Netflix One Piece is Looking Kinda... Good!? (Mother's Basement Bonus Video) 

Dude I don't care how the show ends up being, I just want them to reuse that barite ship as a functioning restaurant attraction, I would pay A LOT of money to eat in that restaurant

"I have a perfect solution" He's exaggerating "muppets" HOLY. SHIT.

What really got me was Oda’s message before the break, where among all the things he wanted time to do, he mentioned going to South Africa to keep working with this project on-set. It’s one thing for the original creator to be involved in a project from the start, but if they *stay* involved? That’s when you know you’ve got something special.

Using puppet is such a bloody genius idea. Not only it avoids the uncanny valley , but it help to make the world feel more surreal and dreamlike, like dark crystal or labyrinth

The Muppet idea is so galaxy brained I'm amazed no one else thought about it until now. I'll sacrifice so much for real Chopper muppet.

If a stylish, cartoony, funny, heartwarming Live-Action One Piece with muppets and cgi is a success, I think I would actually cry watching the Roger Execution scene, or Shanks saving Luffy.

There's a famous quote from (if memory serves) Roger Ebert, who said "Stop-motion animation looks fake, but feels real. CG animation looks real, but feels fake". I'd say that absolutely goes for other forms of puppetry too.

If they don't wanna use puppets for Chopper or any of the other animals, I think the next best move would be to get the guys who made the pokemon in Detective Pikachu. They managed to make pokemon that look cute, horrifying, and gross, so I think it would be a good idea.

“I have 100% faith in you now” If Oda has signed off on this series, I am looking forward to watching this and experiencing the East Blue saga again in live action

I was in the chat of the livestream where Matt Owens described his experience working on the show and made a convincing argument for the show. You could really tell he was a big fan. However, I prefer to remain cautiously optimistic, given the massive track record of failed anime live action adaptations.

My main concern now is pacing. Considering what props/sets they've already built, we'll either skip past a lot or have some breakneck pacing. The cgi is still a pretty major concern, but it's a lot less likely to ruin the show than pacing. If both are issues, this show will be tragic.

I'm a big theatre kid, and go bonkers over production history. When I heard that Arlong Park was taking weeks to build, and they arent even done yet, i nearly lost it from how excited i was about oneflix netpiece

When I think about it, as much as it ruined One Piece's popularity in english speaking countries, I think the 4kids dub butchering the anime and thus One Piece not being so dominant in english speaking countries is what made Oda so defensive in the first place. He's been offered the project numerous times but has only accepted this one due to him have near-absolute power over everything.

I'm actually pretty excited about this Live Action. What we've seen released of it has been phenomenal, and seeing MB showing the same is heartening

Dude Absolutely make more spur of the moment, one take video ideas. It's always good to spark conversation and hear your thoughts on smaller subjects.

With reference to Arlong's Crew - the Pirates of the Caribbean did a great job in rendering fishy/crustacean bodies for Davey Jones' crew.

Matt Owens being on The Reverie sold it for me. He also pops in to Randy Troy’s livestreams whenever there’s news about the live action series.

The original star wars proved to me how making a creature out of real materials rather than cg makes them feel real. Would be amazing to see another series take that route.

I´m totally ok if they give up the weird proportions and just use regular people with makeup. The biggest problem is the crew characters in the grand line, Chopper, Franky (this one is a little easier) and BROOK. I think that Brook is a bigger problem than chopper, because chopper can be a muppet, he is a cute character, but Brook... I dont really know how to make him looking good

If we're going with the Muppet route could we replace the Gorosei with Statler and Waldorf, played completely straight, Just cause it would be really funny.

Geoff, you're making me want to go back to the OP manga after being busy for a few months and not getting back to reading it. Don't do this to me, now I'm gonna read it and get even more invested to see how this live action plays out.

I obviously hope it’s good, but my highest hope is that this gets more folks into the manga. Such an engaging comic deserves even more eyeballs than it’s got now.

Geoff, I swear to God, after all the faith your video here had restored in me..... if the adaptation ends up sucking and breaking ALL my faith in live action adaptations hensforth.... I'm straight up throwing hands!! But also, in a world where Sonic and that racoon in the MCU can work.... I think a CG Chopper won't be AS BAD as we think it could be =\

Think of this though. Even if it doesn't "Succeed", if it nails the Gold Roger execution we OP fans will be eating

My one hope, my one dream, is that the fishmen are (at least mostly) guys in prosthetics. Obviously some CG will be needed for a few of them but Arlong is extremely doable.

I think it's worth noting that maybe some of the best CGI work ever made was used to render... what were essentially fish-men.. all the way back in 2006 and 2007... If Dead Man's Chest and At World's End could do it 16/15 years ago on a film budget, then a modern TV budget can hit a decently high mark too.

