By George Wilson
The following article contains spoilers for One Piece Film: Red.
Eiichiro Oda’s long-running, best-selling manga of all time One Piece has returned to the big screen once again, this time in the form of the delightful standalone story One Piece Film: Red directed by Gorō Taniguchi. We join Luffy and the Straw Hats on a semi-musical adventure as they attend the concert of Luffy’s childhood friend, Uta (Kaori Nazuka; Ado, singing voice)- a new character who possesses the powers of the Uta-Uta no mi (Sing-Sing Fruit). Uta is a world-renowned singer, with fans watching her concert via Video Transponder Snails as well as in person. However, the festivities are brought to a halt when she uses her Devil Fruit abilities to entrap her fans in an alternate reality, her ‘New Genesis’, in which pirates are not welcome.
Illustration by George Wilson
As the film progresses, we learn more about Uta’s past and it’s revealed by Luffy that she is ‘Red-Haired’ Shanks’ adopted daughter. If you are new to One Piece- or have simply forgotten due to the incredible number of characters crammed into over 1000 anime episodes- Shanks is Luffy’s main (living) pirate inspiration and mentor figure from his youth. He's even the one who gave Luffy the straw hat he later becomes famous for. He’s sort of like that one uncle you have who is really just a friend of your parents (in Luffy’s case the late, great pirate king Gol D. Roger) but who may as well be family.
Having been left alone on the island of Elegia by Shanks, Uta is told by the former king Gordon- another new character voiced by one of my favourite voice actors, Kenjiro Tsuda- that the Red-Haired Pirates left her behind after they pillaged and destroyed the kingdom for treasure. This perceived abandonment is the catalyst for Uta’s actions later in the film’s timeline, as she seeks to hold everyone in her ideal world and release the ancient musical demon Tot Musica to consume their souls.
Okay, time to actually review the film. Let’s start with the plot as I have less to say about it. Generally speaking, Red’s plot wasn’t massively strong, but as the 25th anniversary film for one of the world’s most popular anime series, it didn’t need to be. It was undoubtedly going to do well commercially due to the sheer volume of fans both at home in Japan and overseas, regardless of the its actual content. This is evidenced by the film grossing over a billion yen on its opening day. The simple hero’s journey arc has not failed generations of filmmakers, and it doesn’t necessarily fail here- Uta does make a worthy adversary for Luffy as for some period of time they shared the same parental figure/mentor, and a threat to humanity is always good cause for a hero (or in this case dozens) to save the day. However, there isn’t much character development for anyone involved. They are already at their peak, a prime example being Luffy casually slipping in and out of his ‘gears’ in the later half of the film. As the regular characters are being developed in the anime and manga, they don’t necessarily need to be developed in this one-shot spin off film, but I would have liked to have seen more about how Uta became so strong, and when she got her Devil Fruit abilities to gauge her skill level.
Uta in One Piece Film: Red
I also thought that the songs were well timed and suited the atmosphere of the scenes they were in. Range-wise the sides were relatively diverse and not just Hatsune Miku-esque pop, which is admittedly what I was expecting upon looking at Uta’s design beforehand. With a lot of musical films, it is quite easy to tell when a song will start and although this was the case with Red, I don’t think it took away from the action, but rather pushed it along.
If I could add anything to the film, I would have introduced Shanks to the mix earlier, and made it so he worked with Luffy more directly to prevent Uta from Thanos-ing 70 percent of the population. However, his arrival did give way to the film’s best sequences- but more on that later. It also would have been nice to see more of the Straw Hats working together. Sadly I don’t remember seeing much of the post-Usopp crew, but as a film with an enormous cast of returning characters from all over the place (most surprisingly for me CP9), balancing them all is enough of a challenge as is. It also would have been difficult to showcase Luffy’s relationship and attachment to Uta with other characters in the way.
As far as visuals go, I found them to be stunning, and found that they reflected the current art style seen in the anime extremely well. In spite of its stark contrast to earlier One Piece episodes, I am actually a huge fan of the current linework and colouring style, and Red is a brilliant example of it. It captured the vibrancy that fans are used to with clean lines and shadows throughout, accentuating the beautifully detailed backgrounds.
The film also used some 3D animation, most obviously during Uta’s song performances. I personally found the 3D elements to be quite hit or miss- there were times where I noticed the change and it stood out from the rest of the scene, such as during Uta’s second number in which she uses her Devil Fruit abilities to fashion herself a suit of armour. The chopping and changing between the 3D and 2D Uta felt a bit jarring because they were too different in style, and it left me wanting either one or the other. There was also 3D in some random places, like when Luffy rejoins the rest of the Straw Hats after escaping the venue- the stairs were 3D behind a 2D Luffy, and while I understand the animators using 3D elements in order to save time, it was incredibly noticeable to me and drew my focus away from the story although it was only brief. Despite my complaints, there were some instances in which I thought the 3D added great depth to scenes, examples being the rib-cage like roof of the Elegia concert hall, the film’s primary location; and the boss battle between Luffy & Shanks and Tot Musica.
The Elegia concert hall in One Piece Film: Red
The aforementioned boss battle was probably one of, if not the, best part of the film for me in terms of visual design. It showcased all of the Straw Hats’ talents in a dynamic team sequence, and directly paralleled members of the Red-Haired Pirates. At the battle’s climax, Usopp and Yasopp- connected by some kind of cosmic father/son brainwaves- instruct their crewmates to each attack a specific part of Tot Musica (it was actually really nice to see interactions between these two). However, Usopp and his father aren’t why I loved this scene. When it was time for Luffy and Shanks to work together and deal the final blow to the demonic beast, Toei Animation decided to go hard af with their animation and showcase multiple styles over a 30 second period. My favourite of these was after Luffy and Shanks' classic anime flashback scenes to their past with Uta, where the lines become rough, sketchy, and more fluid. This fast-paced segment takes a minimalist style, with the colour scheme reduced down to red (haha), white and blue to focus solely on the intricate details of Luffy’s Fourth Gear and Shanks’s fighting prowess. The flashbacks at this crucial moment helped to build up the relationships, especially between Uta and Shanks, which is bittersweet upon the battle’s conclusion. Spoiler- Uta dies, because in spite of the enthralling fight scene that has just taken place, only a final song will do the trick. But we do get to see Shanks’ Conquerer’s Haki in action as he cradles his dying daughter, so I can’t be too picky.
To round off my ramblings, I would highly recommend watching One Piece Film: Red. It’s an engaging and visually incredible addition to the One Piece universe. It has many charms- one of its best being sort of canon DILF Shanks (for legal reasons that is a joke, but I do stand by it). The songs are well balanced, and if you’re not a big fan of musicals, there is enough classic One Piece action to keep you invested.
Portsmouth showings of One Piece Film: Red can be found here.
About the Author: George Wilson (he/him)
Hi, I'm George. I am a third year Film Production student, aiming to do an MA in Illustration and I am the Head of Design for Spyglass. In my free time I enjoy video games, digital art and anime :)
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