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With celebrations for the 25th anniversary of One Piece already underway amongst fans, it's only natural that anticipation for the franchise's 15th film has only been building as it approaches its Aug. release date in Japan. One Piece Film: Red promises a brand-new voyage for Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats as they travel to Elegia, the island of music, to see the otherworldly Uta perform live for the first time. Things take a shocking turn when it's revealed that Uta is secretly Shanks' daughter.
Ahead of the film's release, CBR sat down with producer Shinji Shimizu to discuss his experience working on the One Piece franchise. He dove into the production of One Piece Film: Red and answered many of the burning questions fans have regarding the film's new character.
CBR: Shanks has always been a very elusive character in One Piece. What kind of role will we see him take on in this film?
Shinji Shimizu: Shanks, as you mentioned, is a very mysterious character, I would say. Since the beginning, he's made his appearance in the manga, but there hasn't been too much development. I would say, even from where we stand, on the Toei Animation side, we don't fully understand him as a character. In this movie, of course, he's going to be making some significant appearances. One thing I can say is we expect, as fans, that Luffy and Shanks, of course, at some point encounter each other in the manga, but whether that's going to happen in the movie remains to be seen.
With the new character, Uta, were there any challenges when it came to making her so closely related to a mysterious character like Shanks?
What I can say is that Uta was designed very heavily by Oda-san himself, so he personally oversaw and played a major role in her design. Because Uta sings, it's hard to separate her from the music.
In what way will One Piece fans be able to resonate with Uta?
There is going to be seven different tracks that Uta will be singing in this film. These seven different emotional journeys that she goes through will draw the audience in, and that's when fans will be able to resonate with her. Uta's diaries are available online, and she talks about her emotions as she writes each song. As we experience this -- and Oda thought of this himself -- the characters of Red are also experiencing this.
Uta has a vlog and YouTube channel where she has music videos as well, so everything is unfolding in real-time. The audience is experiencing what the characters inside the world of One Piece are, as Uta has never performed live in universe, nor has she done that in the real world as well. Dare I say, the movie, or the experience, has already started with her vlogs and YouTube channel.
You've been involved with the One Piece anime from the beginning. What has it been like to work with the characters and world Oda has created?
I was involved in the production, as you mentioned, from the beginning, and the first six years, I was hands-on as the producer. Since then, I've taken a slightly less direct role, and different team members have been filling in the role of producer. It definitely feels like we are on an adventure with the Straw Hat pirates. If you are familiar with One Piece, you probably know the term nakama.
As I mentioned, I was involved as the producer in those first six years, and we use this analogy when working on One Piece of boarding the ship. So, while I was captain of the ship at one point, I've since stepped off, but you're still in that circle of nakama, and I'm now boarding the ship again for the movie. You always feel like you're a part of this One Piece nakama circle.
This is the most involved Oda has been with a One Piece film since One Piece: Strong World. What is it like to work alongside him?
You've pointed out something quite accurate. I would say he's even more involved with this movie than Strong World. He's a big fan of music in general, so I think some switch got turned on inside him, and he wanted to get very involved. So, now that the Wano arc has concluded, and Oda is preparing for what is effectively the final arc of One Piece, he's said himself, "The way I see it is almost as though we're doing the 400 track in the Olympics. We're turning the final corner, and this is the last sprint." So he's getting the fireworks ready, and I think he really poured his heart into this one. That's the mindset that he's in.
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What challenges were faced by you and the rest of the staff during One Piece Film: Red's production?
I would say that Red has been surprisingly smooth. Each practice and discipline, of course, will come with its own set of challenges, but we're working with director [Gorô] Taniguchi on this particular project, and Oda-san is heavily involved, almost in a type of supervising producer type of role, so he has the final sign-off on every component on the animation. All the team members and animators centralize around Taniguchi, and from there, Oda-san will look at everything to make sure it's what he wants. So yes, while there are some smaller challenges here and there, overall, we've found a very good cadence because of how heavily Oda-san is involved in the project.
What is something fans of One Piece can look forward to in regard to the future of animated projects?
Oda-san himself has very high expectations for everything that he does. So, now that the manga is going into its final arc, it's going to be really interesting, I would say, as the animation team doesn't want to fall behind the manga in terms of quality and expectation. Oda hinted to me what the final arc is going to do, which, of course, I can't say right now, but I do have an idea. Of course, we want the whole team of animators to work together to make the One Piece anime amazing, so Oda-san will be pleased, too.
One Piece Film: Red will be officially released in Aug. 2022, with an English release slated for Fall 2022.