The One Piece live action series has defied all
expectations to become the first live action anime that actually isn’t terrible. And part
of why it works so well is that the creators, Steven Maeda and Matt Owens, clearly love and
respect the source material - thanks to that, they’ve included plenty of Easter Eggs in the
series for hard core fans to recognize. So here I go with the run down of every single Easter
Egg I could find in the One Piece live action. Starting in episode 1, we get to see a few
familiar faces present at Roger’s execution. The most notable was a Young Dracule Mihawk and,
of course, a young Shanks, both of whom are very recognizable. However, there’s also this figure
in a green cloak that we have to assume is Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the revolutionaries.
We also get a blond kid who could be Smoker and barely get a glimpse of a young Buggy. And
this one is a little less clear, but look at the jewelry on this woman. Is this Crocodile?
Did the live action just confirm CROCO-MOM?? In the port, we can also see Mihawk’s ship
- a little cross-shaped raft. However, as we cross over to Luffy, we see him
talking to a seagull - but not just any seagull - this is a newscoo, a certified
delivery bird for the World Economic Forum, One Piece’s paper of record. And on that
newspaper, we see a headline about a war on Broc Coli Island - a war which will be
ended by the Germa 66 two years from now. Roronoa Zoro makes his appearance on Sixis Island.
Readers familiar with the Ace light novel will know that this is where Ace was stranded at the
very beginning of his adventure. However, the more obvious Easter Egg was Zoro fighting against
Mr. 7 of Baroque Works. Some may be surprised to know that while it wasn’t depicted in the manga,
Zoro killing Mr. 7 actually is a canon event. When the crew starts fighting against Crocodile’s
criminal organization in the Alabasta Arc, we find out that Mr. 7 did try to recruit Zoro
but was killed when he attacked the pirate hunter. During this scene, Zoro also lights candles
with matches from a matchbox that reads “Beast of Baldimore” - Baldimore
being the home of Dr. Vegapunk, where Franky trained during the time skip. In this flashback to a young Luffy hanging
with Shanks’ crew, we can clearly hear a very recognizable song for One Piece fans: Bink’s
Sake, which the crew sings with Brook to celebrate their victory at Thriller Bark. However, some
fans speculate that this song is more than just a certified pirate banger: its lyrics might
actually hold clues to the One Piece itself. As Luffy prepares to break into the Marine base,
he speculates that he could fly into the base by hitching a ride on a bird. This is a reference
to how he made it to Orange Town in the anime, when a bird catches his head in its
beak and carries him to the next island. In Shells Town, we can see a Buggy Pirate, as
well, in addition to the ones that Nami “clowns” ****out of their ship, previewing Buggy’s
triumphant introduction in the next episode. Axe-Hand Morgan also brags about his
defeat of Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates and we can see scars on Morgan
that appear to come from Kuro’s claw gloves. And when Luffy and Nami steal Morgan’s safe, we can see that its opening mechanism is in
the shape of the World Government symbol. Moving into Episode 2, once the
crew breaks open Morgan’s safe, we also see Kuro’s bounty poster,
which Morgan has kept as a keepsake. Speaking of bounty posters, though, the
live action Netflix team put work into absolutely covering this thing with bounty
poster Easter Eggs. Throughout the series, we can see bounty posters appear with the
introductions of new characters, which is a reference to One Piece’s so-called “Oda Boxes”
which introduce characters and their bounties. However, we also see a lot of bounty posters for
characters that have yet to appear in the series: pirates such as Bellamy, Foxy, Cavendish, Don
Krieg (who we do actually see later in the story), Jango (who we do not see in the story), and
possibly some others that we still missed. During Cabaji’s monologue to Zoro about how
in the live action version of the story, Zoro killed his brother, he mentioned that the
killing took place in the Goa Kingdom. Fans of the series will recognize the Goa Kingdom as Luffy’s
home and the island that houses Windmill Village. Fans may have been sad about some of the
changes to the Orange Town storyline, despite the actor selected for Buggy
absolutely killing it in this role. Netflix evidently didn’t have the
budget for Richie the giant lion, but they at least refer to him while Buggy is
berating Mohji the lion tamer. In addition, we get to see the mayor of Orange Town and his
incredibly recognizable hairstyle take on a new role among the rest of the enslaved townspeople
instead of trying to fight back against Buggy. The biggest change of this storyline is probably
not getting one of the saddest backstories in the East Blue…I’m talking about, of course,
the little dog Chou-Chou, who diligently defended the pet store after his master died.
