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The Japanese voice actress for One Piece’s Luffy, Mayumi Tanaka, recently did an interview regarding the One Piece anime.The interview discussed various topics, such as the time the One Piece anime has left and Tanaka’s future voice plans once the anime does end.
The One Piece anime has been airing since 1999, and Tanaka has voiced Luffy in every single episode of the Japanese version. Tanaka’s work as Luffy is incredibly beloved and valued by One Piece fans.
Follow along as this article breaks down the highlights of the interview.
Mayumi Tanaka, voice of Luffy from One Piece, says anime has less than ten years left and Luffy will be the last boy she voices
Mayumi Tanaka interview
Mayumi Tanaka, voice actress of One Piece’s Luffy, recently did an interview discussing One Piece and the anime in general.
One major highlight of the interview was Tanaka’s comments regarding the end of the anime. As far as Tanaka is concerned, she has less than ten years left to voice Luffy, and estimates seven to eight years until the anime is done.
Tanaka also explains that, when starting the One Piece anime, she had a feeling it’d last longer than a year since it started after Dragon Ball. Tanaka, however, also didn’t think the anime would go as long as it has, as she suspects author Eiichiro Oda and producer Shinji Shimizu didn’t either.
Tanaka then continues the interview saying Monkey D. Luffy will be the last boy she voices. Tanaka then jokes saying she would be willing to voice a grandmother after One Piece if the opportunity arose.
The interview then takes somewhat of a sad turn, where Tanaka says she doesn’t know how the story ends and hopes she lives until the last episode. In a more lighthearted comment, Tanaka discusses how she always thought the One Piece was related to friends or bonds. Oda corrected her, saying the One Piece is real and as a result Tanaka wants to watch One Piece to the end to see what the eponymous treasure is.
Some other highlights of the interview are when Tanaka realized in the middle of the story that One Piece could be quite long. Tanaka asked her son who he thought could replace her as Luffy, and her son answered Masako Nozawa as the only candidate. Nozawa is most famously the voice of Son Goku, Son Gohan, and Son Goten in the Dragon Ball franchise.
Finally, Tanaka thanked Oda for recognizing the anime as a separate entity from the manga. Her reason for this is that if the author critiqued or controlled the anime too much, the staff who make it would begin to “shrink and lose vigor,” a valid concern. Thankfully, this was not the case and the anime has flourished (especially as of late) as a result.
In summation
One Piece’s Japanese voice actress for Luffy, Mayumi Tanaka, recently did an interview discussing various aspects of the One Piece anime. The interview covered a variety of topics, from Tanaka’s start at the anime to her mindset now as it approaches the close of its biggest arc yet.
One disheartening part of the interview was Tanaka’s discussion of the time the anime has left, and her hope that she lives to see it. While Tanaka has had previous health problems, she’s thankfully fairly healthy right now and will hopefully continue that trend as time goes on.
Be sure to support the One Piece series by keeping up with the anime episodes and manga chapters. These are released every Saturday at 10PM EST on Funimation and Crunchyroll and Sunday at 11AM EST on various Shonen Jump platforms, respectively.
