One of the few bona fide hits when it comes to live-action adaptations of anime and manga is definitely Netflix’s One Piece, and this book certainly pays tribute to that.
Covering the first two seasons of the live-action series, this book covers the details behind how this show was created from the anime and manga versions of One Piece.
From detailed breakdowns of their wardrobe to the wild prosthetics and even the special effects, there’s a lot of really great content here for fans of the show.
Starting off with a really nice foreword by one of the showrunners, Joe Tracz, the book then goes into a lot of details about how this world and story were brought to life.
The bulk of the book is also written by Mike Avila, who does a very thorough job, and he clearly knows his One Piece.
Split across three very large chapters, you follow how the characters were cast, how they were brought in line with the original host work, and all the other amazing worldbuilding you see in the show.
‘Set Sail: The Art and Making of One Piece’ is a very comprehensive creative chronicle of the live-action show.
Viz Media, Netflix
Seeing all the detailed concept art is also great, as you really get a sense of how the anime and manga versions were carefully and faithfully adapted into live-action.
The breakdown of the props is also great, as there’s a great deal of craftmanship on show here.
My only real wish with this book is that it had included an index. Coming in at 208 pages, there’s a great deal of content here, and being able to selectively search for characters, locations, and the like would have been nice.
Without spoiling the book’s content, it is safe to say that this is a really great chronicle of the show, prior to the third season’s release next year.
Overall, if you really enjoyed the Netflix live-action adaptation of One Piece, then this book comes recommended. It covers all aspects of the show’s production in a great deal of detail and will make for fascinating reading for anyone who loves One Piece.
Set Sail: The Art and Making of One Piece is released on June 23 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon for a very reasonable $36.24.
Disclosure: Viz Media sent me this book for the purposes of this review.
Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently writing regular columns in Japanese about mecha games and mecha anime for both Game*Spark and Automaton.
