Anime Movie Review – One Piece Film: Red

October 10, 2022
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Aired: Aug 6, 2022
Studio: Toei Animation
Genre: Shounen, Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Duration: 1hr 55mins
Rating: PG-13 – Teens 13 or older
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MY RATING: 8 out of 10

Uta—the most beloved singer in the world. Renowned for concealing her own identity when performing, her voice has come to be described as “otherworldly.” Now, for the first time ever, Uta will reveal herself to the world at a live concert. As the venue fills with all kinds of Uta fans—excited pirates, the Navy watching closely, and the Straw Hats led by Luffy who simply came to enjoy her sonorous performance—the voice that the whole world has been waiting for is about to resound. The story begins with the shocking fact that she is Shanks’ daughter.
via MAL

One Piece Film: Red has quite a unique narrative in comparison to previous films in which it showcases the ability of a new character named Uta. And just like her name (Uta means song in Japanese), she is widely known for her “otherworldly” voice. Like literal “otherworldly”.

I’ve been anticipating this movie ever since it was first advertised solely because of Shanks. So I was kind of disappointed in the first few minutes of this film. Shanks is one of the strongest characters that doesn’t have devil fruit ability in this franchise so I was already thinking of something cool in its early scene, hahaha. But instead it gave me a music video vibe, lol. Don’t get me wrong, the songs were really catchy that I even found myself nodding my head while listening to it, but I was just thinking of something cool to start this film with.

But once it showed more of Uta’s ability and her hatred towards pirates, my disappointment started to fade little by little and I became more interested in the story. It was revealed that Uta was Luffy’s childhood friend and she used to sail together with the Red Hair Pirates.

I really find it interesting seeing Uta’s backstory and knowing her reasons for now hating pirates. Her interaction with the Red Hair Pirates after reuniting was really emotional. I just love seeing how Shanks and all his pirate crew adored Uta, uwahhhhh.

Aside from the emotional scenes, I also love seeing a lot of familiar characters from the series in this film. Which I think makes the story even more exciting and fun.

And finally halfway through the ending, I finally got to see something cool from Shanks and the rest of the characters, especially the Straw hat crew. It was pretty short but surprisingly, it was enough for me. Shanks almost never appears in the series, so just seeing how cool he can be for just a few minutes is already a blessing for me. I just really hope we’ve got to see atleast 1 film solely for him. That would really be epic, don’t you think? *wink.