Netflix Live-Action One Piece Review: 7 Ups And 4 Downs

You can't blame One Piece for struggling to achieve perfect pacing when having to fit the whole East Blue Saga into one season. But that doesn't change the fact that it struggles to keep the pace running consistently.

There are times when the show drags as it has to dart around so much to include everything. Episode 6 is a good example, as the pacing slows down to a crawl as it tries to strike a balance between fun-loving adventure, personal drama, and character development.

Forcing character backstories, battles with villains, personal drama within the crew, and exposition of the world into each episode often make stretches of the story drag, especially when you just want to continue on the adventure.

Some moments also feel rushed, quickly brushing through important character development to move on to the next big highlight from the series. A firm example of this can be found in Usopp, whose backstory is so condensed that it misses much of what made it so special in the anime/manga.

This issue will cause many viewers to switch off at times, even if One Piece is generally great.