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One Piece Film Red Original Character Uta to Appear in One Piece TV Anime on Christmas
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The official website for the One Piece Film Red anime announced on Sunday that the film's original character Uta will appear in the next episode of the One Piece television anime, which will air on Christmas Day. Uta will appear in an animated end card sequence in the episode, and will be wearing a Santa outfit. The animation will also screen in Tokyo and Osaka on some of each cities' big public screens from December 19-25.
Ado, the singing voice of Uta, will perform behind a 3D avatar of Uta on NHK's 73rd Kōhaku Uta Gassen ("Red and White Song Contest"), Japan's most-watched music television program, on New Year's Eve. Uta teased that there will be "many announcements" at the performance.
One Piece Film Red opened in Japan on August 6. The movie has become the franchise's highest-selling and highest-earning film installment, in terms of both the number of tickets sold and yen earned at the box office. The film has also topped Top Gun: Maverick to become the highest-earning film to open in Japan so far this year. The anime is both the #6 all-time highest-earning anime film in Japan and the #9 all-time highest-earning film in Japan.
Crunchyroll released One Piece Film Red in the United States and Canada on November 4, and in Australia and New Zealand on November 3. The film crossed US$12,768,073 in its second week in the United States, ranking at #8 at the U.S. box office.
The film centers on a new character named Uta, Shanks' daughter. Kaori Nazuka is the speaking voice of Uta, while Ado is the character's singing voice. Ado also performs the film's theme song "Shinjidai" ("New Genesis"). Goro Taniguchi (Code Geass, One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak! special) directed One Piece Film Red. Tsutomu Kuroiwa (One Piece Film Gold, One Piece: Heart of Gold, GANTZ:O, live-action Black Butler) wrote the screenplay, and One Piece manga creator Eiichiro Oda himself served as executive producer.
Sources: One Piece Film Red anime's website, Comic Natalie
