Aside from making waves at the worldwide box office, One Piece Film: Red is making history once again as Uta will become the first anime character to perform at NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen New Year singing competition.
Recently, NHK announced the full lineup of its annual Japanese New Year singing contest, and it features One Piece Film: Red’s banner character who will join some of the most popular Asian singers and music groups.
One Piece Film: Red Uta's Historic Performance at NHK's Kohaku Uta Gassen
In case you’re unfamiliar, Kohaku Uta Gassen is a yearly music competition that’s shown on NHK, Japan’s public broadcast service.
It is one of the biggest TV events of the year in Japan, and it has been running since 1951.
The show’s format features two teams of singers and music groups. The Red Team is composed of female artists while the White Team consists of male artists.
Each team’s members perform during the program. In the end, the judges and the audience vote for which team they believe performed the best.
Every year, the members of each team are selected by invitation only. Artists are chosen for their success in Japan in terms of popularity and sales.
Uta being the first anime character to perform in this NHK program is a big deal. Though it makes sense when you consider the massive success of One Piece Film: Red at the box office.
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Uta to Perform Alongside Popular Asian Artists
During the program, Uta will perform alongside some of the biggest Asian artists that are big in Japan.
Here is the Red Team's lineup:
- IVE
- Aimyon
- Sayuri Ishikawa
- Aimer
- Shizuka Kudo
- Fuyumi Sakamoto
- Ryoko Shinohara
- Superfly
- SEKAI NO OWARI
- Yoshimi Tendo
- TWICE
- NiziU
- Nogizaka46
- Perfume
- Hinatazaka46
- MISIA
- Kaori Mizumori
- milet
- Ryokuoushoku Shakai
- LE SSERAFIM
Meanwhile, here is the White Team's lineup:
- Official HIGE DANdism
- Kanjani Eight∞
- KinKi Kids
- King & Prince
- King Gnu
- Hiromi Go
- Saucy Dog
- JO1
- Junretsu
- Masayuki Suzuki
- SixTONES
- Snow Man
- Naniwa Danshi
- Vaundy
- BE:FIRST
- Masaharu Fukuyama
- Gen Hoshino
- Daichi Miura
- Hiroshi Miyama
- Keisuke Yamauchi
- Yuzu
The 73rd Kohaku Uta Gassen will air on December 31, 2022, from 7:20 PM to 11:45 PM JST. More details about the program will be announced soon.
Can’t wait to watch Uta perform? You can do so in select cinemas in the US as One Piece Film: Red was released in the US earlier this month, to remarkable success.
Discover more of our insights and the latest anime news by following us on Twitter @epicstreamanime.
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