One Piece Film: Red review: A fantastic new character changes everything

It’s kind of fascinating that most of the more than 1,100 characters introduced in the One Piece There are two types of franchise. The World Government — the tyrannical, repressive global regime that dominates the franchise’s setting — naturally causes most of the characters to fall on one side of the line or another. It has its supporters, such as the military and despotic World Nobles aristocracy. Others are its enemies, like the pirates who number among the series’ protagonists. It’s a defining division running through One Piece, and it’s such a simple split that it doesn’t sound like enough to keep a story going for 25 years, across 103 manga volumes (and counting!There are more than 1000 anime episodes.

But there’s so much variation among those two groups. These are the pro-World Government characters Secret government assassination and intelligence organisations CP9/CP0. The sellout pirates, known as the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Pirates from all backgrounds and creeds are at the opposite end. Many want to control the entire world. Some people want to be free and have freedom for their families. Others just desire to watch the world go out of control.

The world is, however, ultimately, One Piece does seem to be divided into two tribes — until now. New addition, the feature movie One Piece Film Red which opens in American theaters on Nov. 4, introduces a third, equally complex camp that’s opposed to both the World Government and piracy. That faction has enough power to convince people on both sides that it’s a force to be reckoned with.

What’s most fascinating about that group, though, is that it’s made up of one person.

Image: Toei/Crunchyroll

Uta is the new baby, and she’s the daughter of Shanks. One Piece’s most powerful, best-known pirates. She’s also a lifelong friend of series protagonist Luffy. She is the best-known singer in the entire world.. And we’re just learning of her existence for the first time in Red. Given all that, and the fact that her name is literally the Japanese word for “song,” fans fed up with shonen tropes could be forgiven for dismissing Uta from the get-go.

Fans have not seen the character before at such an enormous scale. OP-Verse: Someone who fights for regular people, not superpowered. The Revolutionary Army founded and led by Luffy’s dad, Monkey D. Dragon, might seem like they’re about basically the same thing, but opposing the slavery-supporting World Nobles and actively fighting for the little people are two different things. Uta’s mission is to free people from suffering. Uta’s drive to ensure their happiness and minimal moral concerns about her methods give her an interesting identity.

It is also clear through Uta how dystopian this world can be One Piece Can feel empathy for any person without the Devil Fruit superpower or training in Haki spiritual power. Every day, civilians are being killed by pirates or Marines that break the law. Or World Nobles who have legal permission to take regular citizens as slaves. Uta is determined to help those in need by using the power of music.

Image: Toei/Crunchyroll

Musicals aren’t universally popular, especially when a non-musical franchise tests the musical waters. However, the songs they sing are a huge hit. One Piece Film: Red don’t feel shoehorned in, since Uta is a singer with music-based powers. This allows the story to expand fans’ understanding of the OP-While incorporating verses, the animation medium also allows for some amazing musical numbers. Each song is a gigantic spectacle, whether a given number is J-pop or R&B.

The songs are all performed by musical wunderkind Ado, a 20-year-old who debuted in 2020 with the youth-rebellion song “Usseewa,” which roughly translates to “Shuddup.” That song’s release set off a bit of pearl-clutching in Japan, with parents worrying about how such “provocative” lyrics would affect their children. Red might just change those people’s opinion of Ado, given its wide range of non-explicit, touching, and beautifully performed musical centerpieces.

The best way to describe Ado’s singing is “unbelievable.” It’s literally hard to believe someone so young can have such an amazing musical and emotional range. She can so clearly convey joy and hope in uplifting songs like “New Genesis,” or bring across visceral pain and despair in the melodic hard-rock piece “Tot Musica.”

Ado’s performance is a big reason why Uta might go down in anime history as the greatest One Piece movie character ever. But equal praise goes to director Goro Taniguchi and writer Tsutomu Kuroiwa, who’ve created a wonderfully complex character. Uta appears to be a normal hero who fights for right and wrong, much like Luffy. Actually, Red It is clearly a Uta-and Luffy-only escapade. The Straw Hat Pirates are relegated merely to cameos. But there’s a sinister streak to the way Uta goes about her mission.

Uta has her own idea of how to heal the world, and she pursues it relentlessly without any regard for her well-being, or other people’s consent. Uta’s actions have a strange resemblance to those of Rob Lucci (CP9/CP0), who appears briefly in Red as if to remind us that we’ve seen this kind of behavior before, from one of Uta’s supposed enemies. Uta never does anything as horrific as massacring 500 hostages to remove a pirate crew’s leverage, but her insistence that she is in the right and others just need to go along with her isn’t that far off from Lucci’s devotion to “absolute justice.”

Image: Toei/Crunchyroll

All those nods are appreciated. One Piece’s past, One Piece Film: Red Newcomers are welcome to the show. Even people who’ve never seen a single episode of the show or read any of the manga can still follow and enjoy Red. They may not be able to grasp all the details, but they will enjoy the story and singing along. (Even though we may never hear Luffy sing.

Langzeit One PieceFans are however in for something special. Uta may represent a major shift in the power balance. One Piece. While the movie’s events haven’t been confirmed as series canon, Uta herself appears in chapter 1055 of the manga, meaning that she IsThe main plot. If her character and motivation are carried over to the story’s official continuum, it could mean that the most exciting One Piece Stories are yet to come.

One Piece Film: Red November 4th, U.S. cinemas will host the debut