Will One Piece: Red Finally Reunite Luffy and Shanks?
One Piece will be launching its next feature film through theaters in Japan later this Summer, and the biggest hook from the One Piece: Red movie is the fact that it will be featuring Shanks in a prominent way. With the new feature film teasing one of the first few anime projects featuring Shanks in such a way (even going as far as introducing his daughter to the franchise with it), there's also one major burning question that has popped up as a result. It could end up being the first major reunion we get between Luffy and Shanks in the anime's present day!
The One Piece films generally have not been a part of the main series canon despite having original stories from series creator Eiichiro Oda, but what has been seen in the past are teases for major reveals that come much later in the series. With the recent chapters of the manga setting up for the end of Wano Country arc, and with Oda previously teasing that Shanks will start to make his move in the story, it's becoming increasingly likely that we might just get our long awaited reunion between Luffy and Shanks in One Piece: Red before their official one in the manga.
For example, One Piece: Stampede provided the first actual canonical spelling of the final island, Laugh Tale, before it was confirmed for the manga a bit later. So while One Piece: Red will probably not have an impact on the franchise as a whole, it's adjacent enough that there's a good chance that we'll get to see Luffy and Shanks cross paths in a meaningful way. Making matters even more interesting is the fact that Jinbei has been confirmed as a member of the Straw Hat crew for the movie. Seeing as how he doesn't join the crew until the Wano Country arc's third act, this movie is thus allowed to play a little bit more.
Shanks has been given an updated design for the movie, and thus is does imply that we'll get to see current day Shanks in the film's events. The major question is how involved he'll actually be in One Piece: Red's current day events. The trailer teases a flashback with him and his daughter, and teases how Luffy will cross paths with her on his journey, so it's all in the cards for a full appearance from Shanks and even a reunion with Luffy. Maybe it will even go as far as having the two fight side by side too?
If One Piece: Red gives us our long awaited reunion between Luffy and Shanks, it will not only be great to see but also be a subtle tease for what's to come for the two in the series proper. But what do you think? Do you think we'll finally get to see a Luffy and Shanks reunion? What are you hoping to see from One Piece: Red? 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!