Allow us to tell you about the holy Shonen Trinity, also known as the “Big Three.” These three anime were and are some of the biggest properties to ever come out of Shonen Jump, and as a result of that, their names carry weight, not the least of which is because they weren’t just successful manga–they were all adapted into very successful anime. The first is Naruto, which needs no real long speech on how successful that has been in pop culture and beyond. The second is Bleach, which is getting a key revival right now, and the third is One Piece, which has been so successful that it’s had over a dozen movies made about it. The latest is One Piece Film Red.
While those in the U.S. have not yet seen it, the movie is doing incredibly well. As a musical, it has a very different feel when compared to past films in the franchise. In Japan, it had a massive opening at No.1 at the own box office and is currently the top movie of the entire year in Japan. When you add in the other markets, the film is already over $100 million dollars, which for an anime without the US market? Is very impressive. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero came out recently and even in the U.S. and Japan it hasn’t grossed $100 million yet, showing you just how powerful anime can be when the right franchisees are out and have the right fanbase.
But that does beg the question, when will One Piece Film Red come to the U.S? This was partially answered by a marching band of all places. No, really. The University Of South Carolina was playing a football game against Rice this past weekend, and their marching band played a tribute to One Piece. During that time, the announcers revealed that the movie would arrive on Netflix in October, so we’re not that far from the film’s emergence into the western market. Also, good on those marching band students for not being afraid to show their love of the anime!
The movie itself will focus on a character named Uta, who apparently is the “most beloved singer in the world.” Her voice is something else, and everyone comes to hear her sing, including Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy and Uta have a secret history, as do Uta and Shanks, as the former is the latter’s daughter. Uta’s singing voice is provided by massively-popular Japanese singer Ado, and the film’s soundtrack is a huge hit on Spotify.
There are a lot of elements going into this movie, and fans are clearly loving it so far, so when October comes around, you’ll want to check it out on Netflix for yourself.
Source: ComicBook.com
