The anime and manga series created by Eiichiro Oda is among the most successful and long-running fantasy stories to come out of Japan. As Oda himself served as executive producer to the Netflix live-action adaptation of One Piece developed by Matt Owens and Steven Maeda, this may just be the streaming giant’s biggest release of 2023.
Where can you watch One Piece in the UAE?
One Piece is now streaming on Netflix in the UAE. If you don’t have one, you can create a Netflix account to watch this movie and other shows on Netflix. Unfortunately, Netflix does not offer any free trials in the Middle East, so you’ll have to subscribe for at least one month.
One Piece Review
THE GOOD
+ Great acting
+ Fantastic cinematography
+ Impressive special effects
+ Very entertaining
THE BAD
– Certain parts are over-the-top
In the fantastical One Piece universe, the World Government runs a world inhabited by humans and mystical creatures. Two decades before the main narrative, Pirate King Gold Roger uses his execution as an opportunity to inspire people to take to the seas and search for One Piece, his hidden treasure.
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At the heart of the story is Monkey D. Luffy (Inaki Godoy), a young boy whose biggest ambition is to become a pirate and find the One Piece. His inspiration and mentor was Red-Haired Shanks (Peter Gadiot), who refused to take him on his pirate travels. As a boy, he ate a mysterious Devil Fruit that turned his body into stretchy rubber.
Luffy is an eternal optimist. He loves to eat and has a knack for seeing the best in the people he meets. Along the way, he befriends several miscreants and gets them to join his crew. Among them are the sword-wielding Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), professional thief Nami (Emily Rudd), sharpshooter Usopp (Jacob Romero), and cook / martial arts expert Sanji (Taz Skylar).
While Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates are searching for the One Piece, they find trouble everywhere they go. Not only are the marines led by Monkey D. Garp (Vincent Regan) on their tail, but they also need to face several bizarre and terrifying foes like Buggy the Clown (Jeff Ward), Alvida (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino), Axe-Hand Morgan (Langley Kirkwood), and Arlong (McKinley Belcher III).
A great adaptation
Live-action adaptations of animes usually fail to impress. They get panned by long-term fans of the original and struggle to attract new audiences to their stories. More often than not, these adaptations are doomed. That is not the case with One Piece.
Netflix did spend a pretty penny to bring the world of this long-running story (the anime alone has more than 1,000 episodes) to life, and it shows. The series looks amazing; It has that limitless imagination vibe many people love about the genre. Viewers get to experience this vivid and colourful world, where there’s also the occasional grime one would expect from a series about pirates.
One Piece also has a fantastically talented cast who do a great job at humanizing characters fans only got to know as 2D drawings. Godoy stands out in the lead role, and his portrayal of the ever-optimistic loudmouth Luffy is remarkable.
Throughout the first season, the show spends a lot of time diving into the character’s backgrounds and painting a picture of the world they populate. We learn who these characters are, their background, and how they end up joining Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. While some long-term fans of the series may find the expositional parts tedious, it does mean that anyone can start enjoying this series; No previous knowledge of One Piece lore is required.
One Piece is a charming and entertaining fantasy series. It’s got a compelling story, and a group of interesting characters, and it looks great. This is probably the best original series Netflix released all year.
What are other critics saying about One Piece?
Dan Murrell enjoyed the adaptation and found it accessible as someone with limited knowledge of the anime.
Austin Burke loves the series and found it very entertaining.
Movies And Munchies enjoyed the series and its immersive world-building.