However, toward the very end of the episode, we do get to see Chou Chou for a brief moment
seeing off Luffy and co with the rest of the citizens of Orange Town. Things like this really
show that despite needing to change parts of the plot due to time and budget, the creators really
did want to honor the hardcore fans of One Piece. The final Easter Egg of Episode 2 comes during
Luffy’s flashback, just before Shanks gives him the straw hat. We can see WoopSlap the mayor of
Windmill Village in an anime-accurate costume. Even though he didn’t have lines in this version,
they still made sure to include this fan favorite character. In this scene as well, we see a
crate from the Galley-La shipwright company. Now onto Syrup Village and episode 3! During Usopp’s flashback, we can just barely see
a poster announcing the death of Victoria Cindry, the famous actress who will eventually be made
into a zombie by Dr. Hogback on Thriller Bark. On the title card for episode three,
fans who were disappointed by liveaction Usopp’s lack of a long nose can
rest assured that at least this recreation of Usopp’s Jolly Roger has
a *somewhat* elongated nose. At least, longer than Jacob Gibson’s nose - the actor who
portrays Usopp in this version of the story. In fact, the title card changes for each and every
episode to reference a specific character. In case you didn’t know, Oda has designed specific Jolly
Rogers for all of the crew members, even if these images don’t appear in the actual series: #1
is the standard logo which stands for Luffy. #2 features Buggy the Clown. #3, again, is Usopp’s.
#4 is Zoro, prominently featuring the Wado Ichimonji. #5 is actually not Sanji, but Zeff.
However, once we get to #6, we do get Sanji’s title card, whose skull has a swirly eyebrow even
though this version of Sanji does not. For episode #7, we get Nami’s title card. And finally,
for episode #8, we get Arlong’s title card, which prominently features the symbol of the Sun
Pirates. This emblem of Arlong’s former crew did not get as much focus as in the source material
due to Hatchan being absent from the live action. Anyway! Back to Episode 3: As we rejoin the crew and see
Nami studying the Grand Line map, we can see her trying to figure out what
exactly is going on with Reverse Mountain. When Luffy first meets Merry, he claims that
it feels like the ship is speaking to him, which feels like a reference to the
Klabautermann from the Water 7 arc. When Usopp tells a story to Kaya, he mentions
the Island Eater Goldifsh - one of Usopp’s many lies that will come true one day if the
live action crew makes it to Little Garden. While in Kaya’s mansion, Zoro
could care less about the food, but much like his manga counterpart really
just wants a good drink. In the same scene, Usopp also tells a lie about the time
he slayed a dragon - it’s a stretch, but this might be implying the existence of
very real dragons in the One Piece universe, such as the one the crew fights on Punk
Hazard or Luffy’s future opponent, Kaidou. In the foyer of Kaya’s mansion,
there are also two penguin statues, which eagle eyed viewers may recognize from
one of Oda’s coverstories. Zoro also states that he recognizes Kuro from Mirror Ball Island -
while Jango is sadly absent from the adaptation, this island is a reference to where
Jango ends up in his cover story. Later, when exploring the mansion, we
get the first of many references to Zoro getting lost easily. It’s good to see the
Netflix version keeping Zoro’s gag intact. Lastly for episode 3, child Usopp’s bandana in
the flashback has the logo for the Usopp Pirates, the three kids who follow him around in the
manga, but who are absent from the adaptation. Time for episode 4, where our first
Easter Egg comes on the very first shot: the bush behind the well is trimmed into
the shape of a panda, marking Pandaman’s official appearance in live action. Though, as
we all know, Pandaman is sneaky, so perhaps he’s hiding out elsewhere in the show as well. Him
being stuck in the well in the first place is likely a reference to the Frog in the Well
proverb that Mihawk will later bring up. First off, Kuina gives her full name as Shimotsuki
Kuina. In the manga, we know she’s from Shimotsuki Village and the daughter of Koushiro, but
it isn’t until much, much, much later in the series that we find out about their ties
to the Shimotsuki Family of Wano. We also get to see the Shimotsuki Famliy Crest all over the
Dojo, just as we did in the original material. Kuina’s father also mentions
how rare the Wado Ichimonji is, which might be a reference to its status
as one of the 21 Great Grade swords. When trying to find his way to the mansion, Zoro runs into Luffy because he
got lost once again. Classic Zoro. When the Straw Hats sail away from Syrup Village, we hear an orchestral version of “We Are”
the first One Piece anime theme song, thus causing all One Piece fans everywhere
to automatically burst into tears. To end the episode, Usopp reveals
his first draft of their pirate flag, once again featuring Usopp’s
Jolly Roger from the manga. At the end of this episode, during the
credits that show images of the East Blue map, we see the Island of Rare Animals, home to fan
