When a trailer starts with a single line that makes an entire fandom go, “WHAT?!,” you know you have a banger on your hands. Indeed, that was the case when the first proper teaser for One Piece Film Red premiered on YouTube.
Although this is the second teaser, it’s the first time fans have been treated to footage from the film. That means we now have a better picture of what characters will make an appearance—and what Shank’s role could be.
The big question on every One Piece fan’s mind leading up to this trailer was what role Shanks would play. And who the heck is Uta, the new character who seems central to the film’s plot? The initial teaser seemed to imply that Uta and Shanks had some kind of relationship to one another. This new trailer provided a hell of an answer in its first line: she’s Shanks’ daughter. Reactions went something like this:
We never freaking knew Shanks has a daughter! WHAT?! She might be his biological daughter, too—she’s got the red hair, after all! She’s rocking the Shodo Todoroki look! Who the hell’s the mom?! In any case, in the words of my favorite reporter, Big News Morgans: this is Big News! (I always hear it in Japanese, though: Kore ga Biggu Nyuuzu!)
The fact that One Piece Film Red has advertised itself as Shanks-centric is a big frickin deal. Shanks is a huge deal in the show: he’s the reason Luffy was inspired to become a pirate, and he gave Luffy his signature straw hat. Luffy thinks the world of this man. Yet, despite being such a central figure, present-day Shanks has had maybe … what … less than a minute of screen time across over 1000 episodes? He starred heavily in the opening episodes of the show, and he’s appeared as a child in flashbacks, but Shanks is still very much a mysterious figure in the present day. So much so, a popular fan theory posits that Shanks is a villain.
By contrast, the film touts Shank’s scar as part of its logo. Hell, the title “Red” itself is a nod to Shanks. We might get more adult Shanks in this film than in the whole show, combined. Who knows what other secrets we’ll find out? The major damper on this is that One Piece films tend not to be canonical. However, mangaka Eiichiro Oda penned the story (not the script) and is producing this film, similar to Strong World. And while Strong World isn’t canonical, it did introduce canonical elements into the story. In other words: it’s likely that this story will not be canon, but Uta’s existence will be.
The trailer goes on to describe Uta as “the world’s biggest diva.” So she’s a pop star. We already knew that the film takes place at a music festival, so this makes perfect sense. From Luffy’s line, we also get the vibe that Uta is, indeed, the film’s villain—or, at least, that she’s a wayward antihero who has committed a villainous act. Which is very One Piece.
We also got blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos, giving us some info about the cast of characters who will appear in Red. The cameos were so quick, I only caught my best friends Trafalgar Law and Beppo on a second watch-through. Bartolomeo (YES!), Koby, Helmeppo, and Akainu also make appearances. Those latter three suggest that the Navy will be present at this music festival. Although all that pales in comparison to—and I cannot stress this enough—Beppo in a crop top.
The trailer ends with Shanks talking to Uta again, saying a rather heavy line: “There is no peace and equality in this world.” Which… yes, that’s tracking with my daily lived experience. But also, hearing that line, I immediately thought of Shanks casually getting an audience with the Five Elders, who are essentially the head of the world government. It brings back that age-old question: why does the Government respect this particular pirate so much??
Perhaps One Piece Film Red may provide some canon answers to long-standing questions. You can’t just plop in the series’ most mysterious figure as titular material, introduce his daughter as a main character, and have freaking Oda write the story—and not give the audience some serious answers. It’s the kind of teaser that leaves you wanting more. Why must I wait until August? And then probably after that, because August is the Japanese premiere?
(Image credit: Toei)
