Adapted from the popular 1997 manga series created by Eiichiro Oda<\/a>, flashbacks to Monkey D Luffy\u2019s<\/a> childhood appear throughout the show\u2019s first two episodes.<\/p>\n In the first manga instalment of the East Blue saga, the same scenes appear all together, before jumping ahead in time to meet Luffy as a young adult.<\/p>\n Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, director Marc Jobst explained: \u201cSteven [Maeda] and Matt [Owens] were very clever in the way that they put those flashbacks in, because what they do is they give us an understanding of Luffy that we then bring into the adult character.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cSo when we see this beautiful, infectious, inspiring optimism of this character, who just runs around the place in a red vest and blue shorts, somehow we know that it\u2019s not just vacant optimism.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s come from hardship and it\u2019s been learned. It\u2019s the same for all the characters as you go down through the series.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the episodes might have shifted away from the original structure, the spirit of the manga remains intact throughout the series.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason why we all took this on board so seriously is to honour the manga and its craziness,\u201d Jobst exclusively revealed to RadioTimes.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Read more One Piece:<\/strong><\/p>\n He continued: \u201cMore importantly, it means something to people. So many actors would come into the casting and say, \u2018This has seen me through some really dark times.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAs a director, when you hear that, you take that on board and you really want to honour that.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single one of us needs to believe we can be who we want to be, and needs to believe in our dreams. I think that\u2019s why this show is so special. That\u2019s why we wanted to work so hard to try to get it right.\u201d<\/p> ![\"Luffy](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/ONEPIECEnS100095812R-Cropped-54e4776.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"One")
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