Summary
- Luffy and Uta have a childhood friendship that turns into rivalry.
- Luffy and Uta reunite as enemies, but Luffy sees her as a friend.
- Luffy’s bond with Uta shows his loyalty to friends, even in battle.
Uta is the major antagonist of the One Piece Film Red. She is a misguided soul who means well and wants nothing more than to create a better world for the helpless people in this cruel world. However, her approach to achieving her goal is not only wrong, but it’s downright dangerous.
But something interesting happens in the movie that rarely, if ever, happened before. Luffy not only recognizes the main villain, but he knows her personally. There’s clearly some history between them that none of the Straw Hats know about. So let’s use this chance to talk about Luffy and Uta’s relationship. There will be spoilers regarding One Piece Film: Red up ahead, so proceed with caution.
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Childhood Friendship and Rivalries
Uta is the adoptive daughter of Shanks, the captain of the Red Hair Pirates. They found baby Uta in a treasure chest and decided to raise them as one of their own. As she grew older, Uta fell in love with singing and dancing because that is pretty much what the Red Hair pirates like to do all the time. As it turns out, she is an incredibly talented singer and musician.
Meeting Through the Red Hair Pirates
During one of their journeys, the Red Hair Pirates make a stop on a little island called the Dawn Island in East Blue. They decided to make their base in Foosha Village, one of the small villages on the island. As it happens, Foosha Village is Luffy’s hometown. Since little Luffy loves listening to the amazing adventures of the Red Hair Pirates, he hangs out with them all the time. That’s when he meets Uta for the first time.
Friends and Rivals
Since Uta and Luffy are around the same age, they quickly become a close friend. They explore the village together, they laugh, bicker, and compete in all sorts of silly challenges. Interestingly enough, Luffy is often lost to Uta, which infuriates him to no end. One thing that Luffy gladly admits, however, is Uta’s stellar singing ability. They play together every day until Shanks, Uta, and the rest of the Red Hair Pirates eventually leave the village. Luffy won’t see Uta again until they are reunited in Uta’s concert years later.
Luffy and Uta’s Reunion
An Emperor of the Sea and the Biggest Pop Star in the World
In the years they spend apart, Luffy and Uta manage to carve a name for themselves in their own unique way. Luffy defeats all sorts of powerful opponents and overcomes many difficult challenges until he eventually becomes one of the Four Emperors of the Sea.
Likewise, Uta has worked hard on her craft for years. She writes and produces her own songs, and the moment she releases them, everybody falls in love with her catchy songs and beautiful voice. It didn’t take long for her to eventually become one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
Interestingly enough, none of them knows what the others are up to. Luffy doesn’t know that Uta has become a massive pop star, and Uta doesn’t know that Luffy has become one of the Emperors of the Sea.
That being said, the Straw Hats members—especially Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Sanji, and Brook—are huge fans of Uta. That is the reason why the Straw Hats attend Uta’s concert in the movie. Luffy himself is only there for the food and festivities. But the moment he sees Uta, he immediately calls out her name, and the childhood friends are finally reunited.
“Hey, I was right! Uta! You’re Uta, aren’t you? It’s me, remember? It’s been a real long time, Uta!”
–Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece Film: Red
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Luffy and Uta as Enemies
A Life-long Friendship
Out of every enemy that he has faced thus far, Uta is by far the most difficult one to defeat. The reason is not only because of her power but also because Luffy genuinely cares about her. In fact, during their lengthy battle in One Piece Film: Red, Luffy has never hit Uta directly, not even once.
Make no mistake, Luffy does not agree at all with Uta’s decision, and he genuinely wants to stop her with all his might. But that doesn’t mean he views her the same way as the other villains, like Big Mom or Kaidou. In a way, rather than a hero vs a villain, the battle between Luffy and Uta is akin to a fight between two friends who disagree with each other.
But that is just how Luffy is. Once he considers somebody his close friend, he will stick by them no matter what and knock them back to their senses whenever his friends do something that he does not agree with. This is why he never gives up on Nami when she tangles up with Arlong, Robin when she follows the World Government, or Sanji when he leaves the crew for Big Mom.
To Luffy, Uta is still his childhood friend. He never really sees her as an enemy. Uta is just a friend who picks the wrong path, and it is his responsibility to stop her. That’s the kind of lifelong bond one might expect from befriending the future Pirate King.
“Stop, Uta. This isn’t freedom. This isn’t a new age. You know that better than anyone!”
–Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece Film: Red
One Piece is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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