TOKYO >> The enormously popular Japanese manga “One Piece” is coming to Netflix as a live-action series this year — a development that’s both exciting and worrisome for fans who have seen mixed success in a growing list of Hollywood adaptations.

Chronicling the coming-of-age adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate with a heart of gold, the world’s bestselling manga series has already been adapted into an anime TV series with over 900 episodes. There are also 13 animated movies, “One Piece” video games and merchandise galore.

Ready to give her verdict is Nina Oiki, a gender and politics researcher at Tokyo’s Waseda University who has been a “One Piece” fan since she was in grade school. She read the manga created by Eiichiro Oda when it was first published in Shonen Jump magazine in 1997, and watched the animated show that followed shortly after.

“I know some people are worried about what might happen with the Hollywood remake,” she said, noting how past American attempts at depicting Japanese comics and animated works have at times proved disappointing.

The 2017 Netflix movie adaptation of “Death Note,” a manga and anime about a book that can kill people, for instance, was widely considered a flop. Then in December 2021, Netflix canceled “Cowboy Bebop,” its live-action adaptation of the space Western manga and anime, after just one season.

The cross-pollination of Hollywood and Japan goes back decades. For example, references to Japan are plentiful in the 1982 sci-fi movie “Blade Runner,” directed by Ridley Scott. The film in turn influenced anime, including the “Blade Runner: Black Lotus” production that originally aired in 2021.

Japanese pop culture expert Roland Kelts said it’s a “stunning moment for anime,” in part due to streaming platforms like Netflix, which has helped free up entertainment across borders.

The live-action “One Piece” comes on the heels of the global success of “Demon Slayer,” another manga that got its start in Shonen Jump and was adapted into a movie and an anime series that was picked up by Netflix.

In February, The Pokemon Co. announced “Pokemon Concierge,” a stop-motion anime collaboration with Netflix. Pokemon is the world’s most valuable media franchise, with estimated all-time sales of $100 billion, according to a 2021 Statista report.

Hollywood live-action adaptations of other popular Japanese products — including Makoto Shinkai’s 2016 body-swap anime “Your Name” and the “Gundam” franchise of giant robots that started in 1979 — are also in progress.

Anime has a lower production cost than live-action films, and computer-generated heroes don’t get sick or injured or create controversy like real-life actors sometimes do, making it a marketable medium, said Kelts, author of “Japanamerica,” which documents Japanese pop culture’s influence in the U.S.

“They are stylized and stateless characters. What I mean by that is that anime characters travel globally very, very well,” Kelts said. “The human celebrities don’t always travel so well.”

Productions based on established bestsellers offer the advantage of a built-in fan base, but they also come with heavy scrutiny. Some, like “Ghost in the Shell,” have been criticized for “whitewashing” the Asian original. The 1995 animated movie was made into a Hollywood live-action film in 2017 amid controversy over the casting of Scarlett Johansson in the lead role.

“One Piece” will star Mexican actor Inaki Godoy (“The Imperfects”) as Luffy alongside American actor Emily Rudd (“The Romanoffs”) as Nami and Japanese American actor Mackenyu (“Fullmetal Alchemist: Revenge of Scar,” “Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Transmutation”) as Roro­noa Zoro.

Luffy’s inclusive attitude, which attracts companions during his quest, highlights the kind of society people crave today, Oiki said.

“Luffy is that leader we all want,” she said. “Luffy is a hero but not an extraordinary hero. He is one of us. He wants to be king of the pirates, not so he can rule, but so everyone can be free.”