KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — Netflix has revealed the central cast for the much anticipated live-action One Piece series.

Making up the five core members of the Mugiwara or Straw Hat pirates are Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy (Go, Youth!, Who Killed Sara?), Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro (Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter, Pacific Rim: Uprising), Emily Rudd as Nami (Fear Street, Hunters).

Also joining the list are Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp (Greenleaf, All Rise) and Taz Skylar as Sanji (Boiling Point, Villain).

The cast have received the approval of One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda who is working with Netflix and Tomorrow Studios on the long-running manga and anime franchise. 

"Their face, the size of their mouths and hands, their aura, the way they carry themselves, their voice, their acting skills, their height, the balance amongst the Straw Hat Crew, etc...!”  said Oda.

"We decided on this cast after numerous discussions involving people around the world! These are the people who will be our Straw Hat Pirates! 

It’ll take a bit more time to get this show done, but we’ll continue to do our best to deliver a show that we’re confident will be enjoyed by everyone around the world! Look forward to more updates in the future!”

Showrunner for the series Steve Maeda teased earlier this year that production had restarted after a delay due to the pandemic, after it initially kicked off last summer.

The live-action One Piece will reportedly be for ten episodes, and was previously confirmed to focus on the East Blue arc of Eiichiro Oda’s original series which has been confirmed by the core five members of the cast.

One Piece which began as a manga title in 1997 before it’s anime production kicked off in 1999, has over 490 million copies in circulation in 58 countries and regions worldwide, making it the best-selling manga series in history as of July 2021, the best-selling comic series printed in book volume and is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.