Netflix\u2019s One Piece accused of \u2018Arab erasure\u2019 after controversial live-action casting NetflixNetflix\u2019s live-action One Piece has attracted controversy, with fans slamming its casting of an Egyptian character. Following its successful launch, Netflix\u2019s One Piece live-action series will return with Season 2. The TV show is in the middle of production, with the main cast already in South Africa. Since its confirmation, the series has been getting constant updates, including new cast members for several characters who\u2019ll play significant roles in the second season. On August 21, Katey Segal and Mark Harelik were revealed to play Dr. Kureha and Dr. Hiriluk, respectively. Season 2 also announced another new cast member: Sendhil Ramamurthy, of Heroes, Beauty and the Beast, and Covert Affairs fame, has joined the series as King Nefertari Cobra, the ruler of Alabasta. This announcement has sparked backlash, with many fans believing Cobra should\u2019ve been played by an Arab actor (Ramamurthy is American, but his parents come from India). While the world of One Piece is fictional, creator Eiichiro Oda has confirmed several times how he\u2019s inspired by reality. Much of the manga\u2019s geography based on real places \u2013 and he\u2019s specifically stated that Alabasta is inspired by Egypt. The mangaka\u2019s comment \u2013 paired with the rumor that Bridgerton fame Charithra Chandran, another actress of Indian origin, is playing Princess Vivi \u2013 has many fans calling out the live-action series. \u201cThey are deliberately avoiding Arab actors and actresses in a moment when we need Arab representation the most,\u201d tweeted one fan. \u201cDefend your point of view under the pretext that acting skills are what matters but you can\u2019t make us believe that there weren\u2019t enough good Arab actors to cast.\u201d \u201cI honestly wish they had cast Arab actors for Cobra and Vivi since Oda clearly drew inspiration from Ancient Egypt for their characters, but it feels like no one really cares in Netflix,\u201d posted another X user. \u201cThis Egyptian American actor is a much better fit for Cobra than who OPLA picked. I genuinely believe they purposely avoided casting any Arabs for the Nefertari family because of Zionism, and you can\u2019t convince me otherwise,\u201d wrote a third, referring to Ayman Samman. The controversy may get more heated when Netflix\u2019s One Piece live-action confirms Vivi\u2019s actor, but it\u2019s unclear when that will be announced. This isn\u2019t the first time the Netflix and One Piece collaboration has been criticized this year. The upcoming reboot anime, titled \u2018The One Piece\u2019, also received a lot of hate for \u2018white-washing\u2019 characters earlier this month. For more, check out the unexpected change Eiichiro Oda revealed for One Piece Season 2. And if you\u2019re a fan of the manga, find out who the most important characters in the Final Saga are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Netflix\u2019s One Piece accused of \u2018Arab erasure\u2019 after controversial live-action casting NetflixNetflix\u2019s live-action One Piece has attracted controversy, with fans slamming its casting of an Egyptian character. Following its successful launch, Netflix\u2019s One Piece live-action series will return with Season 2. The TV show is in the middle of production, with the main cast already […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12833\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}