It's a bit ironic, because I just started the show today, I haven't even finished watching episode 1, and I don't know man. I don't know. I don't hate it, that's for sure. Zoro actually looks like the best out of the bunch at this point.
But yeah, I don't know if we mean the same here, but I was a bit taken aback at how they portray the characters. For example, when Corby and Luffy meet, he comes out of the barrel and Corby instantly helps Luffy. Their scene seem drastically shortened, which is fine, I guess, since it's live action and every scene costs them money that beats animation by a landslide, but it simply didn't feel as impactful, when they face off Alvida, you know? They had barely talked, Corby hadn't even mentioned his dreams by that point, Luffy didn't blatantly disregard and insult Corby for his cowardice and Corby doesn't stand up to Alvida, getting Luffy to recognize him as an equal and protecting him. Instead, he did everything for him.
In this case, I kind of ignore the fact that they gave the characters completely random ethnicities, like Luffy is by no means as tanned as Inaki Godoy (and his kid version is even darker toned), but he's a cute lad, so he shall have the roll, whatever. They took out Alvida's trademark Snow White mannerism about "who's the fairest of them all" and shit, probably so they could evade people getting offended that a woman is openly mocked for being ugly or something, and also so they won't have to change the Actress later on, because I almost guarantee you that they won't put in a beautiful Actress to replace her later, as Alvida fullfills the roll of someone with shining beauty that entrances everyone at first, as you probably know). They basically took her entire vanity away and replaced it with some false pride in her physical strength.
Nami that I saw was okay, but much like Shanks, they dyed her hair a bit badly and left her eyebrows as they were, which kind of makes it obvious it's just colored. But well, that's a clear nitpick, I just found it funny.
What actually annoyed me the most, overall, in those few minutes I have seen, is the way certain characters behave: Not just how Corby and Luffy acted weirdly, but Makino not being all smiles was out of place. She's a character that's always friendly and softspoken, while in the LA she carries a look of distrust when the bandits enter the pub. In the original, she would have smiled, albeit awkwardly, and told them in an amicable way that there's no more alcohol in the house. Shanks, meanwhile, is downplayed a lot. He used to be always grinning widely and take everything lightly, unless he's shocked about something, then he will instantly panic. He's always hyper, just like Luffy, just in a more mature way. In the LA, he seems almost depressed most of the time, way too serious compared to the Manga and Anime. When the alcohol is spilled in Makino's bar, if I saw that correctly, Shanks' crew was already starting to gear up. In the original, they glanced over, in case something did happen, yet they didn't even move an inch. It was, in my eyes, important that they didn't, because it made it seem as if they weren't "man enough" to actually lift a finger against the oh-so-scary bandit. By not reacting, it created the illusion of them being afraid of confrontation, when in reality, this fight was simply beneath them.
Now, I said I don't hate it, yet I have to much to complain in half an episode, but though I need time, I'd consider watching further still. Coming off Death Note, Avatar, Cowboy Bebop, or Dragonball, I do believe this one might actually be good. At the same time, I don't know, it's hard for me to familiarize myself with it at this point. I do believe that Oda didn't greenlight this from his side, if this was atrocious. But I just don't get used to such changed easily. I'm also no One Piece super fan, I hardly watched or read it in recent years, only to actually read the plot of the Gear 5th, so maybe I'm wrong about it. That's just how it felt to me.
