One Piece Live-Action Soundtrack Is a 4-Hour Musical Voyage Inspired by The Witcher

Summary

• The live-action adaptation of One Piece, the longest-running manga in history, faces the challenge of creating a massive four-hour-long soundtrack that captures the essence of the beloved narrative.
• Sonya Belousova, known for her work on The Witcher, understands the importance of details in a score, as fans criticized the omission of a solo violin version in The Witcher’s soundtrack.
• Belousova and her co-composer, Giona Ostinelli, approached One Piece’s music with meticulousness, giving each character a distinct musical signature.

When the world heard of Netflix’s audacious effort to convert Eiichiro Oda’s legendary manga, One Piece, into a live-action series, it mustered an air of both excitement and skepticism. The longest-running manga in history now thrust into the glitz and glam of live-action television was no small feat. Amid this gargantuan task, it was the daunting music score that garnered widespread attention: a colossal four-hour-long soundtrack, a testament to the sheer breadth of this beloved narrative.

Per Screen Rant, behind the compelling rhythm and beats was Sonya Belousova, a name avid viewers might associate with another Netflix triumph – The Witcher. When prompted to elucidate on the expansive length of the One Piece Original Soundtrack, Belousova recounted a memorable lesson from her Witcher days. She narrated her previous encounter concerning “The Song of the White Wolf”, a piece from The Witcher that had two versions. The feedback from fans on not including both renditions made it clear: details matter, depth matters, and every nuance of a score can resonate deeply with its audience.

“We just included the end credits version with the vocals, and we’re still hearing back about that—that we did not include the solo violin version. It’s the same piece of music, just the solo violin version. We’re still hearing that from the fans. So hell yeah, four hours long,” she remarked with a hint of wry humor.

While Belousova might jest about the reasoning, the exhaustive soundtrack length of One Piece was less than half of what she and her co-composer, Giona Ostinelli, had initially crafted. One Piece’s essence, rife with layered characters and their profound stories, transcended mere numbers.

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One Piece’s Symphonic Soul: How Belousova & Ostinelli Wove Music into Narrative

Netflix

Belousova and Ostinelli’s meticulous approach was evident during their pitch for the series. They envisioned every beloved character with a distinct musical signature – a symphony of individuality. Characters were not merely represented by melodies but by instruments themselves. Roronoa Zoro’s three swords, for instance, each had its own characteristic instrument. This meticulous detailing is emblematic of not just understanding the source material, but living and breathing it. Their creativity went beyond conventional choices, as they brought together an eclectic mix of instruments and genres from across the world to truly make One Piece’s musical landscape as vast and diverse as its storyline.

It’s these aspects that stand testament to why the duo was the ideal choice for One Piece. The series, after all, isn’t just about adventures on the high seas, but about the heartbeats of its characters, the ethos of their journeys, and the soul of their stories. Music, in this context, wasn’t just a background score but a narrative force, another character that interwove seamlessly into the fabric of this epic.

As the curtains rise on the next chapter, with a confirmed second season for One Piece on the horizon, fans eagerly await the next musical voyage that Belousova and Ostinelli will embark upon. Belousova, ever the tantalizing artist, leaves us with an enticing tease: “Ideas are happening.” And with that, the world waits, with bated breath and eager ears, for the next symphony of One Piece to resonate across the seas of imagination.

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