#but they're also zoro's biggest haters

[ms-all-sunday]

Hi!! <3 I'm @beanghostprincess (this is just my main acc) and I think you're one of the few people I've seen who don't like OPLA and honestly? Props to you for saying it out loud because I think people are just so protective over the live-action I never feel like I can talk freely and honestly about my real opinion on the show. So, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna drop here the biggest fucking text ever about it. You don't need to reply if you don't feel like it, but I'm so glad to have found people who probably feel the same way as me about OPLA.

I liked the live-action as in a "the cast is amazing and it was enjoyable to watch" way, but aside from that? The whole thing is just weird to me. I hate the direction, first and foremost. Most of the scenes lack emotion and proper stage indications and the shots are just... Not it. They use too many close-ups (for some reason I do not understand yet when the backgrounds they use are stunning and they could've used that to their advantage a lot) and insisted on referencing the "comic/manga style" the anime does when putting different shots of people on the screen when it doesn't look that good in a live-action if you don't do it properly (it could've been nice if the shots weren't always fucking close-ups. I'm a hater. I'm sorry). Besides, what's with the fisheye lens shots with blurry edges? It bothers me so much. And if I keep complaining about the direction and producing I might probably never finish, but I think a lot of scenes needed way more emotion and it's not only about the actors. They're great and they did a good job, but you can't expect them to carry everything on their backs and I think OPLA needed more indications in some scenes.

Leaving that behind, a lot of people keep saying that the changes they made in the plot are good because an adaptation doesn't have to be exactly like in the anime, because then it would be the same and the cool thing about adaptations is choosing the best parts to make people interested in the story and make them watch the original. And even though I sort of agree with this statement, the changes they made were utterly stupid even for a stand-alone show. I have different complaints about the characters (not Buggy, though, OPLA Buggy my beloved. And also Sanji, because I think they did it great with Taz and Zeff. Nothing to say there) but to summarize:

They ruined Nami's story and character. And it's not even because of the differences between OPLA and the manga, it's because it doesn't make any sense within the show itself. She grows too attached to the crew way too fast despite her personality and resilience to make friends. For some reason, she has a ton of scenes with Zoro that could've been used for a lot of character development and friendship within the crew as a whole or just between Nami and Luffy (which are the main focus in Arlong Park). Her decisions are rushed and don't make any sense with her character most of the time. The fact that she was the one to approach Arlong first but then she's seen as a prisoner instead of an ally is just stupid as a whole. The fact that Nojiko hates her only to make more drama happen seems irrational and unnecessary to me, honestly. And the fact that Luffy hears her story? When the whole point is that he doesn't want to hear it? It drives me insane in the worst way.

That being said, now that I mention Luffy: He's wayyyy too vocal here, I think. Like, I'm glad we can see more of his POV but I think the fun about Luffy's character is that you can read between the lines of his character and just get what he wants to say with actions instead of just words. I get that he's very direct and blunt most of the time in canon too, but when it comes to Nami? They don't need words. So the whole "Nami getting mad at him for letting Zoro be hurt and saying verbally that not everyone gets to achieve their dreams" (which, again, doesn't make sense for her character and it's unnecessary) and "Luffy telling her explicitly to rely on them" (when, for Luffy's empathetic personality that adapts to what other people need, doesn't make sense because he'd choose a subtler and active approach instead of a verbal one). And in general, I think Luffy (even though I love Iñaki. Iñaki my beloved- This is a script thing and has nothing to do with him) needed more action and less talking. More physical communication. Less close-up shots for God's sake-

Usopp is only used as a comedy relief character and literally does nothing in his own fucking arc. So. Yeah. Whatever. I keep saying I'm not mad but as an Usopp fan I am indeed very mad.

Sanji is perfect. Mwah, mwah. My only complaint is that they could have used better takes when he talks about the All Blue to Luffy and do it in a place where he can look at the sea instead of being in the kitchen. But well, perhaps you can use it as a metaphor about him feeling trapped or whatever. I honestly think it would've looked better with more beautiful shots but meh, it's just a lil thing and I don't mind.

