The release of One Piece Film: Red rapidly approaching
Some impressive cosplay photos bring the story’s new character, Uta, to life. A talented One Piece fan has brought the franchise’s newest character to life through cosplay. With the release of One Piece Film: Red approaching, images showcasing an impressive Uta cosplay costume were posted recently on Reddit. The outfit notably features the singer’s wild, two-tone hair and oversized jacket complete with the character’s unique brand. The estranged daughter of Shanks and childhood friend of Luffy, Uta seeks to combat pain and suffering through the power of music.
The new character will make her official debut in the story of One Piece in the upcoming movie, One Piece Film: Red, which will hit theaters in Japan on Aug. 6 and premiere in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand later this fall. Toei Animation, the studio behind the One Piece anime series, is producing the film with Gorō Taniguchi (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion) serving as director and Tsutomu Kuroiwa (One Piece Film: Gold) writing the script.
Two special prologue episodes will also be released alongside One Piece Film: Red. Airing on Aug. 14 and 21, the episodes will not only show how Uta and Luffy became close in the past but will also depict how the Straw Hat Pirates arrived at the Island of Music, the primary setting of the movie, in the present day.
One Piece is one of the longest-running and most beloved series in all of pop culture. The franchise kicked off in 1997 when Eiichiro Oda began publishing his One Piece manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump. The story follows the often-wacky and dangerous adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate with a body made out of rubber who dreams of becoming the next King of the Pirates. Joined by his colorful crew, Luffy explores the Grand Line, searching for the titular hidden treasure. So far, over 1,000 individual chapters have been published and over 516 million copies of Oda’s series have been sold globally, making it the best-selling manga of all time. There have been multiple recent developments for the franchise beyond the new movie’s upcoming release and cosplay tributes. Most notably, Netflix is adapting One Piece into a live-action series, which will star Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, Taz Skylar as Sanji and Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro. Moreover, a new video game, One Piece Odyssey, is in development at Bandai Namco. One Piece fans can revisit the adventures of Luffy and his crew before the debut of One Piece Film: Red by streaming the anime’s episodes on Crunchyroll.
Attack on Titan Actor Joins One Piece Film Red Cast – One Piece Film: Red announces two new additions to its cast, including voice actor Yuki Kaji, the star of the Attack on Titan anime. As reported by Comic Natalie, two new characters have been unveiled for One Piece’s 15th theatrical feature. The new characters are named Romi and Yorueka, and will appear in the film as fans of the movie’s new major character, the singer Uta. Romi will be voiced by Chise Niitsu, who previously appeared in crowdfunded anime movie Child of Kamiari Month, while Yorueka will be portrayed by Yuki Kaji, a veteran voice actor who is best known for playing the role of the Attack on Titan’s morally ambigious protagonist, Eren Jaeger. In addition to the the casting news, design sketches of the new characters were also revealed. One Piece Film: Red sees the Straw Hat Pirate crew traveling to a new island in order to attend a famous music festival. There the crew get new, punk rock-inspired outfits and run into Uta, a world famous diva who also happens to be the estranged daughter of Red-Haired Shanks, the charismatic pirate captain who originally gave Luffy his iconic straw hat and inspired the young boy to take up the life of a swashbuckler. The movie will be released in Japan on Aug. 9, with an international release following in the fall.