Several fans are already nicknaming One Piece Film Red the "Shanks Movie" seeing his prevalence in the announcement trailer, and also noticed the movie is directed by Goro Taniguchi, the director of Code Geass, here's what you need to know.
Fuji TV broadcasted the 1000th episode of One Piece on November 21, and Toei Animation announced One Piece Film Red, the first movie since One Piece Stampede in 2019 (over 5.55 billion Yen in box office). One Piece Film Red will be released in Japanese theaters on August 6, 2022.
One Piece Film Red is the 15th movie in total and the 4th movie in the One Piece Film series. They all feature original author Eiichiro Oda as a general producer. No story details have been revealed yet for Red. Besides the key visual with a character wearing headphones and singing in a microphone toward the sky.
The scriptwriter is Tsutomu Kuroiwa, who also worked on One Piece Film Gold. Goro Taniguchi is the director, directing on One Piece for the first time in 23 years.
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Who is Code Geass director Goro Taniguchi?
Goro Taniguchi was born in Aichi on October 18, 1966 (55 years old). He first aspired to become an actor, and later grew an interest in directing. After hearing that becoming a live-action movie director was difficult, he decided to join the anime industry. He started at J.C. Staff, and later became freelance. Mainly working on mecha anime with Sunrise studios as an episode director and later on as series director.
Goro Taniguchi is an incredible animator and director, whose style is similar to that of Yasuhiro Imagawa (Giant Robo OVAs) and Toshifumi Kawase (Ryu Knight TV series). He worked several times under both of these legendary directors early in his career, most notably on Gundam shows.
Early in his career, Goro Taniguchi most notably worked under Yasuhiro Imagawa directing G Gundam, which had a huge influence on him. It might be oversimplifying things, but the way G Gundam mixes several elements from various genres and is extremely over-the-top is something that rubbed off Taniguchi. Another one of his earliest notable moments was directing GaoGaiGar episode 30, which was the climax of the first half of the series.
All of the series Taniguchi directed with Sunrise: Scryed, Gun X Sword (the x is silent), or Code Geass to take these examples, all have elements from Shoujo, Shounen, Tokusatsu, Mecha, with comedic and tragic moments. Taniguchi also participated in Mai Hime as a creative producer. Sunrise's quirky projects almost always include Goro Taniguchi in their staff.
Long story short, Goro Taniguchi is an incredible director. You should definitely watch his other shows if you only know him through Code Geass. I suggest starting with the two series I mentioned above, Scryed and Gun x Sword. And after that Planetes. You can always ask me for more recommendations on Twitter @A_iyane07.
Goro Taniguchi and One Piece
Moreover, Goro Taniguchi was also the director of One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak!. A special released in July 1998, and the first-ever anime adaptation of One Piece. That was before the TV series began in October 1999.
Goro Taniguchi is bound to deliver a particularly exciting One Piece movie. Thanks to his experience as a mecha director always blending genres together. One Piece Film Red might easily become one of the best One Piece movies out there. Assuming a great team is behind it, as it's not like a director can do everything themselves.
Recently, Goro Taniguchi also directed the new Code Geass movie, Lelouch of the Resurrection in 2019. It's supposed to be the beginning of a 10 years Code Geass project, so he's definitely working on more.