One Piece Live-Action Star Didn’t Want Best Part Of Anime Series
The live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s beloved manga and anime series is probably one of the most anticipated Netflix shows this year, and it has swept through the top charts ever since One Piece debuted on August 31. The live-action series took a ton of cues from the original One Piece anime and manga, but Iñaki Godoy, the actor portraying One Piece’s protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, intentionally left the best part out- Luffy’s voice..
In his interview with Teen Vogue, which was recorded before the SAG-AFTRA strike, actor Iñaki Godoy discussed various elements that went into his portrayal of Luffy in the live-action One Piece. Iñaki also discussed his aversion to copying the voice of the iconic character—something that di-hard fans of the anime have been able to pick out.
“I watched the anime. Mayumi Tanaka has been voicing Luffy for a very long time, since 1999. And what she has done is amazing. Amazing. And I would never try to replicate any of that. Because that’s her own thing. She created her own version of this character, and I have to do my own thing with the live-action too. So, y’know, more than paying attention to what the dub actors were doing, I really just paid attention to what the character was all about.”
Iñaki Godoy
The actor stated that he actually watched the Japanese dub of the anime, praising Mayumi Tanaka’s voicing of Luffy, stating that she made her own version of the character and that he would never try to replicate any of that.
Instead, he stated that he had to add his own twist to the live-action version of the character, much like Tanaka did with her own performance. So, instead of focusing on what the dub actors were doing, which also included paying attention to the voice acting, Iñaki Godoy focused more on what the character was “all about.”
He also remarked on the importance of the animated adaptation and live adaptation of One Piece coexisting rather than the latter being a pale copy of the former. We have to say that it actually worked.
The actor used his natural accent for the series, explaining how he found the right tone of voice for Luffy with time—it just came naturally. Iñaki praised the show’s script, stating that it actually inspired his performance by “pushing him” to say the lines in a certain way, resulting in a fantastic overall performance that significantly contributed to One Piece becoming a smash hit for Netflix.
Has Netflix Greenlit One Piece Season 2?
Smash hits usually imply renewals, but with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the One Piece renewal, while almost guaranteed, is on hold.
Season 2 of the One Piece live-action series would have to cover a big portion of the narrative, which is something that has been contented by the fandom. Some fans feel like Season One, despite its greatness and fantastic performance with the viewers, was somewhat rushed, with many minor story elements cut out.
While these don’t actually affect the narrative in any major way, the fans still enjoy these small moments in their favorite IPs—the fandom’s reaction to a deleted scene from Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime is a perfect example.
In the end, One Piece manga and anime have been going strong for more than 20 years now, and Netflix really has plenty of material to work with. According to unverified sources, the scripts for Season 2 of the live-action adaptation have been drafted, written, and ready to go, but the ongoing strikes are to blame for the delay in filming—producers are hoping to leverage the demands of the masses and pressure the SAG-AFTRA into accepting a less favorable deal.
