Japanese manga series One Piece breaks Netflix curse as it debuts with near perfect Rotten Tomatoes score

Netflix has broken a pesky curse thanks to a live-action adaptation of a Japanese manga series that has astounded viewers and critics alike.

The streaming service’s latest offering is One Piece, an eight-episode swashbuckler adventure series that has been praised by viewers for remaining true to its source material, incredible casting and writing.

Fans are introduced to Captain Monkey D. Luffy (played by Iñaki Godoy) and his ragtag group of straw hat pirates.

The crew spend their time on the hunt for mythical treasure across the ocean because if they’re successful in locating it, he’ll become the best pirate ever.

One Piece has received an impressive 95 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with over 5,000 submitted reviews, which is not too different from the 83 percent score from reviews by professional critics, at the time of writing.

Not only are these scores an impressive feat in itself, Netflix has a poor track record when it comes to making live-action versions of anime and manga, meaning One Piece has set a well-deserved higher standard going forward.

Netflix

All it takes to make an anime fan shudder is mention Netflix’s 2017 film adaptation of the hugely popular title Death Note, which has a poor critical score of 36 percent and a tragic audience score of 23 percent. You would normally expect audiences - the people who love the original IP - to be a bit more forgiving in comparison to critics, but that was not the case here.

Death Note, which is based on the Japanese manga of the same name created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, is a supernatural crime thriller that follows an American high school student who finds a mysterious supernatural notebook called Death Note. The notebook can kill anyone whose name is written in its pages.

Netflix

Meanwhile, Netflix’s 2021 feature-length version of Cowboy Bebop accumulated a critical score of 46 percent and an audience score of 60 percent. The film is based on the Japanese neo-noir space Western anime series created by Hajime Yatate.

There was a lot of trepidation among fans leading up to the release of One Piece and judging by Netflix’s track record, you can totally understand why. The series is sprinkled with nods to the manga it’s, which is most pleasing to hardcore fans while the casting makes the show accessible to all.

So, what are you waiting for? Stream One Piece this weekend!