One Piece Creator Says Shaolin Soccer, Technology Inspired Live-Action Series

Heat Vision In a rare interview, Eiichiro Oda explains how advances in technology and ‘Shaolin Soccer’ inspired the belief that his global hit could find success where other manga adaptations had not. Emily Rudd as Nami, Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu Arata as Roronoa Zoro in One Piece. Courtesy of Netflix Logo text Eiichiro Oda, One Piece creator and executive producer on Netflix’s upcoming adaptation, says that he changed his mind about whether his long-running manga could get a live-action adaption after both technology advances and seeing Shaolin Soccer. In a rare interview with The New York Times, the Japanese artist behind the best-selling manga in history discusses how Stephen Chow’s 2001 Hong Kong sports comedy inspired the live-action take and how he ensured his upcoming series — which follows a stream of live-action manga adaptation misses — would be satisfactory to fans. “When I first started, I didn’t think there was any point in drawing a manga that could be remade in live-action,” Oda said. “But when I saw the movie [Chow’s] , it felt like a manga-esque world brought to life.” It was at that point, he says, that he changed his mind — with a little help from
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