One Piece Film Red review: an admirable action-musical anime - Digital Trends

Not galore longtime genre fans could’ve accurately predicted however large of a planetary and mainstream juggernaut anime would become, and the impending occurrence of manager Gorō Taniguchi and Toei Company’s One Piece Film: Red is different colorful illustration of wherefore that is. It’s 1 of the most highly anticipated remaining anime of 2022, and for the franchise creator and mangaka Eiichiro Oda, this is conscionable 1 much notch successful his and the expansive pirate-odyssey satellite of One Piece overall.

This is the 15th anime movie adaptation successful the series, and portion each of the entries anterior to Red fall nether the broad word of non-canon, definite elements of this latest endeavors marque continuity a small much of grey country and, successful immoderate places, allows its communicative to marque immoderate refreshing additions to the formula. Putting immoderate absorption connected 1 fan-favorite character, Red-Haired Shanks, and the archetypal Uta — on with the philharmonic numbers she injects into the movie — are immoderate instances of this. It does yet cater to an all-too-familiar “anime movie” look successful the extremity that won’t precisely grip initiated fans, but it’s a mostly loving enlargement of Oda’s pirate universe.

A vibrant feast for the eyes

Longtime anime and One Piece fans person been waiting for this movie for respective reasons, 1 of which — unsurprisingly — is what the animation workplace astatine the helm would bash successful the movie’s ocular department. And, expectedly, Toei Animation does not disappoint here.

While immoderate of the high-octane enactment sequences tin consciousness colorfully overwhelming, the movie is an unfiltered and vibrant dose of oculus candy that should entreaty to longtime fans and newcomers alike. This shouldn’t travel arsenic a astonishment for an IP arsenic monolithic arsenic One Piece, particularly since the studios connected the TV broadside of these properties often thin to instrumentality the reigns of the cinematic adaptations arsenic well.

Other anime movies released this year, namely Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and Jujutsu Kaisen 0, person upped their respective games successful flexing the imaginable of animation arsenic a medium, but One Piece Film: Red can comfortably and proudly basal alongside them with the studio’s achievements.

The full of this franchise’s beingness tin beryllium succinctly described arsenic “colorful” and “vibrant,” but the expanded scope successful Red certainly shows, including successful the creation absorption and quality designs. Elegia — the Island of Music wherever the communicative predominantly takes spot — feels astir arsenic unsocial arsenic immoderate of the settings recovered wrong the manga root worldly oregon the TV anime adaptation, which is arsenic precocious a compliment arsenic immoderate for a semi-out-of-continuity archetypal story.

Oda was credited arsenic being precise intimately progressive successful the accumulation of the movie compared to past entries, and that surely besides shows successful the quality designs. This goes for the assorted flashy wardrobes the main and supporting formed athletics passim the movie but, much importantly, goes for the movie’s caller prima attraction successful the signifier of Uta.

Nonetheless, thing and nary 1 goes unnoticed nary substance however agelong (or briefly) they appear.

Welcome caller quality spotlights

Eiichiro Oda has assured fans since One Piece‘s inception that the Straw Hat Pirates would beryllium universally beloved, but the biggest selling points of Red are Red-Haired Shanks and the aforementioned Uta. The erstwhile has been mostly elusive successful the root material’s world, truthful his getting immoderate benignant of focused attraction successful a diagnostic movie was ever going to beryllium a plus.

Uta is mostly the prima of the amusement successful this movie, though, and the Grand Line’s nonmigratory J-Pop idol is arsenic suitably larger-than-life arsenic longtime fans would privation to spot successful a caller look wrong the One Piece world.

And, successful a somewhat refreshing alteration of gait arsenic acold arsenic the movies go, the communicative does a decent occupation of showcasing a crippled that has a small much affectional resonance with the main formed than normal. That’s what partially paves the mode for the movie’s astir inventive aspect: the philharmonic numbers.

It’s a amusive mode to enactment successful an different atypical subgenre for action-shounen anime, and Uta’s dependable for the singing segments — Ado — does an fantabulous occupation performing the assorted upbeat songs successful the movie.

Though, for some, this could springiness mixed results. As endlessly and wonderfully bizarre arsenic this beingness is, these philharmonic numbers somewhat clasp backmost the pacing of the plot. It isn’t a dealbreaker, but arsenic overmuch arsenic anime fans instrumentality to the euphony utilized successful anime openings and endings, the frequence and magnitude of the numbers springiness the communicative a stop-and-go gait successful places.

An admittedly formulaic structure

Even with crowd-pleasers similar Shanks and Uta, though, Red doesn’t precisely person excessively overmuch that makes it basal retired successful an already packed assemblage of big-budget anime movies.

It’s large to spot anime movies, successful summation to the superior TV medium, get much planetary container bureau recognition, but it’s hard not to admit that cinematic adaptations of big-time anime IPs (like Dragon Ball) travel reasonably by-the-numbers crippled structure.

The affectional concern betwixt the main formed makes things a small much absorbing than normal, but it inactive doesn’t flight the template of the astir nonsensically high-stakes climax that’s pugnacious to get excessively invested in, knowing that the conflicts successful these movies are astir ever standalone. Similarly, the biggest spectacles successful these kinds of movies ever cram successful much characters than the surface tin grip conscionable to merchantability everyone’s favourite broadside characters 5 seconds of fame.

Nonetheless, Red is an wide bully and entertaining anime romp that’ll fulfill longtime fans adjacent if it’s thing groundbreaking and is besides reasonably harmless for prospective fans funny to spot what this sprawling pirate phantasy is each about.

Toei Company’s One Piece Film: Red is present playing successful theaters.

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