Then Zoro. A lot of people have complained about Mackenyu not giving the same silly energy Zoro has pre-time skip. And even though I agree wholeheartedly, I think he has the capacity to be like that and the main issue here is the lack of indications. I think that, if they had worked on his scenes a bit more, it would have been more in character. I have a lot of issues about the staging in the scene where he promises Luffy to never lose again, but perhaps that's just me and my silly little complaints.

I know they used the marines to make the show more interesting and have a main villain but it literally led them NOWHERE in the end. Not complaining about Kobymeppo because I enjoyed their scenes an insane amount and they're definitely a highlight of the live-action, however, most of the scenes they use for the marines could've been used to make the crew grow closer and make their personalities more accurate.

And etc, etc, etc. I have more things to say but damn this is long af and I don't want you to spend an hour reading my opinion on OPLA. I'm just glad to see I'm not the only one who didn't like the show much. It's good for the vibes and the actors but the show itself has a weird pacing and the characters are portrayed in a very rushed and artificial way, if you know what I mean. Idk.

Sorry for the long text </3

No I want this I want to spend an hour reading your opla opinions. I MADE this blog specifically for people to infodump back and forth with me. this is my intent.

you articulated almost exactly why i dont like opla too, i pride myself in being a pleasant person to interact with even if youre an opla fan but you know as an opla hater you're seen as That Guy and want to avoid being That Guy? Despite my smoke and mirrors, I am that guy.

if you mention to me that you enjoy any aspect of namis writing in opla i... try to be understanding? its really hard for me because namis writing in opla sends me into a rage filled fugue state. i also never ever just personally would ever want to interact with someone who thought that legitimately, it sounds like a nightmare.

i also have similar feelings on usopp (i think the way they treated him was weirdly racially charged? im white so i cant speak on this fully but the way he was adapted was certainly imo to the same level of bad as nami)

nami is just also a character who i hold really fucking close to my heart for a lot of reasons because i share a lot of experiences with her i feel i can articulate fully why her treatment in OPLA is so bad.

i say this all with the sentiment that i love all of the actors because i feel like they were playing deliberately to make up for the bad writing

(minus emily rudd who i will not sugarcoat this has the worst performance out of all of them which i dont think is her fault- inaki doesnt do as well at luffy as id like him to but when the luffy writing is in character in episode 6 only he does actually do very well. i just think the script is never ever on her side ever.)

So zoro and nami scenes. a friend of mine had a similar question to yours and i responded with "they didnt have the suicide-attempt flirting scene in this version and they felt they had to make up for it" but ill elaborate a little more here. in arlong park, that scene (and also scenes in previous arcs with zoro and nami bickering) and also sanjis scenes with nami in the baratie set up both zoro and sanji as people who like and respect nami.

ideologically, within the context of op itself the way they treat nami post her lashing out is affected by this, zoro respects her enough to see her as a threat (its more complicated than that but to simplify) and sanji views her as a complicated human being because of his own experiences and assumes the best of her. we all know this why am i repeating it? well OPLA fucks it up. it sets up zoro and namis relationship fine, which ultimately doesnt pay off in the end with this conflict because its essentially nonexistent within opla and is seen as "nami was OUR friend first" which is ... the fact matt owens thinks this is how this should go tells you a lot.

deep breathe in

speaking of which.

so i didnt notice this first time around to the degree i notice it now so i dont blame you but the sanji writing in opla is . quite bad (it just looks very pretty coming out of taz' mouth and also next to the absolute dogshit way the other characters were treated in comparison). the worst of it i think is his relationship with other characters specifically nami oh god christ they butchered that relationship so much.

i dont need to tell you why OPLAs sexual harassment joke played for feminism is bad. you know why its bad. but i think the way i previously thought of it as "namis writing being bad" is somewhat incorrect.

