Netflix's One Piece Live Action series made huge waves immediately after the first teaser of the series was released a few days ag. Ever since then, the series itself as well as the cast that has worked on it have been constantly talked about, and for all the right reasons. The teaser trailer was absolutely incredible, with fans' favorite characters being brought to life, all the while staying true to oda's very own manga, which is the source material.
Naturally, the focus of attention is none other than Iñaki Godoy, the boy who plays the protagonist of the story, Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is beloved among One Piece fans and Iñaki has quite a difficult task at hand. So far, there appear to be a few changes between the Luffy that fans see in the manga and the one that Iñaki will bring to life in Netflix's One Piece Live Action series.
5 His Shoes
One of the most obvious changes that caught the fans' attention regarding Luffy is related to his iconic sandals. Luffy wears sandals in both the manga and the anime. Quite a lot of the times, he is seen taking them off in combat, such as when he enters his Gear Fourth state. In Netflix's One Piece Live Action adaptation, however, Luffy is wearing shoes instead. While this may confuse the fans at first, the reason behind this change is actually very important.
Sandals are incredibly hard to do stunts with and, for an actor such as Iñaki, who has had to shoot various difficult scenes for months, working with sandals would have been and invitation for unwanted injuries. To avoid that, the showrunners decided to go with shoes. While Luffy sandals are certainly iconic, his shoes will also be iconic among the fans if Netflix's One Piece Live Action series does indeed blow up.
4 Different Outfits
Iñaki Godoy's Luffy is seen wearing the iconic outfit that both the manga and the anime luffy wear pre-timeskip of One Piece. It is made up of a red top, paired with blue shorts, while sporting the legendary Straw Hat. Throughout the entirety of the East Blue, both the anime and the manga versions of the Luffy maintain this outfit. However, things are different in Netflix's One Piece Live Action series.
Instead of having Luffy wear the same outfits over and over again, they have decided to give him different outfits from volume covers and color spreads. This is a genius change and would be a breath of fresh air for the fans. These outfits are true to the manga and have been drawn by Oda himself. It just goes to show how much care and effort has been put into bringing Oda's vision to life as these details are quite tiny, yet they make the fans feel more connected with the world in many ways.
3 Internal Thoughts
Luffy is character who fans know to not have many internal thoughts. In fact, in the entirety of One Piece, Luffy has never had an internal thought or a thought bubble where he's just thinking to himself. Things might be slightly different in Netflix's One Piece Live Action series. While is impossible for Luffy to have a thought bubble in the live action adaptation, internal thoughts might be something that he might have.
In fact, in the trailer, Luffy is seen monologuing directly to the fans, however, whether this is a conversation exchange from an unseen scene or if it is Luffy thinking to himself remains to be seen. Regardless, this could be a big change from the Luffy that fans know and love. Nonetheless, it only makes Luffy more realistic and humanlike for a live-action adaptation.
2 More Mature
Netflix's One Piece Live Action adaptation is going to be more mature than both the anime and the manga and that goes without saying. Fans know Luffy especially to be childlike and, at times, even stupid. That is certainly not a bad thing, however. Luffy's entire character is quite childlike and carefree. This even ties into his whole character and how he keeps on bringing joy and freedom to wherever he goes. Fans absolutely adore Luffy's carefree personality and childlike nature and it has become an important part of who he is and why many fans have come to love him over the years.
That said, Netflix's version of Luffy is going to be slightly more mature than what fans are used to seeing in the manga. The show is not primarily aimed at kids, unlike the manga. For this reason, there needs to be a fine balance between his carefree and childlike nature which fans absolutely adore him for. A slightly more mature version of Luffy would fare much better when aimed at slightly more mature audiences, all the while not making him feel out of character.
1 Changing Appearance
One of the biggest, if not the biggest, difference between Iñaki's Luffy and the manga version of Luffy is going to be the age of the characters. In the manga, Luffy sets out on his journey when he is 17 years old and he continues this adventure all the way to Sabaody – still being 17. Things won't be the same in Netflix's One Piece Live Action adaptation.
Iñaki is almost 20 currently and it takes, at the very least, 1 to 2 years to produce a season of the show. This means that by the time that Luffy reaches Sabaody Archipelago and completes the first half of his journey, the actor is going to look significantly older and will be at least 25. This would also mean that the appearances of the character wouldn't be quite accurate to the manga, however, it shouldn't bother fans much, given that this is never going to be a one-to-one adaptation. Netflix's One Piece Live Action series is going to be its own thing and fans should be looking forward to it with anticipation, given how Oda has been enamored by it as well.
Netflix's One Piece Live Action series is all set to be released on August 31, 2023.