Summary
With over 1100 episodes,One Pieceis one of the longest-running anime series. Naturally, the voice actors, especially those voicing the Straw Hat Pirates, have been working for decades. Kazuki Yao is the voice actor of Franky, theshipwright of the Straw Hat Pirates. Aside from voicing Franky, Kazuki Yao also lends his voice to Jango and Bon Clay.
Unfortunately, the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the One Piece anime disclosed that Kazuki Yao would be stepping down from his role as Jango. The decision was taken while keeping the voice actor’s health in mind.
The New Voice Actor For Jango
According to the announcement, Wataru Takagi will be taking over the duties from Kazuki Yao. Wataru Takagi is an experienced artist who has voiced some of the most well-known anime characters.
Wataru Takagi will take overJango’s voice in Episode 1121, and he will keep the role until Kazuki Yao gets better. The important question is: will Kazuki Yao step down from his other roles? At the time of writing, there has been no news about Kazuki Yao leaving his role as Franky. However, if his health continues to worsen, then there will likely be a change.
If it does happen, it won’t be the first time that a well-known character gets a different voice actor. The voice actors for Whitebeard and Sengoku also had to be changed, as both the original ones passed away. The news about Kazuki Yao’s health is definitely concerning, and fans will hope that he makes a full recovery. So, he canlend his voice to Frankyand the other characters.
The Future Of One Piece
The Series Is Announcing New Projects At A Steady Pace
In an unrelated announcement, the One Piece anime announced that it would be releasing a new project calledOne Piece Fan Letterto commemorate its 25th anniversary. Megumi Ishitani will be directing the entire project, so fans already know that it is going to be incredible.
One Piece Fan Letterwill adapt four stories fromOne Piece Novel: Straw Hat Stories. It is a novel that offers a gander into the lives of the ordinary people in One Piece. For instance, one of the stories offers fans a chance to see Luffy’s acts of valor in Marineford from the lens of a Marine soldier.
One Piece Fan Letter is set to be released on October 20th, 2024.
