New Netflix series One Piece has already smashed a record set by Stranger Things and Wednesday.
The show is a live-action adaptation of a Japanese manga series of the same name, and has already impressed viewers around the world.
Take a look at the trailer below:
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From the get-go, Netflix were tasked with converting Eiichiro Oda's bestselling manga series - which has been around since 1997 - to the big screen - well, the one in your living room.
The pirate adventure saga follows Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) who gathers a crew of Straw Hat pirates-to-be: swordsman Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), thief Nami (Emily Rudd), marksman Usopp (Jacob Romero), and chef Sanji (Taz Skylar).
Luffy long dreams of becoming the 'King of the Pirates' and is on a mission to find pirate Gold Roger’s (Michael Dorman) mysterious treasure, the One Piece.
“At the center of [the story] is Luffy, who is this little beacon of optimism who just will never be told no or beaten down,” series co-creator Steven Maeda explains.
“That’s the thing that makes [the story] special, that through all of this, Luffy is the one who perseveres and who keeps everybody on the right course.
“Even though they don’t know exactly where they’re going, they know what they want — he’s their guiding light in a lot of ways.”
Well, according to data provider FlixPatrol, One Piece season 1 has already beaten a record set by Wednesday and Stranger Things season 4.
The live-action adaptation has now taken the top spot on Netflix's charts in 84 countries, whereas Wednesday and Stranger Things season 4, came in at number one in 83 countries on their debut weekends.
“It’s full of character backstories and birth dates and heights, [and] their favorite foods,” said Maeda. “We scoured those and thought that brought a lot of wonderful emotional grounding with the characters.”
“Oda and his source material, his designs, that’s always our north star,” co-producer Matt Owens added.
Costume designer Diana Cilliers also payed homage to Oda's great work, explaining: “I used the Color Walk as an absolute master book, which I consulted constantly.
“It’s an absolutely amazing experience reading [it] and I was quite overwhelmed by the genius of Oda’s work.”
At the time of writing, critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given it a modest 83 percent, while the audience went for a high 96 percent.
"So so good. Great cast and great acting. Very well made," one viewer wrote.
While another added: "I have watched it, and it exceeded my expectations! It is the one of the best web series/tv show which I have ever seen. It deserves a rating of 5 stars. Everyone must watch it as this is the first successful anime live action adaptation, and it is very good."
If you want to see if the hype is real, you can check out One Piece on Netflix now.
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix, Entertainment
Anish Vij