favorite Gaimon, make an appearance. However, we also see many other Easter Eggs in
the credits maps after each episode: Featured locations include the Polestar
Islands, home to Loguetown. a reference to the Marines Commander in Chief, Kong, Kumate
Island, which featured in Buggy’s cover story, the Oykot Kingdom, where Belle-mere
found Nami and Nojiko, the Cozia Islands, where the Germa Kingdom went to during Sanji’s
second backstory, and my personal favorite: after episode 7 you can see a sketch of Momoo, the giant
sea cow used by the Arlong Pirates in the manga. Onto episode 5! On the Baratie, Sanji prepares a Blue Fin
Elephant Tuna - which is the same species of fish that Sanji buys on Loguetown in the manga. This isn’t a One Piece specific Easter Egg, but
during Mihawk’s brutally bad ass introduction, when he slices up the ship we
hear a “Wilhelm Scream” - a famous stock effect that sound
designers often include in films. And, of course, the pirates Mihawk is
fighting are the Don Krieg pirates, who are the original antagonists of
Baratie in the manga. We even still got to see Gin on the Baratie, as well as
the defeated body of Pearl on the beach. Nami and Zoro play a drinking game - this one
is also a stretch, but this could be a nod to the drinking game that Zoro and Nami play with the
undercover Baroque Works agents on Whiskey Peak. When Mihawk meets Luffy, he recognizes
Shanks’ hat and compliments it. In episode 6, when trying to
think of Zoro’s favorite food, Luffy states that “he really likes rice
balls” which is a reference to Zoro’s signature attack in the manga being called
“Onigiri”, the Japanese word for rice ball. During Sanji’s flashback, child Sanji has
blood smeared on his cheek in a swirl pattern, a reference to his eyebrows in the anime. When Nami reads to Zoro, she tells him the
story of Noland the Liar, a famous fairy tale in the One Piece world that actually serves as a
fundamental part of Skypiea’s backstory. The pages of the book are manga accurate as well, right
down to including another sighting of Pandaman. At the end of the episode, we can also see
another Galley La crate on the Going Merry. In episode 7, we see Bellemere turn a tangerine
into a pinwheel, which sort of combines two important symbols from the manga. First off, are
the tangerine groves that Nami is associated with. Second, in the manga the village mayor Genzo
wears a pinwheel on his hat to entertain the young Nami and Nojiko and appear less frightening
to them. We briefly see him in a flashback with his signature pinwheel, but this was a nice
way to combine those two symbols. It’s a shame, though, that Luffy never gets to see the
pinwheel and remark on how cool it is. In the Netflix Adaptation, Arlong Park is also
much more notably modeled after a theme park, with several carnival games seen on the premises.
One of these being home to the ultimate prize, Buggy’s body. Making Arlong Park look a
lot more like a theme park makes sense, since later on in the story we find out that
Arlong modeled his empire on Sabaody Park, the theme park on Sabaody Archipelago
that banned Fishmen due to prejudice. Mezumi also evokes the name of another Warlord and
future crewmate, Jinbei - and rightly, Arlong gets angry, foreshadowing the tension between the two
when they were both members of the Sun Pirates. And during Zeff and Garp’s meal, Zeff discusses
dining on one of the last wild boars of Jaya, which is an island that the Straw Hats will
eventually visit as part of the Skypiea Saga. Episode 8 treats us to another Wilhelm
scream during the battle at Arlong Park. When the Straw Hats get the
newspaper and see Luffy’s bounty, Usopp’s head appears in the poster just like in the original. In that same newspaper we also
see a headline about the Revolutionary Army. Buggy and Alvida meet in a bar,
foreshadowing their future team up at Loguetown and their rise to
the same level of power as luffy. When Garp talks with Koby, he talks about
how different marines have their own “Brand of Justice” - a nod to future marine admirals
such as Akainu following “Absolute Justice.” When the Straw Hats put their feet up on the
barrel, we can get a better look at Luffy’s very controversial shoes. We can see that
the costume department actually put a pattern on Luffy’s shoes that somewhat resemble
sandals, a nod to Luffy’s usual footwear. When Nami is inspecting the map of the Grand Line, she once again remarks on the odd
geography of Reverse Mountain. “We Are” also plays again, sending our Straw
Hats off into the next season of the show. Then in a post credit scene, we get a tease
of Smoker, burning Luffy’s wanted poster, who many fans were surprised not to see this season.
Thankfully, the creators have not forgotten him. One Easter Egg that is actually several
Easter Eggs comes in the form of the outfits the Straw Hats wear. Practically
every outfit that wasn’t manga accurate came from one of Oda’s color spreads that
have the Straw Hats displaying peak fashion. But despite hiding so many details loyal
to the source material, the Live Action also had a ton of awesome and terrible
changes compared to the manga and anime, that you can watch right
here. Shanks for watching.
