- Starring
- Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Machenyu
- Creators
- Steven Maeda & Matt Owens
- Rating
- TV-14
- Genre
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Release date
- August 31, 2023
- Where to watch
- Netflix
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
Still in publication today, ONE PIECE began its life as a Manga comic in 1997. It would be adapted to a still-running anime series only two years later.
ONE PIECE (season 1)
Set in a fictional world with an eclectic mix of culture and quirky anachronisms, the first season of ONE PIECE introduces us to Monkey D. Luffy, a relentlessly cheerful and hopeful adventurer/would-be-pirate in search of the ONE PIECE, a legendary pirate treasure, the finder of which will be named the King of The Pirates.
As Luffy stumbles his way into finding a crew complimentary of his eccentricities, they will have to face many perils and pitfalls if they are to become a team worthy of such an adventure.
ONE PIECE’s charm lies in its fanciful locales and a pervasive sense of optimism and adventure served up by a host of charismatic Anime archetypes. A visual tribute to its Manga and Anime inspiration, every frame is packed with lovingly detailed eye candy and tended to by those who clearly love the source material.
Riding almost entirely on the diminutive shoulders of Iñaki Godoy, who plays Monkey D. Luffy, the first season of ONE PIECE is a mostly pleasant diversion. Godoy’s Luffy is infectiously cheery and optimistic, with Godoy giving one of the series’s handfuls of standout performances – more thanks to commitment and dynamism than to dynamics.
UPDATE: Google has penalized us for using Morgan Davis’s correct pronouns and referring to her gender dysphoria as a mental illness. They have subsequently shut off our ad revenue for this review. So please, if you could, click on the VidAngel ad below to help us out. We are a VidAngel affiliate and we get a bit of pocket change for every click. Furthermore, we believe in their product, and with a show such as ONE PIECE, that is clearly marketed for children but full of curse words, it’s actually a great product to have.
Simply put, there is never a moment in which Godoy is not completely committed to the character, and his driving energy manages to carry the series even through some of its uneven moments, especially within the season’s first half.
The series’ first four episodes are spent somewhat laboriously world-building. Fortunately for the series, it’s a fairly interesting world. Unfortunately, these episodes often feel aimlessly bloated with filler adventure and overstuffed with new characters who will be more important in later seasons. That said, fans of the source material will likely be enamored with these episodes thanks to Super Mario Bros. Movie level of easter eggs.
However, it is not until episode 5 that the series begins to genuinely engage new viewers. The main ensemble begins to gel at this point, and a subplot with weighty and immediate consequences is initiated. Furthermore, we’re given our first character introduction with empathetic relationship dynamics. Until this point, character backstories consisted of those striving to be the best swordsman and those wanting to keep law and order, etc., giving the casual viewer little reason to connect.
Episode 5 also introduces one of the best additions to the series, Dracule Mihawk. Mihawk is a pirate considered to be the best swordsman in the world. While he does little in his introductory episode, and what he does is of little actual consequence, his “cool factor” is off the charts, making him an instant fan favorite. Played to James-Dean-like perfection by the relatively unknown Steven John Ward, Mihawk presents both ONE PIECE novices and veterans alike with their first unequivocal and unanimous thing to look forward to in future installments.
Rounding out the series’s standouts is McKinley Beltcher III’s Arlong. Arlong is the leader of a band of criminal “fish people” who want to destroy and subjugate humanity. Beltcher’s (did anyone tell him about stage names) ability to project anything, let alone murderous menace, while beneath 60 lbs of makeup and prosthetics ending in a cartoonishly toothy nose says more about his abilities than anything else.
Not everything in ONE PIECE is fair seas and Devil Fruit. The pacing, especially in the first half – especially especially episodes 3 and 4, can be a little off, and not every actor is as up to the task as others. While most of these are tertiary characters easily forgotten when their respective scenes are done, there is one performer whose every minute of screen time feels like thirty.
Morgan Davies of Evil Dead Rise fame plays Koby, a prisoner rescued by Luffy and then who enlists in the morally questionable World Government Marines. As a timid would-be hero, Davies displays all the emotional range and sincerity of a barnacle, vacillating between wide blank eyes and slightly wider blank eyes. To be fair, though, she occasionally and awkwardly shakes her head in a bizarre emphasis of extreme excitement or paralyzing fear. The jarring level to which her distractingly bad performance brings every moment she is in to a complete screeching stop cannot be over-emphasized.
