If there was one thing that makes One Piece stand out has always been the way it became one of the biggest-selling mangas in the world. The series missed its opportunity to establish itself in the States but ended up becoming a major franchise in Japan, France, Brazil, and a variety of other markets.
Netflix Head of U.S. and Canada Scripted Series, Peter Friedlander, shared that they were “all stunned, truly stunned” at just how big the reception was when it was first unveiled at their TUDUM event. It definitely was an emotional moment for the cast that made their big debut.
I think we were all stunned, truly stunned. We knew that there was a big fan base, but to watch those actors step out onstage, you could barely hear anything. They could barely get words out, and it was really an emotional experience just watching the actors.
Peter Friedlander
They also were excited to see the early reception to the series going by how viewers reacted to the teaser and trailer. The initial look did have some people a bit optimistically nervous but reactions continued to get more positive as time went on.
It’s heartening to see the early reaction just to what we’ve shown. With the teaser and trailer, we’ve put out, we were trying to show the fans we’re loving on this IP, we are loving on this show and we hope you see that. I feel very hopeful and confident going into this.
Peter Friedlander
Netflix is certainly all-in with this adaptation given just how much merchandise they are already preparing to release by the time the series releases. They know what they have in their hands with the adaptation and its already massive built-in fan base. If the fan events are something to go by, there’s a lot of potential for this series to make a big bang for the streamer.
Source: Variety
