Netflix’s Best Fantasy Series Officially Beats Game of Thrones at Its Own Game - MCE Notices | California State Portal

Game of Thrones proved there was a massive audience for fantasy TV, but for years, it seemed like no show could live up to its legacy. That changed when Netflix debuted its live-action One Piece adaptation, managing to bring over-the-top characters like Monkey D. Luffy to life.

A major factor in Game of Thrones‘ success was its impeccable casting, with actors like Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke connecting viewers to its fantasy world. Netflix’s One Piece succeeds for the same reasons, with actors like Iñaki Godoy and Emily Rudd making anime characters feel like real people. Even though One Piece and Game of Thrones are dramatically different, that cast is the reason it’s the best Game of Thrones successor in 2026.

Netflix’s One Piece Works Because of Its Cast

Image via Netflix

No 2020s Netflix series has gotten a better reception than the streaming service’s live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s long-running shonen manga, One Piece. First released in 2023, Netflix’s One Piece dropped its second season this March to universal praise.

One Piece Season 1 introduced fans to the live-action versions of the core Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, & Sanji, as well as a host of other memorable characters from Eiichiro Oda’s manga. Thanks to significant oversight from One Piece‘s author himself, the Netflix series did what had previously seemed to be impossible for an anime adaptation and accurately cast its most important characters.

Iñaki Godoy (Luffy), Emily Rudd (Nami), Mackenyu (Zoro), Jacob Gibson (Usopp) and Taz Skylar (Sanji) are the spitting image of the Straw Hat Pirates, and the rest of Season 1’s supporting cast was equally impressive. Now, One Piece Season 2 has proven that its initial casting success was more than just a fluke.

The Straw Hat Pirates’ entry into the Grand Line opens the story to a larger cast of characters than their adventures in the East Blue, ranging from new Marines like Smoker to powerful criminals like Mr. 0. The ensemble exceeds those of most anime adaptations, which is why it’s doubly impressive that Netflix’s One Piece has yet to make any notable misstep with its cast.

Almost every single One Piece cast announcement has been praised by fans, and now that Season 2 has been released, it’s clear that these were the right actors for the roles. Even the minor blowback around Charithra Chandran’s casting as Nefertari Vivi has almost completely disappeared thanks to Eiichiro Oda’s steadfast support and her fantastic performance as the blue-haired princess of Alabasta.

Now that it’s clear that Netflix’s One Piece is capable of carrying its success across multiple seasons, it has already cemented itself as the best live-action TV adaptation of an anime in history. With this in mind, its competition is now greater than just other anime franchises — its competition is the rich history of TV adaptations from the past few decades.

One Piece Could Be Even Better Than Game of Thrones

Successful anime adaptations are extremely rare, but many other TV adaptations have seen major success. From Game of Thrones‘ incredible job bringing the world of Westeros to life to Invincible‘s improvements on Robert Kirkman’s comic book, there’s no shortage of memorable TV adaptations.

That said, when it strictly comes to casting, Netflix’s One Piece may truly reign supreme. As impressive as it is for a voice-acting cast to be well-selected like it is in Prime’s Invincible, it’s undeniably more impressive to accomplish this in a live-action series.

For years, the benchmark for this process has been Game of Thrones, and recent prequels like House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms have certainly bolstered the HBO franchise’s claim as the most well-cast TV adaptation in history. Luckily for One Piece fans, there’s now a new challenger in the mix.

One Piece and Game of Thrones‘ adaptation processes aren’t quite 1-to-1; after all, one is adapting an animated series while the other adapts a series of novels. However, both franchises are known for their detailed world-building, large-scale narratives, and, most importantly, their memorable casts of characters, giving them more parallels than fans of the two series might immediately think.

Of course, Netflix’s One Piece has a long way to go before it can rival the long-term track record of Game of Thrones. Against all odds, the series never dropped the ball on casting during its historic eight-season run, even if later seasons were massive steps back from a writing perspective.

That said, even the world of George R.R. Martin struggles to produce as many unique characters as Eiichiro Oda’s pirate-filled franchise, and there’s certainly less variation within Westeros’ medieval fantasy setting than the strange geographical phenomena known as the Grand Line.

To even compare One Piece and Game of Thrones‘ casting process is a testament to how much the former has exceeded expectations. Live-action anime adaptations had an absolutely horrendous track record in the 2000s and 2010s, and even with Netflix’s backing, One Piece faced a massive uphill battle to be deemed even moderately successful, let alone the mainstream hit that it’s become.

If One Piece can continue this success (never a given, considering Netflix’s history), then it may legitimately have a claim as the most well-cast TV adaptation, period. While legendary films like Dune, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings make it hard to be the best adaptation of all time, Eiichiro Oda has already broken the mold by helping produce the greatest anime adaptation in history.