Statues of One Piece characters on display at the Sichuan Museum in Chengdu Photos: Courtesy of the Sichuan Museum

Chinese internet users said they don't have high expectations for the live-action adaptation of beloved Japanese manga One Piece, with a Chinese manga fan noting that most of the previous adaptions of Japanese comics weren't well-made.

Netflix, the world's leading streaming entertainment service, announced on its website that the biggest-selling manga of all time One Piece, authored by Eiichiro Oda, is coming to Netflix, and a total of 10 episodes have been ordered so far and will be produced by the same studio, Tomorrow Studios.

However, many Chinese netizens said they were shocked by the news and worried that Netflix might ruin this masterpiece.

"I don't have any expectations for this. Many adaptions of Japanese manga, such as Dragon Ball, Case Closed and Attack on Titan, didn't get a good reception from fans," a One Piece fan called "Xiaozui Luanwen" on Sina Weibo told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Live-action adaptations of Japanese manga are really difficult as manga characters have exaggerated facial expressions and gestures and unique designs of their hair and clothes, which will be impossible and embarrassing for real people to act," he noted.

"The best part of manga is that most of its background settings are based on imagination, which feeds our passions and enthusiasm in real life," he added.

But some netizens said they looked forward to the show and hoped their favorite movie stars can be chosen for the adaption.

The story of One Piece takes place on an alternate version of Earth and talks about a young boy named Monkey D. Luffy who has dreams of raising his own crew and finding the mythical treasure known as "One Piece" and declaring himself Pirate King.

According to Netflix, the producer of the show Marty Adelstein said that filming is set to take place in Cape Town in South Africa, and the show will come out in 2021 at the earliest.