One Piece expert Greg Werner discusses the new live action series and much more.

Cover photo: Greg Werner in interview (2023).

Intro

The pirate adventure series One Piece (ワンピース) continues global domination. Produced by Tomorrow Studios, in partnership with publisher Shueisha (集英社), the new live action adaptation ranked #1 on the Netflix streaming platform in 84 countries upon debut August 31st. Based on the original manga by Eiichiro Oda (尾田 栄一郎), the show has been widely praised for bringing the artist’s vision to life.

Series advisor Greg Werner (グレッグ・ワーナー) is one of many talented people who made this possible. In a wide-ranging interview — including the art of translation, AI, and the future of One Piece — Werner answered my questions about his career and involvement with the franchise. Please watch below.

The following is an abridged transcript edited for clarity and brevity.

So first of all, how did you get involved with One Piece?

I became aware of One Piece in 2001, after my first trip to Japan. I brought some volumes back home with me and I became a fan, even writing letters to the author, thanking him for the series. It had further incentivized me to learn the language, and by the end of my study abroad in 2004, I was reading One Piece entirely in Japanese.

While in the JET [Japan Exchange and Teaching] Program, through serendipity, I saw a call for One Piece trivia participants on TV, for the program Hoko x Tate (ほこ×たて). When I was at the studio, some editors of Shueisha, a sister magazine to Weekly Shonen Jump, asked to interview me. Afterwards, they offered me a serialized column about One Piece.

And translation?

That’s a case of not what you know, but who you know. Through The One Piece Podcast, I met Stephen Paul, who had become the official translator for the series, and through him I met people at Viz Media. I was given the opportunity to do translation work for a Monster Hunter book, then Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater, and Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai.

What is your involvement with One Piece now?

I keep up with my column and articles, and I also do various types of translation work, like letters, author statements, and tweets. The big one now, I’m the series advisor for the live action One Piece series on Netflix. I was invited by the author to have a role in that six years ago, before Netflix or writers were involved.

Is that how long the live action has been in the works?

Technically, seven years. The pitch was made to the author seven years ago and they called me in around May of 2017.

What are you doing exactly?

Revising scripts. We’ll get drafts, and we go through them with a fine-tooth comb to find general errors and to keep the script true to the characters. It’s difficult to get into details because of NDAs [non-disclosure agreements], but fortunately, our advice has been valued because the author is involved.

We had production issues going back and forth between the U.S. and Japan — and a little thing called ‘corona’ as well — but it looks like it was worth it.

Were there any major changes made to localize the content for a Western audience?

In terms of major changes, characters had to be removed to present a coherent story in eight episodes. If everything goes well, maybe we can weave them back into the story in original ways.

What were you most excited to see realized in live action? Is there a scene that you were looking forward to?

I wanted to see the introduction of Luffy, because if you nail that, you have the series. Luffy is so very important to the author and to the audience. That sets the tone for literally everything else. Luckily, the writers and the production team cooked up an absolutely fantastic introduction. I don’t think we could have hoped for anything better.

How did you get interested in Japan originally?

My relationship with Japan is kind of weird because I have enjoyed Japanese entertainment ever since I can remember. I had no idea that it was from Japan or what Japan was for that matter.

My very first interest was Godzilla, then Voltron, then Power Rangers, then — after a brief Star Wars phase — the Final Fantasy game series, the Chrono Trigger game, and Dragon Ball, which finally prompted me to learn about Japanese culture.

Everybody knows about Dragon Ball now, but that was not the case when I got into it. Before the internet, it was extremely difficult to watch episodes. To learn more about the story, I had to teach myself Japanese.

How old were you at the time?

That was around 1997. I was 13.

We didn’t have Japanese language classes at school, but there were exchange students at my local college, so my mom called to ask if someone could teach me. I got an absolutely awesome Japanese tutor. She made me memorize hiragana in two days and then katakana in three. After that summer I was on my own, but it was a good start. I still keep in contact with her and I’m very grateful for everything she taught me.

