One Piece Finally Makes a Big Character From Luffy & Shanks' Backstory Canon

The latest episode of One Piece has surprised fans with an unexpected cameo from a major film character confirming her canon existence in the anime.

Summary

• Uta from One Piece Film: Red, makes her anime debut in Episode #1082, confirming her canon existence within the main series.
• Although Uta only appears briefly in silhouette, her presence confirms her connection to Shanks and Luffy.
• Uta already appeared in a cameo in the manga, but her presence in the anime confirms that she is a canon character beyond any doubt.

Warning: Contains spoilers for Episode #1082 of One Piece. The latest episode of One Piece has finally confirmed that Uta, a big character from Shanks and Luffy's backstory is indeed canon, raising a myriad of questions and opening up a realm of exciting possibilities.

Despite the massive success of One Piece Film: Red across the globe, Uta continues to remain a controversial character and has sparked countless debates since her introduction. That said, the Film: Red star has at long last made her anime debut, confirming her canon existence within the main series as well.

One Piece's anime confirms Uta is canon with an unexpected appearance in Episode #1082 albeit in silhouette only. Uta appears briefly alongside a young Luffy, Momonosuke, and Hiyori as Shanks speaks about the new age after forcing Ryokugyu to leave Wano using his Conqueror's Haki.

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Uta Makes Her Anime Debut In One Piece

While Uta also appeared in the same scene in the manga (in chapter #1055), it was an unclear silhouette, and the anime gives fans a much clearer, full-frontal view of the character. In Film: Red, Uta is introduced as Shanks' adoptive daughter, after the Red-Haired Pirates found her as a baby kidnapped by other pirates. Uta was the musician on Shanks' crew for a while, during which time she met a young Luffy in Foosha Village, until Red Hair was forced to abandon her on Elegia Island. This sparked Uta's hatred for pirates, and her desire to start a "new era" using the dangerous powers of the Uta Uta no Mi Devil Fruit.

While the events of Film: Red may not be canon, the weekly specials released by Oda in Shonen Jump through issues #35 to #38 confirm that Uta is canonically Shanks' adopted daughter and has been to Foosha Village as well, suggesting she might have very well crossed paths with Luffy when he was younger as well. Many fans have even attributed Luffy's love for singing and making up songs on the go to his run-in with Uta as a child.

One Piece Film: Red is unique among the many films spawned by the franchise because it teased many crucial aspects about Shanks that have since entered into prominence in the canon, such as Shanks' origins and his connection to the Figarland family and God Valley. While it is unlikely that Uta will re-emerge to impact the story in any way, her cameo in the latest episode of One Piece confirms without a shadow of a doubt that she should be considered a canon character for the series.

Episode #1082 of One Piece is available from Crunchyroll.

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• One Piece

  Created by:

  Eiichiro Oda

  First Film:

  One Piece: The Movie

  First TV Show:

  One Piece

  Cast:

  Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Ôtani, Yuriko Yamaguchi

  Video Game(s):

  One Piece: Unlimited World RED, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, One Piece: World Seeker, One Piece Odyssey

  Character(s):

  Monkey D. Luffy, Roronora Zoro, Nami (One Piece), Nico Robin, Usopp (One Piece), Vinsmoke Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Franky (One Piece), Jimbei (One Piece)