I think it was a solid show, not amazing, but not bad. Definitely had it's ups and downs. I do wonder how I would view this show if I hadn't experienced the source material. I think they made some interesting choices that worked out really well and some that didn't. It succeeding in not being a 1:1 adaption while capturing the uniqueness of one piece, but also having it's own vibe. I think it really could have benefited from 2 more episodes to slow down, build a bit more, and let some bigger moments have time to land and settle.
The bad:
- I didn't care for their Garp portrayal or the need to incorporate him so much. I get adding an extra marine chase element upped the stakes, but it failed to create any real additional tension. I think a potential option could have been using Garp picking up Koby, getting wind of Luffy, and then maybe calling Fullbody or Smoker.
- I know Oda oversaw and approved changes, but I think this is classic Oda, he has very limited care for characters that aren't either main characters or his favorites and gives a lot of leeway there. Which is why he probably didn't care about who they cast as Benn Beckman or I assume didn't fight the Garp changes.
- Roger and his speech needed way more presence and weight. I think that's an issue throughout this adaptation. The emotional moments don't have weight, don't have time to breathe as they quickly move to the next scene, and just don't really hit to add depth.
- Zoro's flashback, I don't think the acting was good at all here and lacked emotion completely. Felt extremely flat.
- Luffy's action sequences were not good IMO. He did not come off as powerful, Inaki when doing the choreography for attacks did not get his body into the hits to aide the CGI of the stretches. It'd just be stretching limb but he'd look stiff. I think a small change here would have gone a long way of making his hits feel heavier and making his action feel more dynamic. Really just Luffy's action doesn't do enough to make him feel strong at all.
- Episode 4 drags. I guess Syrup village is hard to do in any medium, but could have refocused some things like taking out Coby and Helmeppo from the arc and giving Ussop (I think his actor and portrayal is really good and this is from someone who doesn't care for Ussop) more time to shine. He feels like an afterthought in his own arc.
- Mihawk and Zoro fight was not bad, but I think it needed just more time to breathe as a focal point.
- Not sure why they got rid of Hachi
The Good:
- The main cast is good. Again to the presence and weight issues I think Shanks' presence was lacking but overall main characters were really good. I think this is my favorite version of Ussop, I think Sanji was really well done, Buggy was great, Nami was really good and her "Help Me" scene worked. I think the weakest link in the main cast may actually be Luffy and I think that's mainly because Luffy is a hard character to do justice. I think it comes back to maybe not feeling super fluid but that might be his limitations as an actor.
- Set pieces and design are great. Locations looked great, I think Baratie was enhanced with the bar and lighthouse and multiple levels, Syrup village being a shipping city was cool, the marine base in shells town felt right. Arlong Park having more theme park vibes was good. I think a nice addition from the manga or anime would be having extras around to make place feel lively when the main cast is around
- I think the change of having Syrup Village take place in the mansion was much better and made the arc more interesting, but I think they could have utilized Ussop more (maybe by including Jango as one of the staff members) and Luffy vs Kuro was underwhelming
- Zoro fight choreography was great. Sanji's was too, so wish he got more moments
- Zeff was great, reinforcing the passing to a new generation theme
- I really like having the bounty posters pop up when characters are introduced, small flourishes like that and the unique character centric logos in each episode went a long way
- I like Mihawk and his extended introduction
- Cover pages used for more variety in outfits was a good choice
- I think overall it catches the vibe of the series and the world of One Piece and I think it does a good job of being its own thing
