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As the August release date of One Piece: Red draws nearer and nearer, excitement and news for the movie seem to be rising proportionally. Combined with the excitement built around 2022 being One Piece’s 25th anniversary, many fans and critics have high hopes for Red.
These hopes seem to be well-placed by fans and critics alike, with welcome news regarding One Piece: Red releasing today. A Funimation film producer claims that Red is the most involved author Eiichiro Oda has been with a series movie.
This article breaks down the most recent report regarding One Piece: Red.
Interview with anime film producer leads to claims One Piece: Red is most involved Oda has been for a movie
Shinji Shimizu interview
Earlier today, a Japanese interview was released with Shinji Shimizu, former Toei Animation employee and first producer of the One Piece anime. Shimizu is a close friend of Oda’s and has worked very closely with him on both the series’ anime and various films of the series.
Shimizu claims in the interview that One Piece: Red is the most involved Oda has been with a series movie since Strong World. The Strong World script was written by Oda himself, and as such is regarded as one of the series’ best movies. While the movie itself was not canon, an accompanying Volume 0 of the manga is considered canonized by official sources.
While the claim that Oda is more involved with Red than he was with Strong World is an unbelievable one, this does corroborate previous reports. When Red was announced and barebones staffing details were made available, Oda was announced as being involved both on a production and general oversight level.
Furthermore, Oda was said to have been working with both script writer Kuroiwa Tsutomu and director Goro Taniguchi on the film’s script for two years. When these reports came out in November 2022, it was said to be the current script at the time of being reported. Whether this script has changed is unknown, but even if it has changed, Oda’s influence is no doubt still present.
Alongside the aforementioned news, preliminary character designs for One Piece: Red have also been released. While the designs were closer to sketches rather than fully designed characters, the reveal was nevertheless well-received by fans and media outlets alike.
Wrapping up
With the news available thus far regarding One Piece: Red, there seems to be little to no reason for fans to be anything but excited. Oda’s heavy involvement not only speaks well of the film’s potential quality, but also opens the door for One Piece: Red potentially being the first canon movie.
The film’s all-star cast and crew also instills hope and confidence in even the most cautious of fans. Even removing Oda’s involvement, both director Taniguchi and writer Tsutomu have enough fantastic credits to their names to win the faith of fans.
Readers should make sure to keep up with all One Piece anime, manga, film, and live-action news as the exciting year of the series’ 25th anniversary continues.
