Mega Anime Remake Staying True To The Manga
When manga first reached global attention, many anime were censored. The stigma that all animated shows were for children was still strong at the time, and anime had to adapt to fit this stereotype with shows specifically aimed at kids, like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon, which faced some censorship. One Piece, first released in 1999, faced the same problem, but the One Piece remake by Wit Studio (Ranking of Kings) has a chance to delve into the violent and dark aspects of the story without having to worry about censorship.
A More Accurate One Piece
Censorship was especially notable in the original One Piece, where cigarettes, gory scenes, and fights are heavily altered throughout the series. Now, the perception of anime has changed quite a bit, and darker plots are more common. Wit Studio says that because of this, they can make the One Piece remake closer to what the original manga artist, Eiichiro Oda, originally wanted it to be, gore and all.
The art released by Wit Studio also supports the idea that they’re not backing down from telling the story accurately in their One Piece remake. Though they’ve only released concept art so far, there are a few images where the scenes are definitely more bloody than the original and, therefore, much more accurate to the original story.
Following The Original Style
The concept art reveals the team’s passion and dedication to the story as well. Though the original One Piece was more dated in the art style and character design, there was some worry about losing that classic feel in an attempt to make the characters more modern. However, the concept art shows that the One Piece remake is sticking very close to the original art style by Oda.
25 Years Of Material
That wasn’t easy to do as the team wanted the art to be consistent across the anime, which meant they had a specific art style to choose. The One Piece manga has been going on for a quarter of a century now, though, and during that time, the art style has changed and grown over the years. Wit Studio had to decide which version of the art they wanted to highlight in the One Piece remake.
“With One Piece continuously being published for 25 years, the drawing style of Oda-sensei changes too,” Kyoji Asano (Spy x Family), the character designer for the One Piece remake explained during a special presentation for One Piece Day 2024. “There was a task of choosing which type of One Piece drawings we had to stick with for The One Piece. I thought if I could take the drawing types into my head, I would manage it. There were times I was worried if we could even start.”
The One Piece Will Be Much Shorter
Another difference between the One Piece remake and the original is the length. Though still in production, there are over 1,000 episodes of the original. Wit Studio’s remake is looking to be quite a bit shorter.
Though no information has been released yet on the exact length, it seems that Wit Studio is planning to go with a slightly more traditional adaptation for their One Piece remake, speeding up the story and shortening the series as a whole.
No Release Date Yet
There are parts of the original One Piece where the anime was stretched out so far it didn’t even cover a full chapter of the manga. With many anime covering at least two episodes, this is pretty drawn out. If the One Piece remake follows this method, fans will be looking at a slightly faster series that will still consist of over 500 episodes if the full thing gets adapted.
Unfortunately, while Wit Studio is doing a great job of teasing and creating hype for the adaptation, there is no release date as of yet for the One Piece remake. If you want to watch One Piece, you’ll have to settle for the original, on Crunchyroll.
