One Piece. the Manga that has out published the Bible. This year a One Piece Film Red was released. Like the Bible, Film Red is connected to dark and disturbing motifs. What kind of motifs? To be honest, Apocalyptic death cults.
Most One Piece movies are stand alone you do not have to read the Manga or watch the Anime to enjoy them. Film Red only requires you to know that the pirate Shanks is a father figure to both Luffy and Uta. Also, in One Piece people have weird powers for different reasons.
For those reading One Piece the manga or watching the anime, this movie has spoilers. SPOILER ALERT. If you are not at the least reading the Wano arc or finishing Whole Cake Island, One Piece: Film Red will contain spoilers. If you are ok with that then please continue.
Music and Liberation
The plot is quite simple. Most One Piece films are. Monkey D. Luffy and his crew the Straw Hat pirates are going to a concert. The movies introduces Uta, who is performing at this concert live for the first time. Her world wide stardom has brought hundreds of thousands to come watch. With millions watching a broadcast of the performance as well.
Music is the driving force in Film Red. Driving us and the Straw Hat crew into the ideal world that Uta dreams of. A world where there are no pirates (good or otherwise) and no sadness, despair or fear. The theological term for such a dream is an eschaton. An ideal place, world or future that is often dangled like a carrot to attract the faithful.
When Uta reveals that this concert is going to last forever, you start to realise that something is wrong. When Uta appeals to the audience that they can live in this new world forever, not all accept. One boy wants to go back to to tend to his herd, another to their family. Even Luffy to return to his ship.
No Longer In The Real World
Luffy and his crew are not the only Pirates at the concert. A couple of crews attempt to kidnap Uta. Uta shows no fear at all. She merely breaks into song and her reality warping powers easily dispatch the Pirates. The question is asked; how can Uta be so powerful?
Too late comes the realisation for those attending the concert that they are no longer in the real world. They have been drawn by Uta’s songs into a fantasy created and controlled by her. Her power has put the entire audience those at the concert and those watching into a coma.
Uta starts out benevolent but begins to get more and more twisted. Those outside the shared fantasy attempt to free those trapped. But Uta is holding the audience to ransom. Uta herself is going to die due to over-eating a mushroom that keeps you awake. There are only hours to go till Uta dies and takes everyone with her.
Eschatology, What is to Come?
Eschatology is the study of how people imagine and honestly believe what is to come. You may have heard of End times theology. Each version talks of a certain place or event, an eschaton. Every era and every religion has at least one group predicting how and when the world is going to end. Often with dark consequences for followers.
There are many events that have been promised. Some well documented, where people are trapped in horrific outcomes due to the eschatology of their group. Whether this is the Branch Davidian group led by David Koresh, the Jonestown koolaid, or the lamentable end at Masada, death is unfortunately the normal result.
An Eschaton can often be beyond the understanding of the people it is given to. The promised event goes beyond the world of the audience and are mistook or considered foolish. In the worst of cases what can and should be a vision to sustain the faithful in times of trial turns toxic. People are told the only way to reach the promised land is by leaving reality, usually by death.
I’m Going to Be the Pirate King!
Core to One Piece is the realisation of people’s dreams. Conflict between dreams and how they are realised is what drives most One Piece characters. Luffy dreams of being the Pirate King and eating meat. Nami wants to chart the world and get very rich. Zorro wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world, and have lots of booze. These heroes have feet of clay.
In contrast there are the dreams of characters like Admiral Akainu whose dreams of justice and is willing to get it by any means. Kaido had a dream but has grown disillusioned with it. Big Mom’s dream to unite the world is only possible due to the deadly powers that she wields to keep her population in line.
Luffy’s dream is to be free, to eat meat and have adventures with his friends. He is not disillusioned by this dream but is able transform the lives of others due to this vision. There is a childish joy that has never been beaten out of Luffy’s dream. Such a joy draws people in, ignites their dreams and in turn frees people from the world that seeks to break them down.
Uta is a Cult Leader
Uta is broken. Her vision in contrast, is golden. A vision that is not sustainable, either by her, or by the society that she lives in. It is also beyond the conception of most of her audience. Like the shepherd boy, you can have fun in Uta’s land for a while. Then you will want to leave. Because the reality they know is not this golden concert that lasts forever.
Uta wants a new world for everyone to live in. One where the evil of the pirates and the world government cannot hurt anyone anymore. Uta has made the decision that the only way she can help people get there is to have them join her in death. So dedicated is Uta that we get a scene with her kneeling over Luffy’s comatose body while holding a dagger aloft about to kill him.
Uta is in all honesty a cult leader. She is deluded and runs head long into the darkness that tried to consumer her once before. Whether this is due to the plot twist that involves Shanks or the malevolent force that is Tot Musica it is unclear. Having only watched the film once with subtitles I am unsure of Uta’s fate. While she does save everyone in the end she does refuse medicine offered to her.
Fiction as Inoculation
If we shield people from evil in all things, that only creates naivety. Introducing it in narrative fantasy allows us to absorb the concepts without the confrontation. Media is not there just to be consumed for enjoyment. It should make you think and we should be teaching people to engage as active not passive consumers.
Eiichiro Oda is does not shy from portraying evil. We should not be trying to shield our children from the fact it exists. Fantasy like One Piece can give us the ability to experience broken people like Uta without the real world side effects. Think of it as an inoculation against the virus of doing bad things for all the right reasons.
If you missed the screenings One Piece Film Red should be available on Netflix sometime 2023. This should be in an english dub. It is good film with a great soundtrack. A cautionary tale about broken people with golden dreams.
Phillip Hall has been too long in Melbourne to see AFL in the same light as those back in Fremantle. East Fremantle born and bred, he would love to see the Dockers back in the eight. But would settle for just beating West Coast twice a year.