The One Piece live-action adaptation by Netflix has garnered critical acclaim for the story, the acting, and its general faithfulness to the source material. A big part of that is the sets, and as Netflix has revealed in a new featurette, what we’re seeing – especially when it comes to the ships – is real, not CGI.

“In One Piece we have a lot of really big vessels,” showrunner Matt Owens says in the video. “They’re real, we built them, and I think that lends credibility to the world.” This is true not just of the Going Merry, the Straw Hats ship, but of every other pirate ship in the One Piece universe including Buggy’s, Alvida’s, and Admiral Garp.

And they just didn’t build parts of them, they basically built the vessels – in scale. Or, in some cases, finished building them – they reused some of the pirate ships and infrastructure left by the STARZ show Black Sails.

Talk about dedication. 

And though actors are trained to act – even if that involves green screen – there’s something special about being able to do so in the place you’re supposed to be instead of having to imagine it. Jacob Romero, who plays Usopp, confirms this by saying in the video. “It’s so amazing to be able to reach out and touch these things.” 

Iñaki Godoy, who plays the Captain of the Straw Hats, Monkey D. Luffy, goes a step farther by picking a favorite set. And which set could it be other than, well …the one that belongs to the Straw Hats. “The Going Merry is definitely my favorite set,” he said. “It’s the Straw Hats home,” which is enough explanation. But there’s also this: “I am the Captain, so it’s the best ship ever.”

Production Designer Richard Brigland also adds in the video that every set – every vessel – had to be very specific to the Captains on the ships. “I wanted every set grounded in the logic of the One Piece story.” The sets are, after all, one of the things that help sell the story. But if you add to the gorgeous sets the perfect cast and a pretty cool story it’s easy to see why One Piece has proven a fan-favorite right out the gate. 

One Piece is available to stream on Netflix. 

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, One Piece being covered here wouldn’t exist.