One Piece: Red Features a Throwback Villain Cameo

One Piece: Red was able to take the crown as the biggest anime movie of all time featuring Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. With the fifteenth film of the shonen franchise hitting Amazon Prime in Japan, many anime fans have taken the opportunity to pick over the footage with a fine-toothed comb. Shockingly enough, fans have discovered an Easter Egg that touches on the earliest One Piece anime project and the first villain to threaten Luffy and company in the franchise’s early history.

Unfortunately, One Piece: Red does not answer the question, “What is the One Piece?”. The fifteenth feature-length film of the series based on the One Piece manga does however see Luffy and his friends encounter an adventure that has the Red-Haired Shanks play a serious role. With the movie introducing Shanks’ daughter Uta, there are plenty of returning characters outside the likes of Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Sanji, and Nico Robin who get some brief moments in the film’s runtime. The first time that One Piece was imagined as an anime adaptation was in 1998 and is now available to watch on Youtube, featuring the early Straw Hats and their fight against the original character known as the pirate Ganzack. 

One Piece: Ganzack’s Return

Ganzak hasn’t returned to the series following his initial appearance in the first-ever One Piece anime adaptation, with the swashbuckler never appearing in the manga either. With the One Piece manga currently in its final saga according to creator Eiichiro Oda, this latest appearance might act as the last time we see the villain. Luckily, keen-eyed fans were able to capture the “blink and you’ll miss it” cameo in One Piece: Red.

Ganzack, the antagonist of the original One Piece OVA, makes a brief cameo in Film RED. This is because the film was directed by the same director as the OVA pic.twitter.com/9z9aQ6BsPL

— Artur – Library of Ohara (@newworldartur) March 8, 2023

With the anime adaptation continuing the War For Wano and the final saga playing out in the manga, there hasn’t been word on the development of a new movie. Obviously, it’s a surefire bet that we’ll be seeing at least one more One Piece film following Red’s success at the box office. Still, anime fans are sure to wonder how many more theatrical runs Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates have before the franchise sails off into the sunset. 

Do you think we might see Ganzack’s return before One Piece’s grand finale? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Grand Line.