Puppet Tony Tony Chopper is absolutely the best long term strategy for his character.

I do think that, if they should reach that high bar, Totto Land should be largely done in CGI. Specifically because it's already an uncanny hellscape valley and heavy CGI (mixed with moderate practical effects) would really help the vibe.

I'm really just hoping they get at least the East Blue done well. The Grand Line will be such a hurdle, I would love to see the moment where Robin truly becomes a member of the crew, or saying Goodbye to the Going Marry. But I just don't know how that will go. But I'd love for this to be good so bad

I thought the video was cool, but the moment you said that thay could make Chopper a Muppet left me speechless! It's geniuous!!! So amazing that I doubt they can come up with the same idea as well since CG is so mainstream

Given that little bit about the Speed Racer film at the end, damn do I want a full analysis from Mother’s Basement. That movie deserves a LOT more love than it has, and a thorough deep dive from an analyst such as Jeff.

I'm starting to get cautiously optimistic about this live action

Oda saying he had 100% faith lit a fire in my soul, the idea that One Piece, THE One Piece is getting a good, potentially great adaptation is so exciting that I have a hard time putting it into words, except of course the words #MakeTonyTonyChopperAMuppet

So glad this was shared in the OPLA discord! This video was so funny and entertaining to watch. Absolutely loved how well the selected clips matched your words. The scene with Jacob Gibson eating was just as great as the Long Ring Long Land animal scenes. I always love when people acknowledge the transponder snails and Kung fu Dugons. The idea of using a muppet for a transponder snail is really cool... but! BUT!! Sweet Tooth style chopper is still better than Muppet Chopper imo. Sorry, not sorry. To conclude, this is a great video! It's always nice to see people giving this a chance rather than spreading hate :3

part of filming in a place like south africa is that local labor for building is cheap af by US standards. it's honestly one of the bitersweet perks of the third world. also the sets could very easily become the base for some sort of tourist trap later on.

Ok, when I first I heard that they were making a live action OP I already decided that I wouldn't give it the time of day, but this changed my mind. I'll def give it a chance now

The Going Marries figure head might be able to be fixed with some light cgi. One of the main problems with uncanny valley cgi is when they try to make the characters look to realistic and to human. If used sparingly on non-human subjects it doesn't look as bad (but could still turn bad if not careful). The main example that I can think of is with Jurassic Park used both practical and cgi on the dinosaurs and they looked good (until the sequels)

This needs to go viral on reddit, specially the muppet part

Honestly, if you want to see what puppets can do, go watch "Little shop of horrors". Audrey II is probably the most magnificent puppetwork ever. So yeah, using Puppets in One Piece is pretty genius.

Im still curious to see how they do Zoros 3 sword style and if they can actually make it look functional lol

As much as I would love chopper to be a muppet, Tomorrow Studios & Netflix would be stupid not abusing the loophole that comes with his devil fruit. I mean he's a reindeer that ate the *HUMAN-HUMAN FRUIT!* Yes we've never seen chopper utilize the basic, primary ability of his df in the manga/anime but unless Oda is holding it off for some reason, Netflix should go with a 15 year old actor. The explanations simple, since the people of drum island didn't accept him, he remains in either his full reindeer form or full zoan (human) to not cause any issues with his rumble ball points used for battle, dire situations or when he's only with people he knows he can trust.

This honestly made me so excited. I was super skeptical before but I’m really hoping we get to see the beginning of the One Piece of the True One Piece Era, and I would absolutely do anything to see Chopper as a muppet; I didn’t know how much I needed this before you said it 😭.

There are sooooo many ways that this could go wrong, yet I still have a glimpse of hope.

I..... actually whole heartedly agree. Having Chopper as a Puppet with the modern animatronics we posses today makes it really viable to do.

I totally agree with you about puppets! I think when you are adapting something to another medium you should not strive to make it as accurate as possible but rather you should look towards your new medium to find works of creativity that best encompass what you want to do and one piece and muppet would be way better than one piece and cg character

Honestly, I wasn't even sure whether you were joking or serious with the muppet idea, but the more you explained yourself, the more on board I am with your idea! But I guess I have to watch more shows with muppets first to be fully convinced

Started crying halfway through the video. The hopium was really strong, and I'm grateful grateful for it, thank you!

Ok all kidding aside, the idea to use Muppets is fucking genius.

Long time fan of your videos here! On behalf of the OPLA community, we're so happy & thankful for the hopeful coverage. Great video, some awesome ideas and perspectives presented, and I think a lot of us shared the same journey of "wait, what? This won't work" to now looking forward to this series, as the cast & crew continuously prove themselves, and their passion for the craft and source material. But also consider: a Sweet Tooth take on Chopper? - Enty

I like your thoughts on your...brand? Its actually how I think of your videos, even when I actually am not interested. I click anyway because you write and narrate well with iconic visual editing.

