Disc 1 – The Movie

One Piece movies can be understood to come in two distinct types: Arcs summaries, such as The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta, or a single new adventure, complete with a new character to be rescued and a new bad guy to be defeated. One Piece: Red is an example of the latter with all the positives and negatives that come along for the ride.

The main negative of this — as with so many of Oda's arcs — is the emotional torture of a young girl. Uta's backstory is full of tragedy; heartless World Government actions, her mentor's obsessions, and even Shanks' well-intentioned decisions to help Uta reach for her dream, create a deeply traumatized protagonist. Oda has gone on record in his SBS column that the loss of a protector forces the characters to grow, explaining why so few characters have mothers. While some fans agree that this is a narrative necessity, I can't help but think it is also a very creepy fetish to continually put children in horrific situations to wring empathy out of an audience.

In One Piece: Red, the tragi-hits keep coming. Child Uta, who happily sings for Shank's crew, is left with a stranger to learn music and forced to watch — and blame herself for — the extermination of a whole country. Understandably, she finds extreme ways to keep herself going under those circumstances as she approaches her dream, however delusional it makes her. In this movie, Uta is the child to be rescued and the new opponent who must be defeated, for everyone's sake.

On the positive side, there is everything else about this movie.

As often is the case, a One Piece movie is a chance to see the old gang again. We learn that other pirates are in the audience, as Trafalgar Law, Bepo, and Bartolomeo show up. Koby and Helmeppo find Cipher Pol agents in the audience. The stakes rise – everyone is centered on this concert. The Navy sends its most ruthless Admirals, every battle is a reunion from the War of the Paramount, which is always fun, and final credits expand that to so many of the characters we come to know and like from other arcs, as we revisit them in scenes of their current lives.

One Piece: Red features stellar direction from Gorō Taniguchi, which leans heavily toward Vocaloid-like stage production for the musical numbers.

Along with the effects, Ado's singing voice brings Uta's songs to life. “New Genesis” is hopeful and ethereal and incredibly sticky — you'll be humming it to yourself for days after watching the movie. “I'm Invincible” presents Uta as an avatar and offers the first glimpse of her madness, as she demands all pirates, including Luffy, give up their ways. The final battle piece, “Tot Musica” is a banger.

Now that Toei has unlocked new levels of animation with the Wano arc, the animation is both intense and fascinating. Of course, CGI backgrounds are vast and colorful with incredible use of light and shadow in the ruins of Elegia. “Animation” as a concept is getting a workout in this movie. The visuals are astounding.

The battle scenes as Uta sings are well worth watching for themselves. The mix of music, the holographs-come-to-life of Uta's songs, and the action make every fight interesting to look at and to listen to.

I feel like a complete poser commenting on the dub track. The dub cast of One Piece, has been doing their jobs competently for decades and I rarely watch dubs, being one of those old-school insufferable JP audio track and subtitle-only otaku. Still, the pronunciation of “Tot Music” as “Toht Musica” drove me a little batty. “Toht” is German for “death,” please. Because I rarely watch dubs, it was otherwise a genuine pleasure to listen to the dub track, with adaptations that made the conversation flow nicely in English, voiced well by people who know their characters — it never feels like I am listening to dub, it just feels like I am watching anime. As a relative newcomer to the dub track, let me say, holy crow Colleen Clinkenbeard is a fantastic Luffy!

Disc 2 Bonus Tracks

Although Disc 1 is the movie and Disc 2 the backstory, if you're not familiar with the One Piece mythos, I'd recommend watching the two discs in the reverse order. We are introduced to Uta, her relationship with Luffy's mentor Shanks, and her backstory that motivates her to take the actions she does in the movie.

In “A New Genesis” we spend time with child Luffy, seven years old, being raised by a town that cannot control him. When Shanks comes to town he introduces his “daughter” Uta, a nine-year-old singer with a dream to sing in front of the whole world. She and Luffy become friends.

In the second episode, “A Pledge for the New Genesis! Luffy and Uta!” Luffy and Uta continue competing in contests and sharing their dreams. They agree to create a new age in their own ways, Uta by singing, and Luffy as a pirate. Shanks and his crew depart with Uta, but when they return she is no longer with them.

We then move away from Luffy for shorts of the remaining Strawhat crew as children, and a serious conversation among the Five Elders of the World Government about Shanks, the destruction of Elegia, and the danger of “Tot Musica”. On the Sunny Go, Luffy learns Uta is having a show and the crew all want to go. The episode ends ominously with current Uta saying a new genesis will begin, without pain or suffering.

The final episode, “The Captain's Log of the Legend! 'Red-Haired” Shanks!” begins with Koby and Helmeppo listening to Uta's voice over a transponder snail. Helmeppo wants to see her, but Koby says their mission is to get info about her time at Elegia, and what Shanks is up to. Helmeppo comments that Shanks destroyed Elegia, but Koby is not convinced, talking about how Shanks ended the war of the Paramount, by protecting Koby from his own Admiral and negotiating peace. We jump over to Windmill Village for a quick update and a flashback to the early mythos building between Shanks and Luffy in which Shanks rescues Luffy, losing his arm and Luffy gets his precious straw hat. For a brief moment, we see Shank's power.

The art of these episodes is in line with the serialized anime, so much less hi-res than the movie. The information revealed is a bit scattered, but lays down plot points for the movie and goes forward into the Egghead arc of the television anime. The Five Elders of the World Government are not above lying about mass murder.

Technically, the Blu-ray menus were a little annoying to deal with, using my player's native audio and subtitle controls was easier than the menu setup, which would not allow me to watch the dub with subtitles. Of course, watching it with the Japanese voice track is my preference. I can imagine easily that it would have been a fantastic cinematic experience, but as neither my television nor Blu-ray player was up to the 4K, I would have needed new technology to get the full home-theater experience from this.

Would I recommend buying the One Piece: Red Steelbook? Sure. It doesn't cost much more than the Blu-ray (US$28.49 vs US$24.93 on the Crunchyroll Store) and if you have the 4K viewing and fully-featured audio capability in your home, all you'll need is some popcorn and friends to watch with and you'll have yourself a fun party.