Right now, I'm currently in Tokyo,

and the reason why I'm here is that I'm gonna go meet Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece.

It's like meeting Batman.

I get to meet the secret identity, and it's gonna be a secret between him and me.

I am really looking forward to it.

I'm a little bit nervous.

Iñaki!

Wow!

(Speaking Japanese) I'm happy to meet you.

I am so, so happy to meet you.

Why do a live action of One Piece?

(Speaking Japanese) Back then, 26 years ago when I started One Piece,

it wasn't possible t padapt a manga like this into live action.

But, at a certain point in time, the quality of CG and VFX really started to improve, and you could bring anything to life.

After seeing many such things, I decided to take the plunge, figuring that if we find a reliable team, we could pull this off and adapt it into live action.

My biggest worry about the live action was whether we could be able to find someone like Luffy.

But I was watching various audition tapes, and when I saw you, I kind of started laughing.

I made you laugh?

It's ready!

- What is it? - Our Jolly Roger.

You're just like the character I draw in the manga.

I intuitively thought, "That's Luffy."

I feel like this role was meant to be, and I want to play Luffy for a very long time.

I really hope you do.

I can't imagine anyone else playing this role.

I love drawing, and I made this for you.

"Dear Mr. Oda, thank you for creating One Piece and making so many people around the world happy."

"Playing Luffy is a dream come true, and I will always do my best to bring him to live action."

"Luffy is a friend for the world who teaches us about courage, dreams, and family."

"I am beyond honored to be a part of this story, and me and the entire live-action team admire you so much."

"Thank you for One Piece, and thank you for Luffy."

I love your character Luffy, and he means so much to me.

He makes me smile, even when it's hard.

I think your energy as Luffy is going to be contagious.