Davies and its other imperfections notwithstanding, ONE PIECE is a surprising bit of streaming pirate treasure that, while binge-able, is worth stretching out its viewing, especially with the upcoming programming desert on the horizon.
Finally, remember that while we have marked the series as Worth it, there is a significant caveat in the Woke Elements below.
ONE PIECE Family Warning
Despite its colorful imagery and cartoon and comic book origins, ONE PIECE is not intended for children. Families should pay close attention to the TV-14 rating. There are a number of violent interactions, bloody off-camera deaths, and copious cursing, including an f-bomb.
WOKE ELEMENTS
Hiring practices are woke when the studios artificially try to fill a self-made diversity quota. While certainly filled with a diverse cast, ONE PIECE matches the source material’s diversity to a T, with one Sea King-sized exception.
- It gets a bit preachy and self-righteous concerning the Fish People’s past subjugation and enslavement by humans.
- Ok. Here’s the big one. Morgan Davies, who plays the male character Koby, is a biological female (aka a woman) whose mental illness and surgical mutilation are praised and encouraged by the Left and especially Leftist filmmakers. Her inclusion in this series wouldn’t be so bad, except that she is. That is to say that her performance is so distractingly awful that it is more than clear that the only reason that she was cast was because she is mentally ill. What’s more, is that her role in this part of the adventure was significantly increased in size and scope compared to the source material.
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
42 comments
Chuck Sneed
September 13, 2023 at 4:10 am
I never heard of a female getting surgery to become a man, what’s next, a surgery to become a horse? I bet next year all the children will be pushed into getting surgery to become horse people, and the woke left will celebrate it
Lesley
September 13, 2023 at 12:19 pm
This is already happening… my couosins nephews kid at school knows another kid that got cat surgery to become a cat because he is catsezual, and they have to put litterboxes in the classroom at school for him to poop in. Biden’s woke America has gone way too far…
Roon
February 16, 2024 at 1:14 pm
We’re just supposed to take your word for it eh? Go cuck yourself bruh
Roon
February 16, 2024 at 1:35 pm
Your cousins nephews kids best friends cousins dads sisters mothers uncles daughters cousin knows another kid that got dog surgery too yeah?
James Savile
September 13, 2023 at 2:03 pm
There is a (non woke and very redpilled) movie called ‘SORRY TO BOTHER YOU’ which exposes the future of the Left’s horse surgery future plans, definitely worth watching if you are concerned about the future of trans-horse-sexuals that are being pushed by the woke left horse mob.
Marjorie Stewart Baxter
September 14, 2023 at 6:48 am
I heard of these trans-animals who call them selves ‘furrys’ on the Internet, this is the next stage of the woke trans left and their sexual perversions. If you search Google for ‘furry pornography’ there is hundreds of millions of results, mostly featuring characters and animals designed to appeal to young children. Google and big tech are letting this happen, and the Biden Admin is doing NOTHING… makes you think……
Jimbo the Bimbo
October 5, 2023 at 8:59 pm
The whole trans-animal part isn’t really true. But, by and large anything “Furry” is a sign of our degenerating world at best and completely demonic at worst. I think it’s a form of escapism that went *way* too far, and it wouldn’t happen in a world that’s not as sterile as ours. I’ll also bet the sexual stuff pops into your 12, 13 year old kids google search when they’re searching up something different, so, frankly, be careful with letting them have internet access, and maybe get them out into the world *safely* somehow while you’re at it. Perhaps even if it means you have to flee the sick west and leave it behind, or move out to a farm…
Everything tech is designed to confuse at this point, like ABC KIDS putting drag queens on their shows in Aus, the mindless news propaganda, google search results being controlled… And nobody even acts human anymore (what do you think’s causing such unspeakable *######* in the first place?) and I don’t want to be in this world, at this point in time…
Thank God at least for whoever invented VHS, and whoever figured out how to digitalise it, and whoever took it upon themselves to upload the tapes online… It’s how I know things were *normal* once, and what *normal* even IS. Same goes for the old video games that let me know I’m not crazy for I vaguely remember the summer sky a much deeper shade of blue when I was very small…
But why won’t God *just make things right,* then? Send us a solar flare from space or something… hell… I don’t, wouldn’t mind. Maybe God wants me to make a faraday bag with the USB backup of tapes and humanity I never quite completed *first.*
David
September 13, 2023 at 5:45 pm
For season 2, you might also want to warn people about Bon Clay. Basically, he’s drag queen Jim Carrey in a bizarre swan tutu outfit with the power to transform his appearance to match anyone he touches. He comes from (I kid you not) Okama (Queer) Island.
