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Playing Shanks Was Difficult, Says Shuichi Ikeda Shanks’ VA

He also says that he likes Shanks because they both love drinking alcohol.

On account of the release of One Piece: Red film, Shuichi Ikeda the voice actor for Shanks revealed that playing Shanks was difficult for him. This was due to Shanks does not appear often in the series and every appearance of his has an overwhelming presence and dignity.

He added, Shanks also has a kind human touch to his character. Thus, maintaining a balance is a crucial aspect of the character. This enables Ikeda to provide an aspect to Shanks’ character which gives a warm feeling to it.

Ikeda also said that since other characters and voice actors are also amazing and Shanks has such a charisma and depth to him and has to be always above other characters as well, it is tough to play such a character.

However, he also added that when he first played the character he thought, “It’s a party!” since Shanks drinks a lot and Ikeda also likes alcohol hence he likes Shanks. He wondered if that was the reason he was cast to play the character. He further reminisced and said he found the character to be very helpful and was not an elite but a self made man. Ikeda had previously played various elite characters.

However, he was a bit bummed by Shanks because he was called “Red Haired” Shanks and Ikeda’s previously famous character, Char Aznable, was nicknamed the “Red Comet” in Mobile Suit Gundam. So he thought to himself, “Red again…huh?

Ikeda on One Piece: Red Film

Ikeda said the movie deals with topics which are relevant to modern society in the real world and the movie is an amalgamation of various such intricate topics.

He also said that the movie deals with the ‘relationship between a father and a daughter’ and ‘feelings of parent and child’. Hence, he tried to keep the two separate and tried to display it with his work. He further explained on how in some scenes he enacted the character as if it is a new character and displays a different side of Shanks. He also said that he could feel that the director was also trying to create a new vibe to the character and he tried to enact it while recording.

Ikeda further added, “Shanks entrusts Luffy with ‘I entrust this hat to you,‘ and he felt the same thing about Uta in this movie. He wasn’t particularly conscious of it during the recording, but when he saw the video, he felt that this was what he was doing. He did it unconsciously, without calculation, and said, “it was a good thing.”

He ended by saying , “FILM RED contains various messages. We hope you will feel my passion.”

One Piece Film Red releases in Japan on Aug 6, 2022.

Crunchyroll and TOEI Animation will release One Piece: Red movie in selected theatres in US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in Fall this year. The movie will be released in both subbed and dubbed versions.

Goro Taniguchi returns to the franchise for the first time since 1998 to direct One Piece Film: Red. Tsutomu Kuroiwa will be in charge of the screenplay. TOEI Animation is animating the film with original author Eiichiro Oda serving as executive producer.

The other staff that have been announced for the movie include:

  • Character Design & Animation Director: Masayuki Sato
  • CGI Director: Kentaro Kawasaki
  • Art Director: Hiroshi Kato
  • Music: Yasutaka Nakata
  • Director of Photography: Tsunetaka Ema
  • Color Design: Sayako Yokoyama

The movie features and centers on the mysterious character Uta, who is teased to be Shanks daughter in the teaser.

Source: Mantan Web