Despite the massive success of One Piece Film: Red across the globe, Uta continues to remain a controversial character and has sparked countless debates since her introduction. That said, the Film: Red star has at long last made her anime debut, confirming her canon existence within the main series as well.

One Piece‘s anime confirms Uta is canon with an unexpected appearance in Episode #1082 albeit in silhouette only. Uta appears briefly alongside a young Luffy, Momonosuke, and Hiyori as Shanks speaks about the new age after forcing Ryokugyu to leave Wano using his Conqueror’s Haki.

Uta Makes Her Anime Debut In One Piece

While Uta also appeared in the same scene in the manga (in chapter #1055), it was an unclear silhouette, and the anime gives fans a much clearer, full-frontal view of the character. In Film: Red, Uta is introduced as Shanks’ adoptive daughter, after the Red-Haired Pirates found her as a baby kidnapped by other pirates. Uta was the musician on Shanks’ crew for a while, during which time she met a young Luffy in Foosha Village, until Red Hair was forced to abandon her on Elegia Island. This sparked Uta’s hatred for pirates, and her desire to start a “new era” using the dangerous powers of the Uta Uta no Mi Devil Fruit.

While the events of Film: Red may not be canon, the weekly specials released by Oda in Shonen Jump through issues #35 to #38 confirm that Uta is canonically Shanks’ adopted daughter and has been to Foosha Village as well, suggesting she might have very well crossed paths with Luffy when he was younger as well. Many fans have even attributed Luffy’s love for singing and making up songs on the go to his run-in with Uta as a child.

One Piece Film: Red is unique among the many films spawned by the franchise because it teased many crucial aspects about Shanks that have since entered into prominence in the canon, such as Shanks’ origins and his connection to the Figarland family and God Valley. While it is unlikely that Uta will re-emerge to impact the story in any way, her cameo in the latest episode of One Piece confirms without a shadow of a doubt that she should be considered a canon character for the series.