If you’re a big manga reader, you already know about the pirate adventure series called One Piece.  If you don’t, you may be surprised that the series by writer-artist Elichiro Oda has been the #1 manga every week since 2008, and the bestselling comic book series published in book form, beating out even Charles Schulz’s Peanuts by nearly double the sales in a lot fewer years of its existence (also many more sales than The Adventures of Tintin and Garfield).  It’s hard to fathom 500 million copies in print, but One Piece has done it, and it’s being adapted into a Netflix live-action series coming this summer.  After a preview this past spring, Netflix unveiled a full trailer for the series this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con.

What is One Piece?  The title represents a mythical lost treasure said to grant its owner the mantle of “King of the Pirates.”  How well will the story translate to Western audiences?  From the first trailer it’s not easy to say.  But a big plus is Luke Cage writer Matt Owens and Lost writer Steven Maeda as the show’s creators.  Even better, the Gilligan-esque star is Iñaki Godoy, who we loved as the male lead in The Imperfects (reviewed here), one of our favorite superhero series ever.

Check out the new Comic-Con trailer for One Piece:

One Piece also stars Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson, Taz Skylar, Morgan Davies, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Aidan Scott, Jeff Ward, McKinley Belcher III, Vincent Regan, and Peter Gadiot.

The series is one of the remaining pandemic delay series.  One Piece has already been adapted into movies, series, and in all sorts of formats, like video games, tie-ins, and more.  Look for all eight episodes of the first season of One Piece coming to Netflix August 31, 2023.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg