One Piece is finally available since today on Netflix. More than any other series before, the platform is betting big on this launch.
The meteoric popularity of Stranger Things and Wednesday has been a boon for Netflix executives, but also a lesson. Both of these series made the platform rush to secure marketing and licensing deals after their launches. If the broadcaster’s next adventure series, One Piece, also turns into a phenomenon, as early reports indicate, they’ll be ready this time around.
Of all the films and series presented during the Tudum event organized by Netflix on June 17, One Piece – the television series adaptation of the hit manga – is the one that has caused the most ink to flow, surpassing all the others. titles presented at the São Paulo event where AlloCiné was present. The series’ lead actor, Iñaki Godoy, saw his Instagram follower count jump from 28,000 to 450,000 ahead of the series premiere on August 31.
A monster attack plan
Anticipating this craze, Netflix has pulled out all the stops. Netflix’s marketing and PR teams got to work, stoking fan interest with 10 events around the world, including Los Angeles, Paris, Jakarta and Tokyo, ahead of the series’ launch.
The merchandising division is also ready, with a Zara “One Piece” clothing line to be launched in September, after the launch of the series. There will be even more merchandise at stores such as Hot Topic (US merchandising stores), Bandai and Hot Toys for action figures, Liverpool (a department store chain in Mexico) and HMV (UK equivalent of Fnac). United).
This type of preparation is unprecedented for a launch and a first season and it shows that Netflix believes in the success of One Piece. And that’s despite its latest attempt to adapt a popular Japanese IP into an action series, Cowboy Bebop, starring John Cho. After years of preparation, this sci-fi western was a flop and was canceled less than a month after its November 2021 release.
“What we’ve learned is that fans expect you to stay true to the source material.“says executive producer Marty Adelstein, whose Tomorrow Studios produced Cowboy Bebop for Netflix before embarking on One Piece.”When we read the comments it was always ‘They didn’t make this character the same way as this or that’… It really taught us a lot about what we should do with this series“.
The negative reactions to Cowboy Bebop also served as a warning that an adaptation of the equally beloved One Piece series would face just as much potential criticism. But with manga writer Eiichiro Oda and manga editor Shueisha producing the project, Tomorrow Studios and Netflix had the best team possible to keep the series true to its source material.
“Everyone’s goal was to make sure that when you watched the series you thought it was a live-action version of the manga that carried on with Oda’s legacy.“says Becky Clements, president of Tomorrow Studios, which secured the rights to develop One Piece into a live-action series in partnership with Oda and Shueisha in 2017.”People have the opportunity to see it in another genre, while having the same reaction and feelings towards the storytelling.“
A nakama
Netflix ordered the series in January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill. According to Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s head of scripted series in the United States and Canada, Netflix quickly put together a “nakama” – a tight-knit team, like Luffy and his Straw Hats are portrayed in One Piece – made up of American executives. , Japanese and Korean from Netflix who are dedicated to adapting.
“We had never done anything like this before“, explains Friedlander.”The logistics that come with it – late night calls, morning calls, emails – just changes the recipe for how you support a show, and I think that was really a special element, kind of the secret sauce, because we wanted have different perspectives on fandom“.
One Piece co-showrunner Steven Maeda, who developed the series with Matt Owens, explains that the series, which was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa and is Netflix’s biggest production in Africa, has benefited from ahealthy, healthy, healthy budget” and Oda’s approval throughout the process.
The official validation of the author is obviously precious, even essential, to guarantee the authenticity of the series – and therefore its success, which can only have a positive impact afterwards for commercial outlets and the entire marketing strategy.
One Piece is currently available on Netflix.