One Piece Film: Red Review – IGN

One Piece Movie: Crimson will debut in North American theaters on Nov. 4, 2022.

Shonen anime movies are sometimes formulaic one-off adventures. Cease me should you’ve heard this earlier than: the primary solid enters a brand new location. It’s revealed that the brand new location is house to a “well-known,” extraordinarily highly effective character who has by no means been talked about earlier than. Shonen protagonist comes into battle with mentioned character, besting them with a brand new method. The primary solid leaves the situation victorious. Every thing ends hunky-dory. Blah. This formulation generates snazzy clips however flattens tales into their most broadly interesting type. In brief, it’s type of boring. One Piece Movie: Crimson, however, shakes issues up by combining shonen tropes with musical components, making for the most effective One Piece film of the final decade. Not like earlier entries, Movie: Crimson has holistically captured One Piece’s essence.

One Piece is, after all, about Monkey D. Luffy’s journey to turning into King of the Pirates. To realize this objective, he and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, journey the ocean to discover a legendary treasure often called the One Piece. Alongside the best way, the Straw Hats take part in action-packed shonen battles and an distinctive quantity of hi-jinks. These hi-jinks are what give One Piece its appeal, with the collection typically leaning nearer to an journey comedy than a conventional shonen. Movie: Crimson is likely one of the solely films to wholly embrace that concept. Jokes are made at inopportune instances and, in moments {that a} lesser movie would depend upon motion for, Movie: Crimson opts to throw in one other joke or a musical quantity. This film understands One Piece.

In Movie: Crimson, the Straw Hats attend a live performance for a reclusive movie star named Uta. Like many One Piece characters, she’s a triple menace. Along with being a singer, Uta can also be Luffy’s estranged childhood pal and daughter of the well-known pirate Shanks. The movie opens with Uta serenading a stadium and continues to dole out often scheduled earworms.

While you’re weaving in a personality that’s particular to a standalone film, there’s all the time a danger that they’ll really feel shoe-horned in, however Uta’s inclusion is pure. The truth is, it looks like Uta has all the time been a part of the One Piece mythos, with the added bonus of giving extra depth to Shanks and Luffy. It’s good to have a personality from Luffy’s previous that seen him as an equal, matching his aggressive drive and infantile idealism. In the primary collection, Luffy is commonly initially disregarded as too juvenile, however not so in terms of Uta. It’s refreshing to see the idealistic a part of him matched by one other character.

All of Uta’s songs, in the meantime, have lyrics that mirror One Piece’s core beliefs. For instance, the primary theme, New Genesis, is in regards to the present period of oppression and strife being overturned. New Genesis additionally draws lyrics from the basic One Piece music Bink’s Sake. It’s a considerate alternative that makes the entire film really feel genuine to the supply materials. Utilizing music as a automobile, Movie: Crimson is ready to embody much more of One Piece’s tenets than its predecessors. The songs additionally act as simply digestible, catchy shorthand for Uta as a personality, catching us up on her offscreen improvement. The trade-off is that the movie does require viewers to have learn the primary collection to know among the nuances of the songs. Many lyrics are laced with double meanings which may have bigger implications for One Piece’s foremost story, and whereas that’s enjoyable for hardcore followers, it is perhaps much less so for individuals who aren’t totally caught up.

One among Uta’s greatest qualities is her versatile singing voice, offered by Japanese pop star Ado. Every music has a totally totally different power, which permits Ado to indicate off her incredible tonal vary. In New Genesis, she feels hopeful, as if the long run is shut and she will attain it. On the flip facet, Ado’s tone can grow to be clearly pissed off and taunting in songs like Fleeting Lullaby. Her voice is likely one of the most necessary facets that heightens Movie: Crimson to the most effective of the One Piece franchise.

Shanks was launched in One Piece’s first chapter as Luffy’s idol and an early paternal determine. He’s one of many few pirates that has been round so long as Luffy himself. Regardless of that, he stays an elusive determine. Movie: Crimson was marketed as probably altering that, giving Shanks a bigger function than he’s had previously. It’s true that he has a presence, but it surely nonetheless doesn’t reveal all that a lot about him. It’s a supporting function that catalyzes Movie: Crimson’s foremost occasions whereas teasing that there’s extra to come back. Clearly, they couldn’t give away a giant thriller in a film, however it might’ve been good to get extra info for considered one of One Piece’s most mysterious gamers.

The Straw Hat crew would not get a lot display screen time, which has been a constant situation throughout the movies. Crew members like Chopper and Robin get one-liners and little cool moments, however that’s about it. As ordinary, the main focus feels extra on Luffy than anybody else, however Movie: Crimson is admittedly distinctive in its supporting solid decisions. Motion pictures like One Piece Stampede and One Piece Movie Gold typically felt just like the solid was chosen by reputation; because of this, supporting characters appeared extra like pressured fan service than significant story decisions. In Movie: Crimson, everyone seems to be believably on the island for a cause, and appearances are designed by in-universe character decisions, relatively than a committee trying to promote merch.