I’m going to confess something: the first episodes of ‘One Piece’, 25 years later, still hold up perfectly. And I know it firsthand because exactly a year ago I decided to finally start watching the series, one episode per day. And beyond its obvious flaws (excessive flashbacks, not in high definition, etc.), they are very entertaining. But if they want to make a remake, I certainly won’t be the one to refuse. Or maybe I will?
I will go until the end, I will pursue it
It was a surprise for everyone (including those who made the original anime, who now fear it will be lost in time): ‘One Piece’ will have a remake on Netflix, a relatively logical step after the success of its live-action series. This will be the fourth time they tell us these early stories in the East Blue, but behind it is the studio that made the first two seasons of ‘Attack on Titan’, so… Why not?
There is a very powerful reason why not: artificial intelligence. And it is that Wit Studio, which is nothing more than the most indie arm of Production IG, likes to flirt a lot with AI. In fact, they already did it in ‘Dog and Child’, a short film they also made for Netflix where the backgrounds were made this way, but not to experiment, but to save workers. Which, in the end, is the lesson that big companies are taking about the possibilities of AI, let’s not fool ourselves.
Sure, they don’t have to use this type of tools, after all. This was just an experiment and no matter how much their employees complain, maybe they will give their all for ‘The One Piece’. But there are doubts. Because in the study itself, it announces that it will use “the most innovative animation techniques”. And we all know what that can mean. Will we see Luffy animated by a robot or will it have a human touch? We’ll have to find out before we get on board.
