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One Piece star Inaki Godoy delved deep into the manga to preserve Luffy's spirit in the Netflix series

"Not everything goes as planned," says the One Piece protagonist's real-life avatar, "but I tried to stay true to Luffy’s words, movements, and spirit as much as possible."

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Fri Mar 13 2026

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Perhaps to the shock of One Piece the world over, Netflix's live-action adaptation of the seminal fantasy anime is... pretty well loved? Particularly, viewers responded very well to the casting of their favorite Straw Hats crew, including their leader himself, Inaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy. And as you'll be thrilled to know, this positive reception didn't come from just luck - Godoy did exactly what he needed to do to prepare for playing the iconic character: delve into the manga itself.

Speaking to Japan Anime News, Godoy was asked about how he prepared for such a role, and he revealed that it came down to studying the source material, even though both the manga and anime was so wildly different, visually, than what live-action can capture.

"For the live-action," Godoy told the outlet. "I focused on what I could do myself. I studied the manga thoroughly, picked out my favorite scenes, Luffy’s poses and lines, and before filming, I shared with the showrunners 'what we absolutely had to preserve.' Not everything goes as planned, but I tried to stay true to Luffy’s words, movements, and spirit as much as possible."

There you go, hardcore One Piece fans - the onscreen Luffy is reading exactly what you've been. Although to be fair, Godoy also said he had one inspiration to which you probably don't have the access: One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda himself.

"Talking directly with Oda-sensei was a huge support for me," the actor concluded.

Yeah, that'll probably do it.

One Piece season 2 (featuring a manga-accurate Luffy) is streaming on Netflix now.

THE ONE PIECE IS REAL...ly important to Popverse! That's why we've put together the key articles to keep your fandom of the manga-turned-anime-turned-live-action-show alive:

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.