So glad you also game to the Muppet solution as well xD Only way to do it! Great video, thank for making it!

Your Muppet idea is so good! Seriously I love puppetry.

Ah, I've been waiting for this video. I'm honestly very hopeful for this adaptation- which is terrifying because, well, anime fans have been burned so badly before. But Alita showed us what modern CG can do for a difficult-to-render fantastical world, and the incorporation of Muppets and practical effects seems like the thing to do. If you look into the details of it, it seems like your hopes for the fishmen are also coming true. McKinley Belcher, actor for Arlong, talked about how much he loved working with the makeup team on the One Piece set. CGI-enhanced practical effects are my favorite way to render fantasy and OPLA seems to be going for it whole-hog.

I pray Age of Resistance gets another season one day.

This is an amazing video! So happy to see you cover the show 😁

To top it off for my belief in it. Matt Owen's even reaches out to one piece youtubers about the show too keep a beat on the community.

Imagine a world where this actually works and becomes a big hit (I hope it does) and chopper is the new baby yoda!

Man, Muppet Transponder snails would be adorable as heck! not to mention having other peoples voices coming out of them is, ya know, canon lol

watching this after the season has come out and knowing how they did the transponder snails makes me smile. you nailed it, man. you were absolutely right

I've long vouched for Age of Resistance and the craftsmanship that brings that world to life. I'm glad to have another whose opinion I can respect sharing their support of it as well

What they should do is release test footage of CG Chopper just fucking around, a few months before the next season releases before all the effects are done, and then fans can give their input on what works. Pull a Sonic

between this and the new death note by the guys who did stranger things, I am starting to have some hope that netflix may finally get anime right.

I've heard of people measuring stuff with bananas or washing machines as a unit but measuring story length with Lord of the rings as a unit? well that takes it to a new level

The later straw hats will be trickier to adapt, but i don't think they need to in season 1 at least. Brook could be a guy in a motion tracking suit, or just a skeleton costume with some post-editing. Franky could work as a costume most of the time, with CGI taking care of Strong Right, his fire breath and all his "coup de" attacks. Robin is just a woman, so the only thing needed is CGI for her attacks. Chopper is difficult, and would probably need to be a puppet or CGI animal. If CGI it can look fake when someone's touching him, and he's so huggable.

We definitely need more people to use Jim Henson Muppets more often. When I was a kid a always wanted to make and operate Muppets

I love the fact that even for a "react-type" video, Geoff brings SO MUCH. I'm cautiously optimistic about this OP adaptation, I hope it really works out and brings more people to this great story! The casting just seemed perfect, the moment Netflix put out that video presenting everybody I was absolutely charmed and it really sold me on the idea that this could be good. But... yeah, the history with Hollywood adaptations... Idk, I hope it's good. And damn, you really sold me on the muppets idea lol

Farscape is your thesis on how Jim Henson Productions would be perfect for this.

Really glad you're making more simple, easy-to-shoot videos that don't take a month and a half to finish and aren't feature-length. We just wanna hear you nerdy voice more often.

Speed Racer is criminally under appreciated, although you may have to have some familiarity with the source material to grasp how expertly they nailed it.

I'm actually really looking forward to seeing how they handle Sanji. Because it's a western produced show I feel like they'll tone down the horny pervert part of his character. I think that's one of the ways they might actually improve on the anime.

I watched the dark crystal when I was really little and every time I see someone mention it on the internet I'm like "why does ANYONE know this exists." The first time someone mentioned it it summoned nostalgia from the depths of my mind and felt like someone told me they just found a picture of my great grandmother at a thrift store

On the note of video with more replay value: I actually *do* rewatch "Mushoku Tensei Is Art" every once in a while. It legitimately helped me work through the complicated feelings I had about MT and now I'm just about caught up with the light novels. I hope you're eventually inspired to make another MT video!

And hey, if you want a good example of puppets interacting with human characters, just look at Farscarpe. Last year I did a rewatch of that series because of a podcast I followed. And I found out that the Jim Henson company did the puppet creation and puppetry for that show, and I can see them working their magic just as well, for a live action One Piece. ... OK, I'm hoping they've gotten better, since the days of Farscape, but it would be good.

For the first time I like the casting selections for a live action Anime production.

The Dark Cristal was/is epic! I hope OP producers see your video and at least think about it

Major points to you. Thanks to this video I’m actually excited for the one piece live action show. Hope they use your genius puppet idea. Works perfectly 👌

Speed Racer is so damn good it's almost criminal how NO ONE talks about it. Absolutely agree on every single word you said about the Muppets. Every. Single. Word. The original show should be on Disney+ in it's entirety. I know it's a copyright nightmare. I don't care. The Mouse is made of money. They can easily solve that.

