One Piece Film: Red is coming out this Saturday, Aug 6, in Japan. Despite this, there is still relatively little known about what's going to happen in it. There haven't been any big announcements about the overarching plot, who the new characters are, or even who the villain is. However, several hints about the film's central character, Uta, have been presented in the form of a micro-series.
On One Piece's official Youtube Channel, six videos titled UTA diary have been posted over the last two months leading up to the movie. This micro-series features a VTuber-style Uta recording herself via Video Transponder Snail and letting her fans know a little more about herself. Consequently, she also gives One Piece fans more information about her and what to expect from her in the movie.
Uta's first entry is mostly spent relaying some behind-the-scenes information. She mentions how she usually just streams herself singing and dancing; the concert she'll be holding in the movie will be her first live performance. She says that the set list would be a secret, but she did confirm that "New Genesis" would be sung. After all, it's the song that made her famous.
She also notes that the concert will be held on Elegia, despite its apparently tragic history. She doesn't mention what happens, but her moment of silence says a lot. Her goal is to "write over everyone's sad memories" and "change Elegia into a place of music." In doing so, she intends to create the "start of a new era." The offhanded comment about Elegia sounds a little troubling, but everything else sounds fine so far.
In Uta's second entry, she tells her listeners about herself. According to her, she's always in her room; she sits by the window and looks out at sea. She also makes songs and rehearses them from her room, including "I Am Invincible." This, combined with the fact that she's never performed live, suggests that she lives a somewhat sheltered life.
She also mentions a little bit about her past. There was a time when she was down, but she learned to love herself again when she realized how much people loved her music. The lyrics of "I Am Ivincible" reflect how she became strong and her gratitude towards those who helped her up.
Uta mentioned a little more about what happened to her when she was young. Apparently, she was left on her own often and sang songs when she was bored. That she apparently made a career out of her lonely singing may really speak to how isolated she truly was.
Uta reveals a little more about her philosophy in this video, too. She notes how songs can change one's whole perspective; the sea, for example, can either feel hopeful or lonely depending on how one sings about it. In that sense, music has the power to change a person's heart; reality can't be changed, but if one's feelings are changed, so, too, is the world around them. Thus, Uta wants to be happy with everyone through the power of music.
The third entry is where something much bigger about Uta starts to become readily apparent. As she's talking about how "Backlight," one of her most famous songs, will be on the set list for the concert, she mentions how people who like it hate pirates. From here, there's an unexpected shift in Uta's tone.
The songstress elaborates on what's a deep-rooted hatred for pirates. To her, pirates cause many people suffering. They're willing to hurt those people to get some treasure and money. It's something she can't understand, so she hates it with all her heart.
Uta really drives home her hatred with a story. She'd been getting letters from a sick girl whose only joy in life was her songs. That same girl had her family killed by pirates and died alone. There are plenty of people around the world who suffer because of pirates, just like that girl.
There are also people like that girl who wish for a peaceful world like the one Uta envisions. According to Uta, "If those people can escape into my music and forget about bad things for a moment, I want to keep singing for as long as I can;" she makes this point surprisingly vehemently. Finally, she expresses her desire to sing as many songs as she can at her concert for everyone.
Uta made her fourth entry when she was feeling a little more upbeat. This video had her show off the concert venue, but more importantly, it showed her reacting to pirate wanted posters. Normally, she doesn't want to know about or associate with pirates, but she made an exception when she found a satchel of posters washed up on the beach.
Apparently, Uta lacks basic knowledge of the pirate world. She doesn't know about big names like Doflamingo of the Seven Warlords or Big Mom of the Four Emperors. She's not familiar with the Straw Hat pirates, though the idea of a straw hat seems to get her thinking about what the captain is like. This lack of knowledge speaks to either her status as a civilian or her isolation.
Uta's fifth entry has her talking about dreams. To her, a good dream would be worth staying asleep forever. She says she expanded on this ideal dream world in her song "The World's Continuation." She'd like a world that has no fighting and is instead full of fun things like music; such a dream world could go on forever without waking. This sounds like a nice idea on the surface, but it's also dangerous, extreme, and severely misguided. Between this way of thinking and Uta's apparent dislike of all the world's suffering, she may end up trying to do something reckless.
She made a song to chase away all the scary things in the world and bring everyone to a kinder place, and that's what "The World's Continuation" is supposed to be. She was about to give a sample of it but had to cut the video short for something going on outside.
The Sixth and final entry has Uta come back just fine. Apparently, the disturbance was a pirate ship holding the crew of a trade ship hostage and demanding Uta. However, Uta captured all the pirates and saved the crew. She didn't explain how she did it, though she implied she might reveal how at the concert.
Sha also sang "Where the Wind Blows" to the crew of the trade ship. This is a song that she's never streamed before, nor has she sung it since she was a child. It's from a more innocent time before she realized how awful the world could be. She concludes by saying she'll be live streaming the concert for anyone not in attendance and hopes a certain someone will be listening.
A lot of this micro-series seems like it will be elaborated on in Film: Red. There's a lot about Uta hinted at that seems like it will be important to the film's overarching story; her backstory, her reasons for hating pirates, her isolation, her fascination with straw hats, her concept of an ideal world, and obviously, her plans for the concert. Most of this is to say nothing of how Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates, Shanks, and everyone else slated to appear in the movie will figure into her story. As for exactly when and how these potential plot points will come up, that remains to be said.
Everything about these videos is meant to get One Piece fans excited for the movie. Not only do they make people more familiar with Uta, but the nuggets of information they provide are tantalizing clues about her story. The best way to find out what it all means is to watch One Piece Film: Red when it hits theaters.