One Piece’s live-action series is taking the world by storm with a second week atop Netflix’s streaming list, but fans noticed some absences in the show. Notably, one of the few characters to return from the East Blue saga was cut from the show, and many are wondering why was Hachi Left Out? The Fishman Hachi, who returns as a friend of the Straw Hats later in the story, is missing from the Arlong Park episodes for some reason!
Warning that this article contains spoilers for One Piece, both the live-action series and anime/manga. The manga is a great way to catch up with the story, and is available to read on MangaPlus or Viz.
Who is Hachi?
When he’s first introduced in the source material, Hachi is one of Arlong’s main subordinates and an Octopus Fishman. While Chu has his powers of spitting water and Kuroobi is a master of Fishman Karate, Hachi was a matchup for Zoro as a swordsman. That’s right, except the Octopus Fishman uses his surplus of arms for a six-sword style. He makes a pretty tough match for Zoro too, especially since he’s still suffering from the wounds Mihawk inflicted on him at Baratie.
Despite his first appearance with Arlong, who would rather bury humans than help them, Hachi becomes a friend. He’s really a nice guy, and just wants to live in peace with his friends. He’s been a pirate for a long time, even serving beside Arlong and Jimbei in their old crew, the Fishman Pirates led by Fisher Tiger.
Hachi’s Cut Part
As much as Arlong’s crew are awful to humans, Hachi is a decent dude caught in a bad crowd. He actually gave a couple of Straw Hats a ride across the bay from Coco Village to Arlong Park. Of course, he wasn’t aware of who they were at the time, but he was so friendly! When he learned later, he actually felt betrayed after how friendly he was to them. He was even sad that they were particularly nice to him despite how he was a Fishman. The friendliness between him and Zoro doesn’t last long when things start to get serious at Arlong Park.
There’s a very close fight between the two, and Zoro manages to reopen his wounds from Mihawk in the process. It’s only harder since he’s down to one sword, but borrows a couple from two other characters, Johnny and Yosaku, who were also cut from live-action. Using these borrowed swords, Zoro was able to take down Hachi’s six-sword style and make it further into Arlong Park. While the pacing of the episode was fine, many were just hoping to see Hachi as he’s become a fan favorite since Arlong Park.
Sabaody Archipelago
The entire reason he’s so loved is because of his return in the Sabaody Archipelago arc later in the series. When Arlong meets his defeat at Arlong Park, he’s arrested while his crew scatters to the seas. Hachi ends up going back to his home of Fishman Island for a while. Then going up to Sabaody Archipelago with a mermaid friend named Cami to start a business. He becomes a takoyaki (octopus balls) chef around Sabaody Archipelago, which seems kinda weird the more you think about it. Still, he’s a great chef and feeds the Straw Hats after they rescue him from a gang of slave traders.
It’s also Hachi that really kicks off the Sabaody Archipelago incident, as the Straw Hats help him rescue Cami. The young mermaid, who helps Hachi at his shop, is taken by slave traders. They drag her to an auction house, intending to sell her for a high price. When a Celestial Dragon, one of the world’s royalty, shoots Hachi for being a Fishman, Luffy doesn’t take it kindly. After Luffy beats the hell out of the Celestial Dragon, the entire Navy comes after the Straw Hat Pirates and leads into a massive war.
Why Was Hachi Missing from Live Action?
Hachi is a much-loved character, and no official reason has been given by the showrunners yet. That said, the writers of the One Piece live-action series can’t speak about the show right now. Strike rules, unfortunately. The reason Hachi was cut likely is due to how difficult it is to believably bring him to life. The other Fishmen already had a very long, difficult prosthetic process to go through in order to become their characters. Poor Hachi would have been even more intricate.
Considering his Octopus Fishman anatomy, with six main arms, it’s not an easy thing to pull off. Especially when almost all the Fishman characters in the show were practical effects and makeup. This already makes adding four more arms to someone difficult. Add in the crazy sword fights he has in the source material, and it’s more understandable why Hachi was cut.
While fans around the world are still waiting on confirmation on season two of One Piece live-action, the future is still hazy. Things are looking good when it comes to fan reactions, but with the ongoing strikes, anything could happen. Of course, without Hachi, there will have to be some further changes to the story, but the writers have shown an incredible ability so far. Even without everyone’s favorite Octopus Fishman, One Piece proved itself worthy of a live-action series that needs many seasons.