Where are you living now?

I’m here in Fukui (福井) where I started working as a JET. I was with the JET Program for five years, and then I started working for the local Board of Education in Fukui City, and now I work at elementary schools teaching English. That’s my day job.

How much time do you spend translating nowadays?

I don’t do regular manga translations, because I have too many other responsibilities. For One Piece stuff, I may be asked to go to Tokyo the next day. I only take large projects for established or finished series, so that I can work without weekly deadlines. If I were to do translation work full-time, I would not be able to be so picky, so I’m very fortunate.

What do you find most difficult about translation and what do you like best about it?

Finding the character’s voice is most difficult, though it’s the most fun part of the job. It requires back and forth with the editor; it’s extremely difficult without asking the author. You have to form their voice from cues such as speech patterns, quirks, and honorifics. In a weekly series, it’s an absolute nightmare, as you’re learning more about them week to week. I have nothing but respect for the absolute galaxy-level-brain translators who soldier through it. It’s amazing.

How are you able to convey onomatopoeia or a character’s emotions?

For onomatopoeia, you’re constantly making noises to yourself. Editors want you to use established words, like “drip” or “punch” or “bam” or “boom” but those don’t always convey the right feeling. You’re also fighting the word count — which is especially difficult going from Japanese to English — because of bubble size. You can make it a nightmare for text layout.

Another way to find the character is looking at how they talk and relate to others, especially with honorifics. Those are the big clues that Japanese people notice. I was watching a movie with my wife and she explained, ‘That’s the older brother.’ Because I missed one word — “ani” (兄) — I had no idea who these two characters were and how their relationship was established.

What about invented words? In fantasy, there’s a whole new vocabulary.

Those can be the most fun and the most dangerous. If you miss something like wordplay or double entendre, that’s just a nightmare. For example, in One Piece, the island “Rafuteru” (ラフテル) was translated as “Raftel.” 20 years later, the author revealed that the name is “Laugh Tale,” like a funny story. There’s no way anyone could have known. The publisher didn’t revise earlier editions, but from that point on, they used “Laugh Tale.” Again, this is why it’s easier to work with a finished series.

What are your thoughts on AI?

AI translation, where it stands right now, I honestly believe it is garbage. In terms of daily conversations, and getting people to survive while traveling abroad, AI is great, but there is so much that is missing from relationships and the voice of the character. That is currently impossible for AI.

So, getting meaning across? Yes, absolutely. Voice? Nah, it’s not even close.

What advice do you have for anyone interested in working as a translator?

Get out there and get into the fandoms, talk to people, write to your favorite authors, write to foreign and local editors. Get involved with them and their events. Create a body of work and get your name out there — I would suggest avoiding scanlations [the unlicensed reproduction of comic spreads with translated text], but put your translations out there.

All the professional translators I know got involved with fandom. Paul is the official translator of One Piece only because he had a database of the first 50 or 60 volumes that he translated for fun. It’s a lot of hard work to get to that point, but once you know people, and once they know what you’re capable of, doors will open up.

Do you have any advice for Japanese students interested in English?

Find something that you’re passionate about. It doesn’t matter what it is. Follow that passion, and then nothing will stop you, because it will get you through the most difficult parts of learning a language.

Find a movie that you love, and watch it dubbed in Japanese until you know the story, then watch with English subtitles, and then try it with subtitles off, and then — once it starts to get boring — watch it again. When you’re bored, you’re on the verge of memorization.

My students want to know, what is your favorite food?

My top foreign foods are chicken salad, steak — ‘oh, he’s so American’ — and pizza, because I am from New Jersey. For Japanese food, specifically Sanuki udon from Kagawa prefecture, sauce katsudon — a Fukui favorite — and gyudon.

Well, since you’re in Fukui, and you mentioned sauce katsu, I have to ask, are you excited about the upcoming Hokuriku Shinkansen [bullet train] extension?