Future prediction: Netflix is going to go nuts with him.
Nick
January 5, 2024 at 9:18 am
Bon clay or the new kama never have been a problem for the one piece universe, because “eastern-media” doesn´t shove it in your throat. Clay is very popular among fans and everyone, but indeed they will abuse that and make him disgusting.
Hank Hoggins
September 14, 2023 at 8:40 am
Yeah, totally agree. Transgenderism is the first step, then it’s trans-species ism. The Elites, WHO and Democrats want to literally transition us to animals, into easily controlled cattle for their exploitative machine. And I definitely think the vaccine, and the China virus from the wuhan lab, has something to do with it – they will change our dna and divide our species to conquer us. It’s all part of the communist plot
Peter File
September 14, 2023 at 10:21 am
Remember the ivermectin to treat covid? It was everywhere in the MSM. They are already giving us horse medicine! I am totally on board with the horse gender theory, the evidence is everywhere
Jack
September 14, 2023 at 10:44 am
Glad this show isn’t too woke but still won’t be watching, I don’t want to see a transexual in any show or in real life
Jedediah Merle
September 14, 2023 at 12:52 pm
My cousins buddy is a cop and he says there are some arrest reports on ANTIFA members that tested positive for horse DNA… I would say the Biden administration is trialling horse transition medical technology already already on their useful idiots
Kent
September 14, 2023 at 4:34 pm
If someone was dimwitted enough to join ‘antifa’ or ‘BLM’ then they were probably already related to a horse… LOL!
Interesting theory though, I will have to look into this left-wing horse transition theory
Kirk
September 15, 2023 at 12:30 pm
My cousin Earl who does a lot of crystal meths and watches Alex Jones also keeps talking about this stuff lol… Some people even believe that the horse DNA people are descended from an ancient civilisation who evolved from horses, and they are teaming up with communists and liberals to take over the monkey based humans (people). Case in point: AOC! Definitely related to a horse! Lol!
👁️ Illuminati Lizard Man
September 17, 2023 at 9:33 am
According to the latest update from the top minds, the horse DNA files are on non other than… HUNTER BIDENS LAPTOP! 😂😂
Delroy
September 17, 2023 at 3:14 pm
Alex Jones is a plant, he is a media democrat paid for by George Soros to make conservatives look bad and crazy. All of those ‘crazy conspiracy conservatives’ you see are paid actors working for Soros, Bill Gates and the global cabal.
And you can make fun of Hunter’s Laptop all you want, but he was definitely hiding something big on there that the left doesn’t want you to know
Kent
September 18, 2023 at 8:46 am
Can I get a source for the antifa soldiers testing positive for horse DNA please?
Nony
September 19, 2023 at 4:13 pm
I hope my comments don’t start a war, but I will reluctantly defend Morgan Davies.
I am someone who has seen parts of the original show, and the American dub of Season One is grating and annoying to me, like everyone wants to be Naruto. I never get far past Buggy before I quit in disgust. Koby is short-lived and more annoying than any character except Luffy (to me.) The live action version managed to be very enjoyable, and unless I’m mistaken, VA Garp had very little screen time in the original. So keeping Koby around to give deeper insight to Garp is an understandable move. And frankly, Morgan Davies nailed the look. I don’t agree with Miss Davies, but I’m glad to have gotten through the first season, understanding a little better what the show has planned. Will I watch later seasons? Jim Carrey-esque in drag will be a deal breaker.
David
September 19, 2023 at 11:30 pm
If Bon Clay is played like he is in the manga/anime, people might begrudgingly end up liking him. My warning about him is just that he is what he is, and Netflix people are who *they* are, so certain things aren’t unlikely to happen.
What *I’m* scared to think about is what Netflix will do with Emporio Ivankov, come season 6 (should they get that far). He (?) is one of the leaders of a group of revolutionaries fighting the World Government, and the leader of the queers. He/She (I literally *can’t* avoid pronoun confusion with this one character) appears as an overweight, ugly man with massive purple hair and full makeup, wearing skintight leather and fishnet leggings. Ivankov is someone who ate a fruit that makes them able to change their sex (or the sex of anyone around them) at will. His introduction in the anime is he and his (that’s what I’m going with) minions having a drag show party in a secret room of the maximum security prison they’ve been held captive in, and turning a Marine they’ve grabbed into a woman against his will. Side note: every character in One Piece has a weird laugh/catchphrase that is unique to them. Emporio says HEEHAW everywhere.
