The Girl with the Sawfish Tattoo

This episode is all about one scene, right at the end. It's a famous scene from the anime, and I take the point that there are other ways it could have been played in the live action.

But this isn't the anime, it's a condensed version of it, made for binge watching, and necessarily a little louder and quicker.

So what I'm basing my rating on here is that I went into this show with no knowledge of the source, bringing a lot of cynicism for Netflix adaptations, and primed to not like it.

And in episode 1, I very nearly bailed. I found Luffy to be overly trite, and Nami was introduced as a Rey-style cocky, independent, self-assured grrlboss with nowhere for either character to go.

Wow, was I wrong. Over the episodes, we got backstory, motivation, development, examination, deconstruction, and interactions that led to a beautifully acted, character based payoff that left me in floods of tears.

That's a very rare thing, and even more remarkable in a show that initially promises nothing more than fantastical pirates. I never expected this much depth or nuance, and it was a very welcome surprise indeed.

You can see from the detail put into in the sets and costumes that this was made with some love! Actors seem to grow into their roles as the season goes on and some of the fight scenes are pretty damn slick, trimming it down from the stretched out anime arcs while keeping main plot points was done quite brilliantly!

Turning a goofy anime that I love into a slightly goofy all be it darker live adaption is something I'm glad to have been alive to witness, this is how it's done right, made me smile, made me laugh, made me get a bit emotional!! All in all good fun watch! Bring on season two !! Thank you Oda.