Did Uta die in One Piece Film: Red? Ending Explained!

One Piece Film: Red released on August 6, 2022 in Japan and since then, fans have touted this 15^th movie the best in the franchise.

With several beloved characters making an appearance and the film being avidly promoted in the manga and anime by Oda himself, One Piece Film: Red has quickly garnered international renown.

The most famous aspect of the film though, is the “antagonist” Uta, the pop icon with an “otherworldly voice”, who is none other than Red-Haired Shanks’s adoptive daughter. She wants to trap everyone in a perfect dream world forever but Luffy and Shanks stop her in the end.

The ending of the movie, though, is kind of ambiguous, and has a lot of fans questioning whether Uta really died during the climax or whether she’s still alive.

It is implicitly suggested at the end of One Piece Film: Red that Uta has died. Shanks and Luffy’s grim and somber expressions and the casket on the Red Force imply Uta’s death. But since we don’t see her body, she might still be alive, or in a coma.

What happens at the end of One Piece Film: Red? How does Uta die?

At the end of the movie, Uta sacrifices herself by refusing Shanks’s medicine to help her sleep.

She wants to stay awake to free the entrapped citizens from her virtual world and to escape from the influence of Tot Musica. But the mushroom she has eaten to stay awake kills her in the end.

1. Full Plot, Explained

Uta’s original goal was to end the pain and misery of the world by taking its inhabitants and placing them within a dream world called the Uta World, created via her awesome Devil Fruit abilities.

She organized her first live concert in Elegia, where as soon as she began singing, all her listeners, including the Straw Hat Pirates, Law, Koby, Blueno, Bartolomeo, and the others, were transported to live in Uta World forever.

Uta also eats a special mushroom that aids insomnia and keeps her awake so she can keep singing. Unfortunately, the mushroom has side-effects that eventually make the consumer mad and drive them to death.

This suicide mission revealed that the final boss of One Piece Film: Red is Uta herself.

Meanwhile, the Gorosei had sent the Marines to stop Uta, not just because she had such power over people, but because she had the potential to awaken a powerful ancient demon by singing from the Tot Musica music sheet. This monster, called the Devil King, is capable of “destroying the world”.

This Devil King exists in the Uta World as well as the real world, and if summoned, could be attacked in both worlds as well.

Incidentally, this is the same monster that had destroyed the island once before.

Shanks had taken the blame on himself and entrusted Uta with Gordon, leading to her abandonment. This is what caused Uta’s daddy issues in the first place, and her aversion to piracy.

Robin tells the others that the only way of escaping the Uta World is if the Devil King is defeated from the Uta World and the real world at the same time. But for that, Uta must first awaken the monster.

Inside the Uta World, her fans have become doubtful of her intentions and demand to be awoken. Uta is also dismayed about Luffy’s dream to be Pirate King (she hates pirates).

At the same time, the Marines in the real world have begun to attack the sleeping bodies of the citizens in order to get to Uta. The Red Hair Pirates arrive on the scene to stop the Marines.

All this becomes too much for Uta and causes her to sing the Tot Musica and release the Devil King to stop all the fighting. The monster possesses Uta, who is losing her sensibility under all the violence and the influence of the mushroom.

Usopp from the dream world awakens his Observation Haki and uses it in conjunction with Yasopp in the real world. Luffy from the Uta World and Shanks from the real world coordinate with the help of Usopp and Yasopp to stop the Devil King.

The Straw Hat Pirates, the Red Hair Pirates, a few of the Big Mom Pirates, along with other allies, manage to destroy the monster. But the Uta World and the real world have fused together because the monster had become too strong.

2. Climax and Uta’s Death

Shanks gives Uta a medicine – an antidote to the mushroom’s properties – that would put her to sleep to stop the mushroom from killing her.

Uta disagrees, saying that if she sleeps, everyone would remain trapped in this fused dream world. She must sing everyone to freedom.

And she does! The sleeping people regain their consciousness and things go back to normal. Except, the effects of the mushroom have reached their maximum.

As Luffy gets up, we see Uta from his perspective. He is already back on the thousand Sunny, having left Elegia. Across is the Red Force, where he can see Shanks and the rest.

There is a casket with a flag visible onboard with everyone gathered around it. Luffy lowers his straw hat to cover his eyes, and turns away with a grim expression on his face.

The way that Luffy and Shanks – the Thousand Sunny and Red Force – part ways, is also symbolic of their final goodbye to Uta, a character who was Luffy’s childhood friend, and Shanks’s adoptive daughter, someone they both cherished and loved till the very end.

Could Uta still be alive?

There is a possibility that Uta is still alive. There is an unspoken rule in One Piece that until we see a character die, or see their body, they might still be alive, like we saw with Sabo.

Shanks might have made it look like Uta died because she is considered as an enemy to the World Government now. He lied for her before by taking the blame for the Tot Musica Devil King, and might be doing it again.

Shanks also protected her from the Marines and fought just so Uta could get out of the battle alive. For her to be dead, would be a waste.

Shanks could have given her the antidote after the effects of the mushroom fully took over, which might indicate that she is in a coma and not actually dead.

At the same time, Uta is the one who chose to die, so her death would be justified.

The coffin on the ship just solidifies this. For Uta to have refused the antidote to sing her final song to save everyone is fitting. Also, Uta will always live on through her music, which is the point of the whole film: music brings peace to the world. It would be poetic to have it end like that.

Additionally, inside the One Piece Film: Red official booklet, there is a mention of Uta’s coffin and to her being dead.

Is Uta’s death canon? Will she return?

Uta’s character is canon, but her plotline and the events of One Piece Film: Red are non-canon. This means that although she might be dead in the film, she might still make an appearance in the manga or the anime.

This happened with Shiki too, who was the antagonist of One Piece Film: Strong World.

Uta’s backstory is canon, as is her relationship with Luffy. The plot surrounding her death and the narrative arc of the film itself are not canonical, just like all other One Piece films.

The best scenario according to me, is that Uta is dead in the movie, but not in One Piece canon.

This way, we won’t have anything cheapen her sacrifice or lessen her character growth in the film, and yet have her exist in the main storyline – which is great, because there’s so much juice that her character brings to Shanks and Luffy.

About One Piece Film: Red

One Piece Film: Red is the 15th movie in the One Piece franchise. It is directed by Goro Taniguchi, and produced by Toei Animation.

The story takes place at the Island of Music, Elegia where the world’s most greatest diva, Uta is holding her first ever live performance. People from all corners of the land and sea come to witness the most famous singer of all time, and Shanks’ alleged daughter, perform live for the first time.