Rarely-seen One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has appeared in a new video to give his blessing to the Netflix live-action adaptation of his much-loved manga and anime series.
In a video (which we've embedded below) shared on One Piece social feeds, One Piece's lead actor Iñaki Godoy (who plays Monkey D. Luffy) presents the manga artist with a gift: his very own "Transponder Snail" (otherwise known as a Den Den Mushi, to fans of the manga).
Whilst Oda himself does not appear in the video — he's known for not liking his face to be shown publicly, and his face is covered with a drawing whilst he's on-camera — we do hear his voice coming loud and clear through the bizarre communication device. By the sounds of things, he's very happy with how things have progressed on the Netflix series!
"As a Hollywood production, the action and VFX are great, not to mention the performances by the cast", Oda said. "But above all, I want to call attention to how perfect the Straw Hat cast are. It's like you're watching the Straw Hats in real life, which I'd love for you to savor."
We’re overjoyed to present this special message from Oda-Sensei directly from his very own Transponder Snail! 🐌 Our voyage is about to begin, Straw Hats. On to the Great Pirate Era! #OnePieceNetflix pic.twitter.com/bJoDb1z1RNAugust 29, 2023
For anyone unfamiliar with the story, One Piece follows Monkey D. Luffy, an adventurous young boy who dreams of setting sail on the high seas and becoming the King of the Pirates by claiming the mythical One Piece treasure. In order to realize his dreams, he assembles a star crew known as the Straw Hat Pirates and sets off for all manner of adventures on the high seas.
Joining Iñaki Godoy on his voyage are: Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp and Taz Skylar as Sanji.
Additional cast for the series includes Vincent Regan, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Morgan Davies, Aidan Scott, Langley Kirkwood, Jeff Wars, Celeste Loots, Alexander Maniatis, McKinley Belcher III, Craig Fairbrass, Steven Ward, and Chioma Umeala.
One Piece starts streaming on Netflix on Thursday, August 31, with all eight episodes available at launch.
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