If you haven’t recoiled in horror yet, I’ll say that One Piece is absolutely *not* a woke manga, in spite of all the ^^above^^. The manga has been in publication for a *long* time; the term didn’t even exist for most of the manga’s existence. As best as I can tell, Oda graduated from the “live and let live” school of morals. At the same time, unlike Hollywood types, if Oda introduces characters that are complete unnatural freaks of nature, he doesn’t shy away from the fact that that’s what they are. It’s just that his stance seems to be, “They can be the most bizarre, unnatural characters ever, so long as they’re not hurting anybody.” That kind of “middle ground” morality doesn’t work in reality, but it *is* better than what Hollywood does.
Now, Ivankov is treated as a good guy pretty much the whole time, has yet to be punished (other than being in jail and probably scheduled to be executed at some point in the near future when Luffy finds him), and probably won’t be. Admittedly I can’t really square that with the rest of it. Make of that what you will.
Nick
January 5, 2024 at 9:21 am
you do realize that coby is the marine counterpart to luffy…he will be a top5 main character throughout the whole thing. remember my words
Steve Castle
September 20, 2023 at 5:19 am
As a watcher of the anime and someone who has begun the live action show, I’m somewhat let down by your review. It’s clear you’re a fellow fan however in that case you must be aware One Piece would not be nearly so popular with a Western audience if not for the English language dub, which features a woman giving voice to Luffy. It seems bizarre to criticize the exact same thing simply because it’s live action this time… Shakespearean tradition be damned? Unfortunate! Otherwise agreed with a lot of what you said.
James Carrick
September 20, 2023 at 7:04 am
Never seen an episode of the cartoon. And I stand by the fact that the only reason this particular woman was cast (because she is terrible) is because she’s mentally ill. If they wanted a girl to play Koby (re classic live-action Peter Pan), it wouldn’t have been difficult to find an actress who isn’t confused by her genitals. This was pure politics.
Steve Castle
September 20, 2023 at 7:37 am
Never seen an episode? I assumed you were linking to references because you were familiar with the show. I suppose not. What mental illness caused this actor to be hired? Perhaps I’m as familiar with new medical research as you are with One Piece.
James Carrick
September 20, 2023 at 8:00 am
Morgan Davies is a woman who believes that she is a man.
Roon
February 16, 2024 at 1:33 pm
Ah, that’s the spreadable illness you mentioned and that’s the mental illness that he needs to get fixed to be truly great and be the woman god wanted him to be, and magically the illness will be wiped away. Just like gay people were told they have a mental illness. All they need is to be cured. YOU ARE SUCH A MORON lol
Dredd Martyr
October 4, 2023 at 8:13 pm
Agreed. It’s well established that major streaming services have employed policies around inclusion, diversity and representation to force feed the audience. It’s not entirely about gender swapping characters in this day and age. It’s a political decision.
Karl Stefanose Reviews
September 20, 2023 at 5:21 am
Saw the first episode and, quite simply put, I was pleased to bits about it! An adaptation of one of my favourite animes of all time. Quite simply put, a dream come to life! I was a bit unimpressed by the authority of the sea police (marines) as I feel seeing adjudicators of the law misuse the power is a bad example for the youth of tomorrow.
I am pleased with the direction of this series and I hope to see these characters in more netflix shows – perhaps a spinoff with Wednesday? Who knows! Anyway take care!
Marcos
October 2, 2023 at 6:59 am
ugh the inclusion of a trans moron is enough for me to pass. thanks for the valuable work you do !!
Dredd Martyr
October 4, 2023 at 8:04 pm
This version of One Piece is a spectacle of black-washing, terrible acting, agenda pushing and ridiculous messaging to the audience that even my 10 year old son who’d never seen the anime wanted me to skip numerous scenes.
– Nojiko being black-washed and replaced with the ‘strong woman’ label.
– Zoro (My favorite character) has had the life sucked out of him and is just a lifeless shell, struggling to stand on his own feet.
– Nami’s character being one dimensional, dull, not at all likable, 99% of the time being a broken tragic mess of a human.
– Luffy’s accent makes me cringe every time he spouts “I’m gonna be king of the pirates”.
– Usopp’s (second fave character) comically entertaining personality of coward one moment and brave the next, is replaced with the worst acting I’ve seen in years. Not a shred of source material Usopp to be found.
– Every Koby scene makes me pray for Koby to be shot in the head. Leftist BS aside, acting quality makes me wish for death.
