On Tuesday, the One Piece fandom was set abuzz when the latest official teaser trailer for One Piece Film: Red dropped on social media.
Source: One Piece Film: Red (2022), Toei Animation
Scheduled to premiere in Japan on August 6th, 2022, One Piece Film: Red has thus far been the most anticipated movie of the franchise, least of all because it will see the most input from series creator Eiichiro Oda of any of the Straw Hats’ cinematic outing.
In fact, thanks to his involvement, many see One Piece Film: Red as the franchise’s own equivalent to Dragon Ball Z’s Battle of Gods.
The film will be directed by Goro Taniguchi, the heart, soul, director, and writer of the Code Geass franchise, and feature a screenplay penned by Tsutomu Kuroiwa, whose previous credits include One Piece Film: Gold and the live-action Kingdom move.
In this second teaser, the spotlight is put on the newest addition to the One Piece franchise, Uta – otherwise known as “The World’s Greatest Diva” – a young woman who can best be described as the pop-pirate-princess version of Ember from Danny Phantom.
Source: One Piece Film: Red (2022), Toei Animation
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According to a synopsis of the film provided by the One Piece official website (via Google Translate), ‘The stage of “ONE PIECE FILM RED’ is an island where Uta, a diva who is enthusiastic all over the world, will perform her first public concert.”
“Uta’s singing voice, which was transmitted while hiding her identity, is said to be another dimension, and the Straw Hat Pirates who gathered to look forward to her singing voice, as well as pirates, the Navy, and all kinds of fans from all over the world gathered at the venue,” it continues. “As it fills up, the story begins when the shocking fact that Uta is ‘the daughter of Shanks’ is discovered.”
Source: One Piece Film: Red (2022), Toei Animation
This last bit, first revealed in the trailer by Shanks’ own declaration to Uta that “Though we’re apart, you’ll always be my daughter,” caused the One Piece fandom to absolutely lose it.
Since the trailer dropped, the hashtags #OnePiece, #OnePieceFilmRed, #FilmRed, #Shanks, and #Uta have been regularly trending on twitter.
Source: One Piece Film: Red (2022), Toei Animation
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Shanks has always been fan favorite character, despite the mystery surrounding his backstory – After all, in the (as of this article) 1046 published chapters of the One Piece manga, there’s been barely any exploration of his lore.
Further, with Shanks and Luffy having a close relationship, it will also be interesting to see if the Red-Haired pirate ever told Luffy about Uta, much less the fact that she is his ‘daughter’.
Source: One Piece Film: Red (2022), Toei Animation
The teaser trailer also gives us glimpses of Koby and Helmeppo amongst the crowd of Uta’s fans – which makes sense, given how the synopsis said that Uta’s voice reached even the Navy so that makes sense.
Based on their serious faces and the fact that Helmeppo is holding a Den Den Mushi amongst a cheering crowd, my guess is that the two have been tasked with investigating her situation.
With their appearance, wonders which other characters from previous arcs – in addition to Number One Luffy fan boy Bartolomeo – will appear in the movie.
Source: One Piece Film: Red (2022), Toei Animation
In addition to the trailer, Oda released three new pieces of concept art produced for the film, showing off preliminary art for Uta:
Source: Official Uta Illustration drawn by Eiichiro Oda via One Piece Film Red Official Twitter
Shanks:
Source: Official Shanks Illustration drawn by Eiichiro Oda via One Piece Film Red Official Twitter
And new character Gordon:
Source: Official Gordon Illustration drawn by Eiichiro Oda via One Piece Film Red Official Twitter
Further, shortly prior to the teaser’s release, the One Piece Film: Red official Twitter account shared individual promo images of each Straw Hat member clad in their upcoming movie-specific outfits:
Source: One Piece Film Red Official Straw Hat Art by Eiichiro Oda via One Piece Film Red Official Twitter
As noted above, similar to Dragon Ball, most of the previous One Piece films are not considered canon – even Strong World and Z, for which he provided original character designs (though the former’s villian, Shiki the Lion, was later retroactively added to the series’ proper canon).
However, in the case of Dragon Ball, series creator Akira Toriyama fully oversaw production of the franchise’s three latest films – Battle of Gods, Resurrection ‘F’, and Broly – all of which are now considered canon.
Source: One Piece Film: Red (2022), Toei Animation
With One Piece Film: Red being the first One Piece film to receive the same treatment from Oda, its possible that the events depicted in therein will come to be considered series canon.
Either way, I can’t wait to see this movie.
Source: One Piece Film: Red (2022), Toei Animation
What do you guys think of the second One Piece Film Red teaser trailer? Do you think the events of One Piece Film Red will be canon? Let us know your thoughts on social media or in the comments down below!