if you write sanji as unambiguously part of a sexual harassment joke thats bad sanji writing. (if you think the original jokes in op proper were sexual harassment jokes you can at least admit to them mostly being ambiguous and if they were it was never directed at nami, who fully was in control of sanji)

but it was confirmed in an interview that one of the showrunners of opla itself did an interview pre release to say that quote "sanji is going to be less of a simp" (simp has an entire history of sexist usage i do not think he was just using it because its popular slang now) which means at least one of the directors thought the issue with sanji is that he was being emasculated by nami.

and because he didn't want sanji to be emasculated, within the context of opla sanji does not treat nami preferably due to his views on women but because he explicitly has romantic feelings for her, which then does two things: 1. ruins his entire conflict with zoro and why its interesting in the first place. 2. makes him more of a creep.

it also spoils sanjis character, sanji is not a masculine person who is trying to fit into masculinity, and because of how the show views him as inherently all of these things he claims to be, the struggle with him and gender is not articulated on enough because the again. at least one of the directors thought that was emasculating and appearently that's all he gleaned from sanji and namis interactions.

i will say taz skylar is an amazing actor and can fucking act the living shit out of sanji to the degree where i do not blame literally anybody for thinking the sanji writing is good. its not good. its just comparably a bit less evil all of the time than everybody else is. (which makes him the best written OPLA character. but that's not a feat.)

before i get into my big point which ties into basically all of my criticisms with opla. inaki godoy is good at luffy when hes given a script that actually is in character for luffy and writes him fully as autistic. OPLA luffy is allistic but still adhd to me. also i will literally never forgive them for the comment zoro makes towards the beginning of the baratie it really felt like they were avoiding saying the r slur. okay. that out of the way

...

so i bring a "OPLA was politically censored" vibe to the party that nobody likes, like to me its just obvious and i cant believe more people dont talk about the fact a lot of changes made within the story that were bad were to accommodate political censorship?

like nobodys mentioned directly any political censorship from netflix publicly, but i dont know how to else to describe the changes within OPLA

luffy literally says "be a good cop" in this version of the story and koby is no longer treated like a guy who is annoying and ultimately wrong but well intentioned and is instead The Neoliberal Mouthpiece who luffy (despite in canon literally forgetting he exists) loves for some reason? also buggy is done well i agree but i cannot not factor in the fact they made him way worse in this version.

it wouldnt be a bad decision on its own but that compounded with like... garp getting all the credit for restructuring the marine base and the everything with him in syrup village (i literally have not finished opla syrup village because of the beginning. my fucking god) like it just reads to me open as a book that netflix did NOT like that cops were getting punched. its the little things, too?

like bellamere actually scolding nami in front of genzo for stealing the book and making her pay it back instead of letting her keep it? nobody would change that if they weren't going at it from a "i need to change this because politics"

this brings me back to sanji again and also what i feel ultimately factors into a lack of acknowledgement of the queer themes in op. i feel that even at its best points, the baratie (OPLA), refuses to fully engage with the material its given in a well intentioned manner? (this is a sidenote but the fact fullbody in OPLA is made to fight with a pirate instead of just. be fullbody)

I do not think sanjis struggle with masculinity was conveyed enough. its less that his shit is actively bad like the rest of them (except in scenes with nami) and more just. passively bad? which is frustrating. which then brings me into um so every single acknowledgement of any kind of bigotry that one piece does is not mentioned within OPLA at all or is really toned down. like khaladore. DO not get me started.

summarization on the thoughts on khaladore (because this post is already too long): they made him "not bigoted" and also not an abusive paternal figure towards kaya and yet somehow at the same time refused to handle any of the sensitive subject matter he tackles with any kind of tact whatsoever? speaking as a khaladore fan who enjoys his protrayal of abuse within op itself and its one of the reasons i was first endeared towards one piece...

maybe OPLAs showrunners shouldnt be adapting a story with a lot of sensitive subjects if going by how theyve historically handled them theyre dogshit at it. just a thought. acting cannot save everything.

EDIT: source for oplas showrunner calling sanji a simp