Singer Uta is the breakout star of One Piece Film Red, and she’s going out for the holidays. The official One Piece movie website announced that the episode of One Piece scheduled to air on Christmas Day 2022 will have a bonus at its end. That bonus is a special “Uta Santa” animated short.
Uta plays a major role in One Piece Film Red, and is the adopted daughter of Red-Haired Shanks. Shanks played a pivotal role in the personal history of Straw Hats captain Luffy. Shanks gave up his left arm to protect Luffy at sea, gave Luffy his trademark straw hat, and inspired him to become a pirate himself. Shanks even sourced the Devil Fruit that gave Luffy his rubber powers (though he didn’t intend to feed it to Luffy). In the film, Uta holds her first-ever live concert on the “Music Island” of Elegia.
The actual One Piece episode airing on December 25th is a recap of battles between the Straw Hats and Tobiroppo. The Tobiroppo are members of the Animal Kingdom Pirates, and stood in the Straw Hats’ way during the Wano Country saga. The end card of the episode will contain the Uta Santa special.
Folks out and about for Christmas day will also be able to watch the special, which will air on massive public screens around Tokyo and Osaka. In Tokyo, six large screens at Shibuya’s Scramble Crossing will show the sequence. Osaka’s Dotonbori Tsutaya Ebisubashi Vision screen will host the piece.
On New Year’s Eve 2023, singer Ado, who provide Uta’s singing voice, will perform as Uta during the 73rd Kohaku Uta Gassen, NHK’s famed yearly live music broadcast.
Published: Dec 19, 2022 09:00 am