One Piece Creator Eiichiro Oda Meets Live-Action Luffy Actor in New Netflix Video

Netflix shares a new promo video for its live-action One Piece series, showing Iñaki Godoy meeting manga creator Eiichiro Oda for the first time.

The latest promotional video for Netflix’s highly-anticipated One Piece series featured a wholesome encounter between manga creator Eiichiro Oda and live-action Luffy actor Iñaki Godoy.

In the video, Godoy personally met Oda at his studio in Tokyo, Japan. The iconic manga artist warmly welcomed the starstruck actor by immediately embracing him. The promo also showed Godoy asking Oda some questions about One Piece including the reason why Oda has chosen him to play Luffy for the live-action adaptation. The 20-year-old actor got emotional when Oda said that he "can’t imagine anyone else" playing his beloved character other than Godoy, who impressed him with his lively personality in his audition tape.

Besides Oda, Godoy had also met with Mayumi Tanaka during his trip to Japan which was shown in a previously released promo. Tanaka has been voicing Luffy in the long-running anime series since 1999. Like the One Piece creator, Tanaka also gave her blessing to Godoy by ceremoniously placing a straw hat on the actor. Tanaka along with the original anime cast are set to reprise their iconic roles in the Japanese dubbed version of the live-action One Piece series.

Other than Godoy, Nami actor Emily Rudd previously confirmed that she also had met the legendary mangaka, which she described as a nerve-racking experience. "I also was able to meet Oda-sensei, and it was easily the most scared I've ever been in my whole life. He's a lovely dude, but you know, he's kind of like a god, you know?"

Netflix’s One Piece Series Will Be Faithful to the Anime

In a previous interview, One Piece showrunner Matt Owens opened up about Oda’s hands-on involvement in the development of the live-action adaptation. He revealed that one of Oda’s demands for the project was that the Netflix series wouldn't alter the origin stories of its five main characters. "Because they're so pivotal to who they are as people, what their dreams and motivations are, and how Luffy digs into that as he meets them and helps them rediscover those dreams," Owens said.

Just like the manga and anime, the live-action series will follow the adventures of Straw Hat Pirates led by rubber man Monkey D. Luffy, who dreams of becoming the King of the Pirates. Together, they will navigate their way into the treacherous Grand Line in search of the fabled One Piece treasure. Joining Godoy’s Luffy and Rudd’s Nami are Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Taz Skyler as Sanji, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, Peter Gadiot as Shanks, Vincent Regan as Garp, Jeff Ward as Buggy the Clown, Milton Schorr as Don Krieg, McKinley Belcher III as Arlong, and more. John Wick star Ian McShane has also joined the cast as the voice of the narrator.