Is Shanks’ Daughter Uta Canon in One Piece?
The One Piece Film: Red has finally premiered in Japan and people are loving it, based on the box office earnings. To celebrate the movie, even the anime has taken a break and given us a small, three-episode filler arc focusing on Uta, called Uta’s Past Arc. But, is Uta even canon in One Piece? With so much attention given to a movie character (and we know these are rarely canon), we thought it would be great to clear things up and that is why we have decided to write this article.
Initially, it was not known whether Uta would be a canon character, but with her appearance in a flashback in Chapter 1055 of the manga, where she is seen among the other Red Hair Pirates, Uta has become a canon character, which also makes the movie canon. She has also appeared in a small filler anime arc called Uta’s Past Arc.
The rest of this article is going to further introduce Uta, Shanks’ supposed daughter to you. You are going to find out some details about her, her story, and her importance to the world of One Piece. We are going to give you some known biographical details about her, and we are going to answer some questions relating to her role in the story.
Is Shanks’ daughter Uta canon in One Piece?
Now, when the One Piece Film: Red was first announced, a lot of people thought it wouldn’t be canon, just like the rest of the One Piece movies. But, as time passed, this seemed less and less likely, as everything that was leaking about the movie kept suggesting that the movie is actually going to be part of the One Piece canon. The movie has now premiered in Japan and we can confirm that it is part of the larger canon, which means that Uta is canonically Shanks’ daughter in One Piece. So, how was this confirmed?
The first piece of proof that Uta is canon was given in the Uta’s Special 1-Page Manga, which was a three-part manga drawn by Eiichiro Oda and published in consecutive Weekly Shonen Jump issues 35, 36-37, and 38. Each of these stories tells us how Uta created one of her songs, which is relevant to the plot of the movie and the reason why Shanks left Uta.
The manga works above are the first two specials, titled “New Genesis” (left) and “The World’s Continuation”. As for the first one, the story starts with Uta listening to a number of people who are suffering from something and asking other people for help via a Den Den Mushi. Suddenly, she becomes inspired to write a new song, but she is unable to find a pen, instead resorting to items such as lipstick to write the musical notation and lyrics on the walls. When the song is finished, Uta labels it her masterpiece.
The second story begins with Uta waking up from a nightmare in which some people were running in the midst of flames. She comes up to the window to see that the sun is rising and thinks about her childhood with Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates at Foosha Village. Uta then starts digging up crumpled pieces of paper from the trash bin, and finds the one with part of the lyrics to the song “The World’s Continuation”. She places the paper on her desk and starts writing more of the lyrics.
The first of these stories was released alongside Chapter 1055 of the manga, titled “The New Era”, which further confirmed Uta’s canon status. Namely, Shanks makes a brief appearance in this chapter and he thinks about his past, providing us with a flashback scene in which we can see a young Uta among the members of his crew. This is what officially confirmed Uta’s canon status; namely, if a movie character ends up being in the manga (as the primary canon), that means that they are canon, and that is exactly what happened to Uta.
The final piece of confirmation arrived in the anime when a short filler arc titled Uta’s Past Arc interrupted the main story and told us a bit about the character’s history and her relationship with Monkey D. Luffy. Although it was a filler arc, it was overall enjoyable and it provided us with some cool facts about Uta and her past. So, what happened in the arc?
In modern times, the Straw Hat Pirates sailed the Thousand Sunny and heard Uta’s song New Genesis on a Tone Dial. Meanwhile, Uta stood alone on the shore of an island and announced that she was about to realize her dream of a concert for the whole world to let become. Twelve years ago, 9-year-old Uta was sailing with her father, Shanks, and the Red Hair Pirates.
Shanks loved Uta with looted jewelry but kept some of his finds, namely the Gomu Gomu no Mi, away from her. Shanks told Uta that the crew would be landing in the kingdom of Goa and that she was unimpressed with their landing spot in the remote village of Foosha. Meanwhile, 7-year-old Monkey D. Luffy spent his days eating, battling animals, and training with his grandfather, Garp.
As the Red Hair Pirates dock, Luffy runs to their ship and encounters Uta and Shanks. While initially apprehending the pirates, Luffy soon began to join Shanks’ crew. Uta didn’t think much of Luffy and didn’t want him on board; One day, she sang a song at Parties Bar to the villagers’ applause. Then, Shanks asked Luffy to show Uta around the village.
The two children soon engaged in a series of contests, where Uta usually defeated Luffy. Later, Luffy took Uta to the upper level of a windmill on the shore, where they could see the sunset over the sea. When Uta talked about Shanks, Luffy expressed his desire to go as a pirate. Watching the sunset, Uta fulfilled her dream of performing in front of the world for the first time.