Maybe this is far fetched, but I feel like using Muppets to make the creatures/characters feel real, while using CGI to make it look a little more realistic would solve the problem and be the best of both worlds. I also think if they're unsure on what direction they would like to go animation wise or anything else, they should just ask social media for which of the options they are thinking about are the better/preferred option via a Straw poll. This would give the team confidence and reinsurance on what they're doing, all while giving us the consumers a feeling of that we have a part in the making of the series and intern will look forward to it more, and know that they care about the story and it's community. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

Bro I am actually hyped for this.... I hope this doesnt turn out to be a mistake again

I love you man. As a child I saw an insane racing film and always remembered it. But I never knew the name, until now. Speed Racer. You get an subscription for that alone. (Also the video itself is great)

I think the dark crystal didn't feel alive that's my problem with it the characters felt stale, but that's just my personal opinion.

I want this to be successful because more good One Piece would be awesome. I am going to rewatch the series either way. Although, still can't believe this is actually happening.

Listening to this mid workout, I put down my weights and took a stepped back when you said Chopper should be a Puppet. It is so angrevatingly perfect

One thing I really like about the live action show is it’s pacing. One thing I didn’t like about the anime was that at times it felt like it was taking forever to get to the next arc. I still love each story arc I’ve seen so far, but half way throw Im wait8ing for everything to wrap up and move on. The Netflix show feels like dashing throw each arc and in a good way. Each hour long episode condenses one or several arcs that took 4-9 22 minute episodes to cover and tell them all in a singular 55 minute episode. That alone is a win in my book.

If they can mix Everything Everywhere All at Once and Kung Fu Hustle. I feel they can do the absurdity of One Piece ok without it being cringe

I will support the Live Action everything about it looking good. It's an One Piece project after all! I want the best for One Piece

Dude you took the words out of my mouth with the Muppets pirate island thing

I didn’t even think about the muppet angle, you’re a goddamn genius

The sheer love behind this adaptation makes me want it to succeed. I don't even care if I hate it lol, please don't let it get cancelled after one season. But seriously, I never expected this much care to be put into an anime/manga adaptation, especially one with the aesthetics OP is known for. Now here's hoping Zoro's actor looks less pretty in the eps.

Hey from the future. It fuckin good, director got that rizz

Im so glad that there is a youtuber that actually goes past the “all anime and manga adaptations are bad” but actually is as excited as alot of us are, i was really concerned when i went onto the instagram for one piece and all the comments were negative.

alright. ya sold me on it. i'll actually look forward to this now.

They're really swinging for the damn fences with this production.

I'm kinda pissed at the analysis... this is the first I have heard of "THE DARK CRYSTAL: Age of Resistance ". I work too much and completely missed it. That being said, I totally agree with you on muppets.

Thank you, Geoff, for mentioning the Speed Racer film. It’s dope.

Damn the muppet is actually such a good idea tho

Gintama (2017) was/is a really good anime->live action adaptation that anyone should check out if they're worried about silly shit from One Piece not landing IRL. Gintama is _way_ more out there with its comedy and slapstick than One Piece has ever been, and it pulled it off pretty well. It's a solid 7.5-8 depending on you feelings on Gintama. The absolute _biggest_ obstacle against a live-action One Piece - as has been mentioned ad infinitum - is the CGI that's going to be needed for Luffy. Regardless of how it turns out, it's either going to come off as "meh, it's alright" to "omfg burn it with fire". It's just not going to come out looking very good, and even if it did the uncanny valley will cause a lot of people to just plain cringe at it. Everything else, from Sanji to Zoro's fighting styles can be done well, but Luffy... I'm taking the "wait and see" approach, mostly, but making a real human being a rubber-man is just going to be a massive hurdle for _anyone_ to overcome. I really hope they can do it at least a _little_ right, because literally everything else I've seen of the sets, the script, and how the producers, writers and directors are _really_ trying to hype this one up leads me towards looking at it with an optimistic perspective - as opposed to every _other_ Netflix adaptation. Cowboy Bebop had a lot of hype behind it, but you could tell something fell apart during production. I really hope the pandemic didn't do that to this series, but we'll see. Eventually.

I really love this video. I've never read or watched One Piece and I'm definitely sceptical about this adaptation, but your determination and enthusiasm is heart-warming. Also, don't forget that Jim Henson Company made Farscape, by far one of the most inventive and punk-looking sci fi programs ever made they should be a co-producer on this show.

I love your enthusiasm

Love Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, it was a welcome surprise to see it get some love in this video about something entirely different