One Piece: Red Director Breaks Silence on Joining New Film

The director behind the next major One Piece movie has broken their silence on joining One Piece Film: Red! Fans of the franchise already had quite a lot to celebrate as Shueisha and Toei Animation commemorated the massive 1,000th episode milestone for the anime series with its newly released episode. The episode itself had plenty of fun nods to the past of the franchise, but after its premiere, fans got a look at what’s to come in the future as the next major feature film in the franchise was announced. 

This next film, One Piece: Red, was announced to be in the works for a release next August in Japan and while there has yet to be any real confirmation on what to expect from its story, there is quite a lot to look forward to. Namely that the director behind the new film, Goro Taniguchi, isn’t actually part of Toei Animation at all but instead is most well known for his work overseeing the Code Geass anime franchise. To celebrate joining the new movie, Taniguchi released a special statement for One Piece: Red. 

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　 スタッフ陣からコメントが到着！
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総合P：#尾田栄一郎　
監督：#谷口悟朗　
脚本：#黒岩勉　#OP_FILMRED #ONEPIECE#ONEPIECE1000LOGS pic.twitter.com/fPEK7PmAzT

— 『ONE PIECE FILM RED』【公式】 (@OP_FILMRED) November 21, 2021

“You don’t need me. I can’t believe that once upon a time I was only slightly involved in ‘One Piece.’ I’m not even from Toei Animation, and it would be a hassle to invite such a person as director,” Taniguchi began (as translated by King_Jin_Woo and DarkPhoenix5656 on Twitter) “But the fact that they dared to talk to me in the midst of all this means that [series creator Eiichiro Oda] and his staff wanted to add something more, to challenge themselves more, to see a different view. I think that’s what it means.” Hyping up what’s to come in One Piece: Red, Taniguchi teased how this new film takes it all in a new kind of direction:

“The director is a way to free the anime ‘One Piece’ that has weaved its history up to this point. With the help of [screenwriter Tsutomu Kuroiwa], who wrote the script, and many other staff members, it is turning out to be an interesting story. Please look forward to it.” What do you think? How are you feeling about the looks at One Piece: Red so far? What are you hoping to see in the new movie? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!