” Hence, it received a score of 6.
Fans criticize IGN, which gave Cowboy Bebop a score of 7
After IGN released this review, fans began to criticize the site, and many remembered that this is the same site that gave the Cowboy Bebop series a score of 7, which, as a reminder, was canceled by Netflix and will not return. In their review, IGN states:
“Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop succeeds in unapologetically celebrating and embracing the anime, even if some attempts to add to the storyline fall flat.”
Let’s see some comments:
“IGN is a joke.”
“Wow, IGN, who did this review? The director of Netflix’s Death Note?”
“Wait… you’re criticizing the series… for being faithful to the source material? What? The biggest complaint about anime live-actions is that they are NOT faithful to the source material.”
“Isn’t that what an adaptation should be?”
“6/10, too much accuracy.”
“Worse than Cowboy Bebop? Nah.”
“I read the whole review and still disagree. The goal of the adaptation is to try to be like the Manga. Obviously, it won’t be 1:1 because it’s almost impossible to do so. But I like that it tries to be its own. Each of these episodes made me feel the passion and emotion of when I first watched One Piece. I almost cried when Shanks gave the hat to Luffy. The heart is still very much in the series, and I hope there’s a second season.”
“But what are you guys talking about?”
“Of course, the one time anime fans are happy with an adaptation is when the clowns pretending to be critics aren’t.”
“IGN gave a lower score to One Piece compared to the live-actions of Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, and Halo for actually considering the source material this time.”
“If you genuinely think the One Piece live-action was worse than Cowboy Bebop or Death Note, then I’m not listening to you.”
“Translation: they’d rather watch a 60-second TikTok video summarizing the series.”
“What a joke. This is why I don’t trust specialized critics at all. What matters most is who’s consuming it for entertainment and enjoying it.”
“One Piece fans want to see a live-action adaptation of the story they’re fans of? What a shock!”
Read More on Crazy for Anime Trivia
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- “he was tough” says One Piece live action Showrunner about Oda
- Actor Playing Luffy in One Piece Live-Action Visits Shueisha