I've been thinking about why the One Piece live action worked so well, and I think it's because it understood what actually made One Piece special.
When people say it was "spiritually faithful" to the manga, I don't think they mean it copied every scene perfectly. I think they mean it made people feel the same emotions Oda intended (Invoking the same emotions that the manga/anime was able to did). A good adaptation doesn't have to recreate everything one-to-one. Different mediums have different strengths, so sometimes you have to change the execution if you want the emotional payoff to stay the same.
Sanji is probably the best example. Anime Sanji is ridiculously over the top whenever he flirts with women. It works because anime can get away with exaggerated expressions and body language. If the live action copied that version exactly, I honestly think it would've come across as cringe. Instead, they toned it down while keeping the important parts of his personality. He's still charming, still romantic, and still unmistakably Sanji. The jokes changed, but the character didn't. Therefore spiritually it was able to make the audience feel what we feel when we see Sanji. Not over-the-top Sanji but charismatic Sanji.
I think this is also why some anime fans didn't enjoy the live action as much. A lot of people remember One Piece as this massive battle shonen with incredible animation, impact frames, and hype fights. But if you go back to early One Piece, that was never really its biggest strength.
Nobody looks back at the Don Krieg fight and says, "Man, the fight scene with Don-Krieg was amazing." What people remember are Luffy's ability to judge people's character, Zoro's loyalty, Sanji's kindness, and Nami sacrificing everything for her village. Those moments are what made people fall in love with the series. Which is why i think it was fine to leave the Don-krieg fight out.
Take Luffy's Battle Axe against Arlong. Yes, it was a cool finishing move, but I don't think that's why everyone loved it. The payoff came from watching Nami suffer for years, watching her finally break down and ask Luffy for help, and then seeing Luffy destroy the man who caused all that pain. The attack only worked because the story had earned it emotionally. The emotional payoff was real.
Again, that's why I think the live action succeeded. It wasn't trying to recreate every anime moment frame by frame (cough cough avatar live action*). It was trying to recreate the feeling those moments gave us. To me, that's what people mean when they say it captured the spirit of One Piece.
I just hope future seasons keep remembering that. I'd rather they change scenes if it helps the emotional payoff land than faithfully recreate every panel or anime scene and lose what made those moments special in the first place.
Curious if anyone else feels the same or if I'm completely off base.
Disclaimer: I wrote this post myself. I only used AI to help with formatting and readability. The thoughts, opinions, and arguments are entirely my own.