One Piece Film: Red’s Uta had a joyful greeting for fans around the world on Christmas day.
As promised, One Piece Film: Red’s Uta made her anime debut on Christmas day in the episode’s end card sequence. The special ending also played on public screens throughout Tokyo and Osaka from Dec. 19 to 25.
Merry Christmas From Uta
The 17-second clip opens with a beautiful snowy scene, with buildings lit up in the background and sparkly Christmas lights adding a festive ambiance. Uta pops out from behind a large snowman, saying, “Merry Christmahhh!” as she stumbles before landing in front of viewers. The daughter of Red-Haired Shanks enthusiastically greets everyone, “It’s Uta! Everyone, don’t catch a col…” However, before she can finish, she’s interrupted by a strange noise, which turns out to be “Santa” flying overhead. Uta expresses her shock as she quickly turns to look in the direction of the sound, declaring, “No way. Santa?!”
Although this is Uta’s first appearance in the anime, One Piece’s creator and artist Eiichiro Oda previously confirmed that the angel-voiced songstress once made a brief cameo in the manga. Uta’s appearance occurs in Chapter 1055, where she appears as a shadowy background figure, verifying her canonicity in the series.
Despite her cameo in the manga, most One Piece fans met Uta when they watched Film Red. The movie follows Uta, the world-famous singer known for her vocal colors, as she hosts a concert that attracts fans from all over — including the Straw Hat Pirates. Uta reveals herself to be the daughter of the pirate Red-Haired Shanks and a childhood friend of Luffy’s. She has a lofty dream in which she hopes to create a world where only peace and happiness exist by making her concert last forever.
Film Red was announced in 2021 and released in 2022, first in Japan before going on to release globally. It premiered on Nov. 4, 2022, in the United States and Canada. The film dominated box offices around the world, selling out in minutes in China and beating Black Adam for its opening day in the United States. As of this month, Film Red is the 5th highest-grossing Japanese film worldwide.
One Piece Film: Red is still available to watch in select theaters.
Source: Twitter
