One Piece Showrunner Regrets Not Being Able to Do One Thing in Season 1

Steven Maeda, showrunner of the recent One Piece adaptation, pointed out one thing that the show failed to properly portray. Now he explains why it happened.

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Mateusz Libera11 September 2023

Source: One Piece, Steven Maeda, Netflix, 2023

First season of One Piece from Netflix almost adapted the climactic finale of the East Blue Saga from the manga. The showrunner, Steven Maeda, said he wanted to include many plot elements, but not everything went his way. In an interview with ScreenRant the filmmaker admitted that he could not devote enough time to the characters from the popular manga, which lived to see a live action series. The reason for the omission of some storylines was that they were too expensive to shoot.

Now Steven Maeda has admitted that he wanted to tackle the adaptation of Loguetown Arc, but had to to postpone the idea due to overly expensive shoots. Since this is the sixth part of the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates, Maeda admitted that it would have been too early to develop this thread.

"I felt that we were in a hurry, but it would also be an expensive production. So for that reason, I definitely have some regrets."

He further admitted that as showrunner he "needed two more episodes to introduce Logue Town, but there wasn't enough budget." and "there wasn't enough screen time" to do it.

"There was no room in those eight episodes to do it the way it needed to be done."

Logue Town does appear in Netflix's adaptation, but is only a background indirectly affecting Luffy's early life.

"That's why we see Logue Town at the very beginning, during Rogers' execution. After that, I wanted to return to that place, but it was impossible to fit it into eight episodes," explains Maeda.

Loguetown Arc represents the conclusion of the East Blue Saga in the manga. It is in this eponymous place that the pirates stop briefly to replenish their supplies. In the original, the town itself influenced the characters, including the main protagonist Luffy. Presenting these themes in a live action series would be an excellent opportunity for the creators to explain the motivations of the protagonist.

The biggest challenge for the showrunner in creating the series was to finding the right balance. Maeda admitted that it was difficult for him to dissect the idea for the adaptation, as he wondered "what stories to tell and how to divide them into seasons." At the same time, the filmmaker did not want to disappoint the fans.

"People are so devoted that they would be horrified if we spoiled their favorite manga. I felt a huge responsibility," he explained.

All eight episodes of the first season of One Piece can be watched on Netflix.

More:Pirates on the Offensive; Billion-dollar Losses Claimed by Japan's Entertainment Industry

RELATED TOPICS: anime Netflix launch (movies) comic book movies Steven Maeda ONE PIECE

Mateusz Libera

He began his writing adventure by creating stories, later he followed the humanities path, choosing studies in journalism and social communication. He published his first texts on his personal blog and for contests. At the beginning of 2023, he joined the film department of GRYOnline.pl, where he started working as an author of articles about movies. He is interested in fantasy, history, RPG games, and strategies. He is also a long-time player of League of Legends - he has been playing since the second season. Additionally, he writes adventure and fantasy books, but in this field he is still a novice. Currently, he has published one collection of stories.

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