One Piece Fans Approve Of One Major Usopp Change In Netflix Adaptation
As far as live-action anime adaptations go, Hollywood certainly doesn't have the best track record. Fortunately, the conversations surrounding Netflix's "One Piece" have been largely positive up to this point. Indeed, not only have most critics recommended "One Piece" but the series itself has been received surprisingly warmly by both casual viewers and die-hard fans alike. For further proof of the show's success, one need only look at its Season 2 renewal, which came just two weeks after its premiere. Netflix's live-action adaptation of "Cowboy Bebop," conversely, garnered largely negative reactions and was promptly canceled less than a month after its debut.
To its credit, the live-action version of "One Piece" does its best to honor the spirit and characters of both the original manga and the beloved anime series that inspired it. That doesn't, however, mean that the Netflix show never deviates from its source material. On the contrary, when it comes to the relationship between Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson) and Kaya (Celeste Loots), the series confirms the unspoken attraction their characters feel for each other in a way that neither the manga nor the "One Piece" anime show ever have.
"One Piece" Season 1 specifically features a kiss between Usopp and Kaya, and while the moment in question marks a major departure from the show's source material, longtime fans seem perfectly happy with it. On Reddit, one viewer even wrote, "I have no problem with it, the romantic relationship between them is obvious."
Usopp and Kaya's relationship has long been a point of speculation among fans
While Netflix's "One Piece" takes Usopp and Kaya's relationship a step further than fans may have expected, the creative decision has been met with little-to-no negative pushback. That's because the two characters' connection, which begins when Usopp starts telling Kaya certain tall tales in order to make her feel better while she's sick, has long been viewed as a romantic one by fans. The fact that their romance had never been explicitly confirmed prior to the premiere of Netflix's live-action "One Piece" adaptation didn't stop many readers and viewers from viewing it through that lens, either.
As Redditor u/HfUfH bluntly put it online, "Their ship was basically an aircraft carrier[.] I see no issues with confirming it." In the same Reddit thread, u/ TRI_Spaceman similarly wrote, "Usopp and Kaya's relationship was pretty blatantly romantic even though they didn't kiss in the manga, this [scene] just felt natural and was [a] nice cap-off to Usopp saying goodbye to Syrup Village to join the Straw Hat crew." Generally, fans seem far more upset about the fact that the version of Usopp on Netflix's "One Piece" doesn't have the character's signature long nose than they are about his undeniably noteworthy kiss with Kaya.
There have, in fact, been multiple Reddit posts about the show's decision to give its iteration of Usopp a normal-sized nose. Ultimately, all those posts prove is that longtime fans of a property will almost always find certain things to criticize about even its most successful adaptations. That said, the "One Piece" creative team can rest easy knowing that Usopp and Kaya's kiss hasn't been received poorly by most of the show's viewers.