Netflix’s One Piece series has only one major problem, and it comes up in every single episode. Even the budget, which is higher than Game of Thrones, doesn’t help.
One Piece is a hit in every way. As the best Netflix series so far in 2023, it thrills anime fans with passionate actor:s, detailed sets, and great respect for the original. One single problem, however, has been bugging me since the first second, and I simply can’t ignore it. Although the budget is higher than Game of Thrones, the series suffers from the unspeakable Netflix look.
The big One Piece problem: What is the Netflix look?
Netflix series all look the same. At least, that’s the opinion of many subscribers. And they’re not wrong: In many of the streamer’s series and movies, the image looks strangely artificial and empty, the colors too gaudy, and the perspective too flat. Even great releases seem like Instagram parodies of their own stories. This is unfortunately no different with One Piece.
The pirate adventure around Ruffy (Iñaki Godoy) looks too clean and neat. The costumes look like they’re fresh off the rack, every deck and hut is spick and span. Makeup is more reminiscent of carnivals than a character’s everyday chosen exterior. Characters like Morgan (Langley Kirkwood) and Beauregard (Alexander Maniatis) look like eager cosplayers, but not real people. And that makes the series worse.
Beauregard (Alexander Maniatis)
Why is the Netflix look in One Piece a problem?
When locations and characters look artificial to me, I develop a distance from them. I’m constantly aware that I’m watching a series and can only sympathize up to a certain limit. In order to avoid this phenomenon, film production uses techniques such as invisible editing: image changes that are as unobtrusive as possible and are not meant to pull viewers out of the story and back into the cinema.
But when I see Morgan’s signal color outfit and Beauregard’s sterile, wrinkle-free suit, Netflix reminds me that I’m watching a series. Instead of immersion, abstraction reigns. This is also problematic because it runs counter to the experience of the anime. While the visuals there are also exaggerated, they are not abstracted. I don’t think, “I’m watching a cultural product from Japan right now.” No. I’m having an adventure with Ruffy and the Straw Hats.
Morgan (Langley Kirkwood) in One Piece
But with the Netflix adaptation, I keep thinking to myself, “Aha, this is where they put deco dishes on the wall. This is a set ship in South Africa. Ropes were certainly used for this scene. I wonder if the stars had fun doing that.” And the more I think that, the more inconsequential the actual story becomes to me.
Sure, Corona measures also made the One Piece sets look even emptier, forcing the camera to compress space via fisheye lens. But the Netflix look is a much bigger problem and goes beyond both the pandemic restrictions and the anime adaptation.
This is how the Netflix look comes about
The Netflix look can be seen even in flagship series like The Witcher or Wednesday. In Red Notice or The Gray Man, it literally jumped out at viewers:inside. The superhero series Jupiter’s Legacy also has the same problem as One Piece: empty locations and costumes that make the film world look like a caricature, not to mention the drab color grading that makes everything look the same.
Jupiter’s Legacy
But what’s the point of this aesthetic in the first place? As a VICE article analyzes, it’s probably a mix of lack of budget and Netflix’s production policies. A lot of money goes to pay the stars on big projects, and costume and makeup get the short end of the stick. Even a pile of money like in One Piece, which exceeds even the costs of Game of Thrones, doesn’t help.
Incidentally, the streamer requires producers to use certain cameras that are all at least 4K-capable. Their images look flat and downright ridiculously sharp at the edges, especially on cell phones or laptops. So will fans just have to accept the Netflix look of One Piece in the future?
Will One Piece look different in season 2?
It’s not likely that the streamer will change its production standards anytime soon. But there’s always hope. For season 2 of One Piece, I would like to see an aesthetic that is more similar to Pirates of the Caribbean than Teletubbies. That doesn’t distort every image of my hero:ins into a caricature. Thanks to the passion of the producers and cast of the series, the Netflix look can be gotten over. But without it, it’s nearly perfect.
