One Piece Film: Red Is a Non-Canon Blast

I love One Piece and will never pass up a chance to bring it up in conversation. It’s my anime happy place, so with the release of the latest movie One Piece Film: Red, I had to gush about it! So, I hope you’re ready!

One Piece Film: Red takes place after The Whole Cake Island arc, however the story is not a part of the series canon. The Straw Hat Pirates are attending a concert by the world’s number-one idol, Uta. After the movie’s opening number, the series protagonist and captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy (pronounced looh-fee) recognizes Uta as his childhood friend and former musician of the Red Hair Pirate crew led by his mentor Shanks. Uta tells of her desire to create a world of joy and music and how she will destroy the oppressive system of the World Government, which draws their attention. The Straw Hats get sucked into Uta’s plan and must work together with both allies and enemies to put a stop to it.

First off, I have to say that this is not an entry-point movie — there are many nods to previous and current arcs that newbies won’t pick up on, but if you don’t care, please check it out.

Director Gorō Taniguchi has an extensive catalog in the anime industry, including storyboarding my favorite Gundam series Mobile Fighter G Gundam. With the upgrade in animation quality that the series has had lately, Taniguchi made great use of their budget, animating some jaw-dropping fights, and the CGI never felt the least bit off-putting. The visuals were a myriad of warm colors throughout the movie’s majority, while the darker scenes had appropriately duller tones.

Having seen both the sub and dub, I had the pleasure of listening to amazing voice talent from both.

Returning voice actors such as Colleen Clinkenbeard and Mayumi Tanaka as Luffy always sound like they are having a blast voicing him, and I greatly admire their dedication to the role.

I also must give props to Usopp’s voice actors, Sonny Strait and Kappei Yamaguchi. They didn’t play a huge part in the story, but they made quite an impact. Kenjiro Tsuda and Jim Foronda brought amazing depth as Gordon, whose role required a serious amount of gravitas. Kaori Nazuka was delightful as Uta, and her singing voice Ado was a joy to listen to, even though the voices felt mismatched.

The stand-out dub performance had to be the voice of Uta, one of my favorite YouTube personalities, AmaLee. A talented singer in her own right, while she didn’t get to perform any of the songs, she brought that energy to her voice work.

The soundtrack is a certified bop, from the opening song “New Genesis” all the way to the finale “Where the Wind Blows.” My personal favorite was “I’m invincible.” 

Anime fans in the West have been eating pretty well in regard to content, and I feel like this movie was a full-course meal. It was far from perfect, and I was annoyed by plot holes and manga creator Eiichiro Oda’s decision to muddle up the canon kinda chapped my hide. But I still had fun, and that’s what counts.

I give One Piece Film: Red (Toei Animation; PG-13; 1hr 55mins) a 4 out of 5.