– Alvida won’t be skinny in the next season because that would send the wrong message to the audiences who need a fictional world to tell them you can still be grossly overweight and try get yourself a young pirate boy. Netflix glorifies obesity.
– Showrunners clearly picked actors solely for their similar appearances, dismissing any acting ability whatsoever.
– Final episode with Luffy talking about Nami makes me wanna vomit. Live Action Luffy in general makes me wanna vomit.
Netflix will continue to represent issues we should not care about and should be left out of our fantasy worlds. All the more reason to avoid major streaming services that continue to force feed naive audiences to believe they need to care about issues that aren’t issues. Because DIVERSITY!
Dredd Martyr
October 4, 2023 at 8:21 pm
I forgot to mention that Kaya being played by South African actress Celeste Loots, needing so much foundation to look white and hair dyed blonde was the most ridiculous thing on the show. How hard is it to find a blonde white actress to play the part?? Short answer: representation and diversity. Better to employ a darker skinned woman, paint her white and dye her hair than go to simplest route.
Netflix makes me sick, what they’re doing to franchises. (One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note, Snowpiercer blah blah…)
Nick
January 5, 2024 at 9:23 am
THAT is why she looks so…ill….crazy, i did not look that up
Rick
October 23, 2023 at 9:16 pm
Eh, Morgan as Koby didn’t bother me too much, as a fan of the source material. Koby was a pretty wimpy guy at the start so casting a biological woman to play him ended up being pretty fitting.
FWIW, (Supposedly, anyway) the manga’s original Japanese creator picked the cast, not Netflix.
That being said though, I am absolutely terrified of what this series is gonna do with the crossdressing “okama” characters that start showing later on. One major one shows up in the arc that Season 2 will be covering. They were comical in the source material (there’s one that’s an overt homage to Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show) but lord knows we can’t have that nowadays.
Oh well, original manga is still running, so if they screw this up at least fans have something to fall back on.
James Carrick
October 23, 2023 at 9:38 pm
Thanks for the comment.
As a rule, I don’t have a problem with women playing some male roles (e.g. Mary Martin as Peter Pan). My problem is that since Morgan was awful in the role, it seems likely that she was cast because of her mental illness and not due to talent. In our book, that’s worth some woke points.
My only experience with the franchise is this series and the little bit of research that I did on its Manga and Anime origins. However, I’ve heard that I should be prepared for season 2.
Nick
January 5, 2024 at 9:24 am
that is not true! he gave them notes about the characters, but netflix did the casting. he was not there. he did later praise it but well, what can he do?
Matthew
March 6, 2024 at 11:10 pm
This website does not weigh the gender ideology push enough in its ratings. There is nothing more subversive or dangerous in this country than gender ideology… and considering how many angles we’re being attacked from, that is saying a lot.
There is no reasonable amount of tranny-pushing or race-swapping of a main character. A single instance is an immediate 0/100.
James Carrick
March 7, 2024 at 12:12 am
We recognize that everyone has different tolerance levels for the amount of rat turds in their cereal. This is the main reason that we list all of the individual instances of woke nonsense that we find. So that our readers can make up their own minds.
We’re also working on an audience woke rating button to help out.
how long does it take to feel magic mushrooms
March 9, 2024 at 10:42 pm
After I initially commented I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are
added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I recieve four emails
with the exact same comment. Is there an easy method you can remove me from
that service? Kudos!
James Carrick
March 9, 2024 at 11:41 pm
Certainly, please email your request to [email protected] and be sure to let us know the email address that you used to comment.
Bob
May 25, 2024 at 8:29 pm
Anyone who knows the original manga and the anime should realize after the first episode of the live action that this show is a huge BS!
Netflix tries to bring in and push their woke agenda in everything they do (no matter what show they release)!
I’ve been a One Piece fan for 20 years and what Netflix has done is incomprehensible! I can’t understand why Oda & Co. are going along with this BS. But when I see that Oda is slacking off more and more with the current manga episodes, I’m no longer surprised. Oda has become greedy for money, in my opinion!
I’m also curious to see how they want to realize many things from the manga / anime in a live action! It’s going to be a huge disaster or a huge piece of garbage. Because a lot of things can’t be implemented!
But Netflix has now made sure that the anime gets a re-make under their supervision! And I bet 100000:1 that this will be a woke re-make like the live action!!!
healthguyfsu
July 12, 2024 at 4:12 pm
I have to give them credit for Alice in Borderlands though. There’s a woke element but it was also in the original manga.