One Piece Film: RED may have provided some Imu lore and setup without fans ever realizing

Modified Jun 12, 2024 10:45 GMT

One Piece Film: RED may have provided some Imu lore and setup without fans ever realizing (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece Film: RED is the most successful film of the series, depicting the side story of the adoptive daughter of Shanks, Uta, who wanted to recreate the world because she was left alone by her friends.

Unfortunately, Uta couldn't be stopped, and she summoned the Ancient Demon King, Tot Musica, who would make everyone sleep and transport them into a void where no one would experience sorrow. With the combined effort of Monkey D Luffy and Shanks, Tot Musica was stopped, but Uta died during the process.

Oddly enough, there are several similarities between Imu and Uta, considering how both of them operated alone and wore crowns. Moreover, the Tot Musica could be considered a parallel to a famous song from the series as it represents the Supreme Leader of the World Government.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series.

One Piece: Exploring the link between Imu and Uta

Uta as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece Film: RED saw the Straw Hat Pirates visit the island of Elegia to attend the concert of the famous singer Uta. Upon reaching the concert, Luffy realized that Uta was Shanks's daughter, who he used to play with when they were little.

After reuniting, Uta acted oddly suspiciously around Luffy, but the Straw hats couldn't interfere due to the atmosphere. The concert ended with Uta using her devil fruit, the Sing-Sing Paramecia devil fruit, to transport everyone's consciousness into a space called Uta World.

Tot Musica as seen in the film (Image via Toei Animation)

There, she summoned Tot Musica, the spirit of an ancient Demon King, who was sealed on the island. The Demon King consumed her soul and prevented everyone from escaping Uta World.

Fortunately, Shanks arrived in time. From the Uta World, Usopp, and from the outside, Yasopp, coordinated to signal their leaders to attack as Tot Muscia could only be killed once struck from both sides of the world. Shanks and Luffy (Gear 5) struck Tot Musica and saved the day, but Uta was gravely injured. The Red Hair Pirates retrieved Uta and left.

As indicated in the film, the story was centered around the pitiful Uta, who did not want anyone to suffer the loneliness she did. But Shanks abandoned her because he didn't want her to be chased as a wanted pirate. Moreover, despite being a side story, Uta's character bears a resemblance to one of the central antagonists of One Piece, Imu, which most fans could have missed.

Uta as seen in the film (Image via Toei Animation)

Uta was an alone singer who had her throne and wanted to create a new era. Imu shares the same personality traits and goals, considering how the Supreme Leader is trying their best to eradicate the Pirate Era. However, the biggest resemblance in their character could be related to Tot Musica.

Binks' Sake is the most famous song from the series. The song was uttered by shipwrights and sailsmen when sailing. Although the song is explicitly about death, it gives hope and freedom for the next era.

Brook singing Binks' sake, as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

On the other hand, Tot Musica by Ado is a song about despair and tells the generation of a new era through destruction. The last lines of both these songs summarize the meaning behind their verses, which are as follows:

"United, we're fightin', bring 'em down with our song of ruin" (Tot Musica)

"so spread your tale from dawn 'til dusk upon these foamy seas." (Binks' Sake)

Imu as seen in the One Piece anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Looking at the verses of Binks' Sake, the song could be about the character of JoyBoy, who, as revealed in Vegapunk's speech, left everything in the hands of the new era (ancient weapons, etc) after his death.

On the other hand, Tot Musica is a direct definition of Imu's character, who destroyed islands and is trying their best to eradicate the Pirate era. So, it is possible that One Piece Film: RED gave a big clue about Imu's character, and Uta's character could be inspired by Imu, just tweaking a few things from the latter character.

Related Links

Edited by Shreya Das