One of the most confusing aspects of the One Piece canon is the placement of various movies with respect to their individual canonicity and the overall timeline of the mainline manga series. The latest Film: Red has further confounded this area of discussion thanks to its introduction of Uta as Shanks’ adoptive daughter, and the mainline series’ subsequent recognition of this.
While Film: Red isn’t the first One Piece movie to be considered canon to the mainline series, the level of canon recognition which the series has received has led to other movies being revisited in the same context. One particular example is the 3D2Y movie, which focuses on Luffy’s adventures following the death of his brother Portgas D. Ace during the Marineford arc.
The reason the 3D2Y movie in particular is often discussed in the context of canon One Piece films is due to how easy it would be to consider the film canon given its setting. However, this alone isn’t enough to justify the film as canon, resulting in fans questioning whether or not the 3D2Y film truly is canon or not.
One Piece 3D2Y movie could easily be made canon given its setting and events
Is 3D2Y canon? Explained
One of the biggest reasons why many fans argue for the One Piece 3D2Y movie being canon stems from the setting and events of the film. The film takes place 18 months into the two-year time-skip the series takes following the events of the Marineford arc, and it sees Luffy take on Byrnndi World, a former pirate and Impel Down prisoner who escaped during Marineford.
While there are other characters from the mainline series involved in Luffy’s battle against World, the implications of their involvements aren’t large enough to inherently forfeit the film’s canonicity. Nevertheless, the film is not considered canonical to the mainline series for a variety of reasons.
One of the biggest reasons why the One Piece 3D2Y movie isn’t considered canon stems from the fact that the film was neither written nor supervised by original series creator Eiichiro Oda. While it’s possible and even likely that Oda was involved in the film’s production to some degree, his lack of direct oversight and fundamental involvement with its plot suggests it to not be canon.
Another major reason the film isn’t considered canon is because its events have a lack of impact on or fail to tie into the mainline anime and manga series. For example, one of the biggest reasons why the Strong World film is considered canon beyond Oda’s involvement is the character Shiki the Golden Lion being present in the mainline series. Combined with Oda’s involvement in the film at a fundamental level, it’s enough to consider the project canon.
Generally speaking, only five of the fifteen films produced under the One Piece series banner are considered canon. These are the aforementioned Film: Red and Strong World, as well as Film: Z, Film: Gold, and Stampede. Like Film: Red and Strong World, the other three films are considered canon either for their events or central characters being referenced in the mainline series, or due to Oda’s fundamental involvement.
That being said, it’s possible that the 3D2Y movie is later brought into the series’ canon by way of World becoming a part of the mainline series. However, as of this article’s writing, the film is not considered to be canon.
Related links
All One Piece movies, ranked from worst to best
One Piece watch guide: How to watch all arcs and movies in order
One Piece movies in order: Full list of all films chronologically