Let me apologize in advance that I can’t present a good review of the new Netflix series One Piece for the simple reason I haven’t seen it. I do want to share some brief thoughts on it.

One Piece, the live action adaption, hit Netflix on Aug. 31, and the trailer looks admittedly really, really cool.

See, I’m a huge anime and manga enthusiast. I love the painstakingly detailed art in some volumes, the devotion to character and storytelling, and the (for the most part) lack of ham-handing an issue down the throats of the reader.

Yes, many do have an underlying message, but they are just better presented. Mostly, however, they are escapism at its finest.

This is why I have become jaded with any live action adaption of a favorite manga or anime. These worlds are often better left to the imagination of the creator.

Netflix is the biggest culprit for me. I am a capitalist, and understanding wanting to turn a profit adapting a well-loved story. We know that doesn’t always work.

I remember seeing how cool the evil villain Ryuk looked in the previews for Death Note, but when the series hit it was just not well done.

Cowboy Bebop was an even bigger disappointment. The casting looked okay, and the sets seemed beautifully stylized, but then the creators and cast starting opening their mouths. Even before the series started they begin self-pity griping about fans not blindly accepting their complete disregard for the story and character depictions. This didn’t seem promising at all. My fears were realized when I watched the series. It was a completely different story with no love of the motives that drove the characters in the first place. It was just one big insult to one of the best animes ever made.

This isn’t to say there aren’t good live-action adaptations of animes and mangas on Netflix. Alice in Borderland is one of the best series of any genre on the streaming service. Based on the Haro Aso manga, it stays as loyal as it can to the source material. The changes mainly deal with bringing primary cast members into scenarios devoted to side characters in the manga. Other than that, it is fast-paced and insanely entertaining. The live action movie based on another Haro Aso, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, wasn’t as good, but it was still a fun celebration of the manga. It was a one-off, so the plot had to be a little squished together. However, the anime adaption that is also out on Netflix is much better and follows the manga very closely.

You respect the source, I’ll respect the show.

Which brings me to One Piece. The trailers were released with a huge emphasis on the effects and set. They are impressive, yes, but what about the story? The lore and story behind One Piece is huge! There are more than 1,000 chapters and 100 volumes of the manga, and 1,071 episodes of the anime spanning a 25 year period! That is a lot of world-building.

Here’s a very brief and incomplete description: Monkey D. Luffy is a tenacious and very likable lead character with grand visions for his patched-together crew (the Straw Hat Pirates) in search of the ultimate treasure, the “One Piece” so he can be the pirate king. And the crew just keeps growing over the course of the story. More clever characters, more exciting situations, more places to discover. Creator Eiichiro Oda loves the adventurous pirate lore and it shows in his writing.

As far as any politics, well it gives the dangers of a One World Government, so there’s that. Mostly, it’s just plain fun.

It has had animated films, video games and countless merch deals. Olympic athletes have used its music, and the manga made it into the Guinness Book of World Records a few years ago for “the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author”. I mean, even if you don’t collect the story, if you read manga or follow anime, you know One Piece. It is everywhere.

How do you bring this massive world with an even bigger fanbase into live action? Hopefully, you do it with respect for the lore, the creator, the fans and the characters. You chew off a little of the story at a time, and do it in a way new viewers will fall in love with the story so much they want to read the source material.

Is the live action One Piece doing that? I tend to ignore the Rotten Tomatoes critics number, but the fan rating is currently 96 percent. That is pretty high, considering fans have huge investment. I am hearing it is, so far, a mostly faithful adaptation with a love of the source.

And, then there’s the casting of hottie Mackenyu as Roronoa “Pirate Hunter” Zoro. This in itself makes it tempting.

Yet, I’ve been burned before, and I’m still debating joining the crew of Straw Hat Pirates. There’s a lot to get excited about, but then again I was excited hearing Yoki Kanno’s Cowboy Bebop theme, “Tank”, before the series.

If I do head in, it will be with cautious optimism and an attitude of “hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”

If fan comments mean anything, then Luffy and his crew are giving their all to entertain new viewers and send appreciation to the fans. Let’s hope it stays that way, because if I hop on board, I’m not looking for a let down.

All eight episodes of the live action One Piece Season One are available on Netflix.