One Piece film Red is the fifteenth movie in the much loved franchise of One piece, authored by Eichiro Oda. The movie was produced by the genius mangaka himself, and if you’re truly a fan of the franchise, that’s more than enough reason to watch the movie, however, fear not if you need more than that, I got your back on this. Today we’ll be discussing if the movie is really worth it.

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The movie was released on August 6th, in Japan and since then it's been periodically releasing in the world, in the early days of November, and if you’re worried about the movie not being as good as it is hyped up to be; trust me it is worth the hype and more.

(please note this contains some spoilers)

A little bit about the movie.

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The movie follows our favorite pirates through a musical journey, on the island of Elgia, where the famous and rising singer Uta, is having a concert, where she’ll be unveiling herself for the first time. Uta’s dream is to create a new world, where everyone is free and there is no violence. There are many different factions, who each want to use Uta for their work; the marines want to stop her, pirates want to kidnap her, etc. The movie is full of betrayals and beautifully depicts both the elite and the weak, by connecting them to music.

The Plot of One Piece: Red

Uta is the daughter of Shanks, and a childhood friend to Luffy, a rising never seen-before sensation in the music world. Unlike movies of the past, where everything was focused around Luffy and his crew, this was a refreshing new take, with Uta being the protagonist, as well as the antagonist, however, she had her reasons, and towards the end she was also a victim, due to reason which I can’t reveal because spoilers.

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 (Uta and Luffy at her concert)

The True Essence of One-Piece

The Producers, despite having a completely new take on One Piece movies, was still able to stick to most of the core themes of the shows, including freedom. In the movie in particular, Uta wanted to create a new world, a world that was happier and peaceful, without the menaces known as the pirates and world government. Uta, despite her amazing singing, had another power that could help her accomplish; it's not something I can go into without giving major spoilers. However, the world she was trying to create was one without individuality and freedom, which earned her the ire of the Straw hats, some other pirates and other parties. 

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Is One Piece: Red Canon?

Often before we invest ourselves in a movie, or consider buying tickets for the shows, we ask ourselves specially with anime, if the movie is canon? While like other One-Piece movies, One-Piece Red isn’t fully cannon, but Uta’s back story is confirmed to be canon, making the movie a must watch if you would like to see that in action.

The Music 

Almost half the experience, if not more, was with the musicals. The production really went nuts with the music; unlike the previous One Piece movies, a lot of thought was given into the music that went into the movie. While a few fans initially criticized the decision of Oda to make the movie a musical, most of them have changed their decision after watching the movie.

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The music and soundtracks used in the movie are top tier, and the genres range from a variety of jpop to rap and R& B, Ado, the singer has more than outdone herself with the fiery vocals that bring the story to life. The music blends in really well with the action making this film a treat to watch, similar to being in a concert, but with a really good plot.

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The music goes beyond good, because it connects with the story so nicely, almost as if the music itself depicts what Uta feels, because it ranges from happy, peaceful, slow, to parts of it filled with aggression, hatred, and melancholy. The 7 different sound tracks of the movie correspond to Uta’s feelings at the time.

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While some fans still do not prefer this much music during fight scenes, which is understandable because Toei and Oda went for something completely different this time, I think the music was the highlight of the movie.

The Animation of One Piece: Red

The animation of the movie is really fluid and a treat to the eyes, it has got to be one of the best animated One Piece movies, with the fight scenes being smooth and full of color, it was a different style of animation then what we are used to. The fights were choreographed extremely well and while animation in general was very good, it always kicked up a notch whenever there were musicals going on, including the final fight.

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The Akagami Pirates

Shanks, just this single word is enough to get die-hard One Piece fans hyped up. While Shanks and the Akagami pirates play a major role in the series, they haven't had a lot of screen time and their powers and motivations are still a mystery, so when Oda said the movie would have Shanks and his crew play a major role, he was not kidding around.

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Oda and Toei promised Shanks, and they delivered. The hype regarding Shanks, especially after the recent Wano chapters, has been off the charts.  The movie had them clash against admirals and show off different powers, as well as give a bit more backstory about the crew. The last scene of Shanks, in the movie was hype defined especially for upto-date manga readers. 

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Gear 5

Since you’re reading this article, I’m probably guessing you are at least upto-date with the anime, and in case you’re not, I would recommend that you please skip this section. However, for fans who have already been spoiled and for my Manga bros. There were rumors about the movie containing the newest form of Luffy (wink wink).

Almost as if the Hype wasn’t enough, with the Akagami pirates, world govt and other big time pirates playing a major role in the movie; it contained the first official animation of Gear 5 Luffy. While the screen time of this new form was relatively short, it was still worth the hype; almost everyone in the theater had started to clap at this point.

The experience

Ultimately, whenever we watch something new it comes down to experience, personally my experience with the movie in theaters was amazing. After almost 20 years of being a One-piece fan and finally watching my first movie with like-minded people in an actual cinema was an amazing experience. 

Not only is the experience of watching a One Piece movie in a theater an amazing experience, the buildup of 20 years, and finally getting the fan service, which was not just there to please the fans, it felt like something I had earned along the way of being a die-hard One-piece fan. Atter 20 years of connecting various parts of the plot and finally getting to see the Akagami pirates in action along with sick Osts, make it worth so much more specially for me.

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At the end of the movie, I was left awe-struck, seeing how far my favorite show has come, to the point that I saw it in theaters and what an experience it was. I stood motionless on my seat even after the credits stopped playing.

Conclusion

One-piece Film Red is no doubt one of the best One Piece films out there, especially with amazing music. The animation and choreography are better than any other One Piece movie in the past. The pacing was a bit slow in the first half of the movie, but it set up the latter half, very nicely and seeing everything fall in place was very satisfying. 

Film Red, tries to be original, and deviates from the usual One-piece movies, and in a good way. The directors tried something new, which does have some drawbacks at certain times; however, since there was no hesitation in the execution of the film, it turned out to be really good.

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How much you like the film will depend on your take on change, because it does things very differently than other movies in the past, but Judging it without giving it a try would be a foolish decision. It’s a 9/10 in my opinion, and definitely worth the hype and more!