One Piece Film: Red Review

5 star musical adventure with the Straw Hats.

One Piece Film: Red is the latest film to hit the UK from the globally loved mega franchise that is One Piece. Featuring characters from the hit manga written by Eiichiro Oda, he is overseeing the project as Executive Producer, as well as designing the new characters, including Uta.

With a screenplay by Tsutomu Kuroiwa (Tokyo MER, Kingdom) and directed by Gorô Taniguchi (Code Geass, Back Arrow), it is now available in the UK on Standard Edition Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Anime Limited, alongside an AllTheAnime.com exclusive 4K BD + UHD Collector’s Edition from 7th August 2023.

“So, Red-Haired Shanks had a daughter all this time and no-one knew. And if he’s got a kid, that means he’s got a weakness. This is getting good.”

The Straw Hat Pirates, led by Monkey D. Luffy (Mayumi Tanaka – One Piece Film Z, One Piece Strong World) head off to the musical island of Elegia to see an amazing concert that the world has been waiting for.

Legendary diva Uta (Kaori Nazuka – Eureka Seven) has always kept her identity hidden, until now. She is to appear on stage for the first time and the world has turned out to watch. There are plenty of normal folk, as well as the usual numerous pirate crews (Straw Hats included) and as always, the Navy keeping a close eye on the proceedings.

After the first song, New Genesis, Luffy makes a startling discovery and rushes onto the stage to see Uta, who turns out to be the daughter of Red Haired Shanks (Shûichi Ikeda – Mobile Suit Gundam, Bubblegum Crisis), the pirate whose hat Luffy proudly wears. His appearance on stage coincides with a kidnapping attempt by various groups of pirates and the Straw Hats stand ready to protect her, but it soon becomes apparent that Uta has a few new tricks up her sleeve and is more than capable of looking after herself.

What is her true motivation for this performance and why does she hate pirates so much? It’s up to the Straw Hats to solve the mystery before it’s too late.

“There’s nothing to worry about, you guys. I made those scary pirates into a fun song. They can’t hurt me and they won’t hurt you either, I promise.”

One Piece Film: Red is a very enjoyable film, full of colour and fun, with a very psychedelic style and beautiful animation. It’s great to see these stand alone stories featuring our favourite characters and lots of new faces too and this one is as brilliant as ever.

There is also a belting sound track featuring lots of original songs and the trademark One Piece exuberance is in evidence throughout. It’s a clever story and one which will thrill both fans of One Piece and newcomers, as a prior knowledge of the characters is not really required to understand the story. There are also three bonus episodes which offer further back story.

A must own for One Piece fans and anyone who enjoys fun and song in abundance.

“Luffy, I don’t want this. It’s your fault for being a pirate. If you’re really my friend, then you’ll give up that life.”

One Piece Film Red is available now on DVD and Blu-ray and a special 4K Collector’s Edition.

Exclusive to AllTheAnime.com and the only way to experience the film in 4K UHD, the Collector’s Edition will include:

– A rigid case with Amaray cases to hold the three Blu-ray discs (4K UHD feature disc, standard Blu-ray feature disc, bonus Blu-ray extra disc).
– A 40-page booklet containing artwork and information about the film.
– Three art cards.
– Uta vinyl sticker.
– A3 replica theatrical poster.
– An individually numbered Uta concert ticket.

Both the Standard Edition Blu-ray and Collector’s Edition will include a bonus disc that contains the following extras:

– Bonus episode 1: A Faint Memory! Luffy and Red-Haired’s Daughter Uta!
– Bonus episode 2: A Pledge for the New Genesis! Luffy and Uta!
– Bonus episode 3: The Captain’s Log of the Legend! “Red-haired” Shanks!
– Interview with the film’s director Goro Taniguchi
– Trailers
– Web preview

All extras are presented in Japanese 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio with English subtitles.