Oh man, that’s such a funny story. It was 2006 when I was accepted by JET. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to Japan, finally I did it! — Fukui? Where’s Fukui?’

I rushed to Google, and one of the things written on the Wikipedia page for Fukui was ‘the Hokoriku Shinkansen is coming to Fukui in 2015.’ Obviously it missed that deadline. It just kept getting pushed further back and further back, so to see that finally realized, is something I am truly looking forward to, but I’m still wondering why they have to go all the way around to Tsuruga and stop in the middle of nowhere.

Do you have a favorite One Piece character?

I have to do things in threes because I’m such a poor chooser. The first character that I loved was, without question, Mr. Cool — Zoro. He had all the best lines and all the cool moments. My then-girlfriend/now-wife, she told me, ‘You’re not Zoro. You’re Franky.’ All her friends started telling me that too, so I surrendered to the Franky-ness. I have a Franky shrine now.

Then, after I got involved with the series on a professional level, I started to think about why the series is popular. What makes it relatable, fun, and re-readable? All of that comes down to the main character: Luffy. I realized that all of these characters who I love, are here because of him. By attraction or rivalry, they have some sort of relationship to Luffy because of the way he is, his construction. I have really begun to appreciate Luffy.

So, in no particular order, Zoro, Franky, and Luffy are my favorite characters.

And a favorite line?

There are so many, but there’s one line that made me a fan of the series: when Bell-mère says to her daughters, Nami and Nojiko, “I love you.” It’s simple phrasing, but that scene destroyed me. I was sobbing. That was the first time I got emotional over a comic. That’s the line that really made me a fan and changed how I read manga.

This live action is my first foray into One Piece, so I was also surprised by the emotional backstories and childhood trauma.

Even I didn’t want to read One Piece at first. I thought, ‘This artwork looks like Disney!’ I wanted to be part of the counterculture. ‘What’s with this kid [Luffy]? He’s just smiling all the time. He looks like an idiot with that goofy grin.’ I had no idea what I was in for, with these emotional, traumatic, dramatic, epic, backstories.

I was a little bit worried that it’s a bit much for the first season. Compared to the manga, it’s a lot of death in a very short time frame, but it seems to be just the right balance.

Especially with Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, his smile and laughter is so contagious. He did such an excellent job. I can’t imagine anyone else as this character.

I was there when Godoy met Oda. The dude is Luffy, and Oda himself is Luffy too, with his mannerisms and quips, but Iñaki is a different Luffy; he is the live-action Luffy. Iñaki has changed just enough about delivery and aura that he is a version of Luffy that we can watch and relate to. It’s easy to become annoying or cringe, but he makes it feel natural. While I was not in the casting process, I did give lines and notes which lead to the casting of Iñaki.

Why do you think One Piece has had such a continued international appeal?

It has found success in France, Germany, certainly Latin America, and of course East Asia, but it has struggled. I think, because it’s been fighting that image of the grinning, goofy-looking main character. People were not willing to give it a chance based on that. Let’s face it, anime and manga fans around the world are looking to enjoy the “counterculture.”

I think it’s found success in its characters. Oda has a cast of a thousand-something named characters and they are never forgotten. That kind of attention to detail is why it’s so strong. He developed the story from the back forward. He knows where it’s going and he’s having fun telling stories while getting there.

Is there an ending coming?

One Piece is probably not ending anytime soon. Oda will get into a story arc and find there’s more he wants to draw.

I’ve seen you described as a “collaborator”?

On Twitter, up until I could finally reveal that I was involved in the live action. It was the easiest title. I do writing for the magazine, the website, occasionally promotional material, and — of course — the live action work.

Actually, there’s something else going on right now that I can’t talk about, but maybe in the next year or so, more information will come out about it.

Thank you so much for your time.

My absolute pleasure.

Netflix has renewed One Piece for a second season!