One Piece Creator Had Two Specific Requests for New Movie

Oda Eiichirō, the creator of the One Piece manga, had two requests for the upcoming animated feature One Piece Film: Red. One Piece is a sprawling franchise that began being published serially in Shōnen Jump in 1997. The series follows Monkey D. Luffy, a young boy who uses his body’s rubberlike powers to lead a band of pirates on a grand search for the “One Piece” treasure that will make him King of the Pirates. Over the years, the manga has been adapted into films, video games, light novels, an anime series running for over 1,000 episodes, and an upcoming live-action One Piece series from Netflix.

One Piece Film: Red, which was directed by Taniguchi Gorō and is coming to theaters on August 6, 2022, will be the 15th film in the long-running theatrical branch of the franchise. The film is set to follow the character of Red-Haired Shanks, the leader of the Red-Haired Pirates who now holds a prime position as one of the Four Emperors. He is also responsible for giving Monkey D. Luffy his signature straw hat.

Per Anime News Network, Toei Animation held a press conference about their 2022 film slate on Thursday. During their discussion of One Piece Film: Red, they revealed the two requirements that Oda Eiichirō had for the film. First, he wanted there to be a female character with a sizeable role in the film. Second, he wanted an outside director to helm the project, which is why the team tapped Taniguchi Gorō, who is best known for Code Geass and has not worked with Toei before. Producer Shimizu Shinji said that “I feel like we’ve got a good chemical change happening” because of their work together.

The female character in question is going to be a new addition to the franchise, and, at this time, not much is known about the nature of the role. However, it has been announced that, in addition to the title character, the film will feature several previous franchise characters. This includes Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, Brook, and Jimbei.

One Piece Film: Red will mark some changes for the franchise, however minor. Considering that it has been running for decades at this point, fans will hopefully embrace the slight shakeup from the typical film creation process. It certainly speaks well of Oda Eiichirō that he is still interested in doing new and exciting things with the franchise to avoid it getting stale, rather than just coasting on the same ideas.

Source: Anime News Network

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