They want One Piece to change the seiyuus for the remake

Following the announcement of the ONE PIECE remake by Netflix and WIT STUDIO, a question has arisen that has divided the fan community: Will it be wise to replace the current voice actors for this new long-running project? The Japanese portal Myjitsu shared an article analyzing the debate on this issue.

"During the JUMP FESTA 2024 event held on December 17, shocking news revealed that the story of "ONE PIECE" will be "re-animated" from the beginning. The question that is gathering the community of fans of this franchise is whether the voice actors of the adaptation currently airing will reprise their roles for this remake. The original adaptation project is being produced by Toei Animation, renowned for animating a large number of works of Shonen Jump, and more than 1,000 years have been produced for almost twenty-five years."

Titled "THE ONE PIECE," the new project aims to re-animate the original story from the beginning. The production is handled by WIT STUDIO, a popular animation studio recognized for "SPY x FAMILY" and "Shingeki no Kyojin." Although Toei Animation's version has a long history, many original sections were added to let the original manga move forward, so fan opinions are divided on the matter. The re-animation by WIT STUDIO hopes to omit these segments and be a project that pursues pure quality."

"What causes a debate, however, is the fact of whether the voice actors will reprise their roles or be replaced for this project. Opinions such as: "I hope they don't change the voice actors of the Straw Hat Pirates" and "I would never accept that the original voices are changed" have emerged on the Internet. But there have also been others like: 'Personally, I think there will be no problem with changing the voice actors' and 'A re-animation also implies a replacement of the voice actors.'"

"The current voice cast of ONE PIECE has remained unchanged for a long time since the anime's broadcast began. However, the average age of the entire cast has been increasing year by year. Mayumi Tanaka, the voice of Luffy, is currently 68 years old; Kazuya Nakai, the voice of Zoro, is 56 years old; Hiroaki Hirata, the voice of Sanji, is 60 years old; and Katsuhisa Hoki, the voice of Jinbe, is 77 years old."

One industry insider commented, "Seiyu voices change as they get older, and sometimes they stop fitting the character's image along the way. Lately, voice actor changes in long-running anime have also attracted attention, and recently Keiko Yamamoto, who played the role of Shota Yamada in 'Chibi Maruko-chan' for more than 30 years, retired from the role at the age of 80. Yamamoto also left the role of Hanako Hanazawa in 'Sazae-san' in October, but since it had long been rumored that her voice had reached its limit, fans were saddened by the change in voice acting, but they also understood it."

"On the other hand, in the trailer released on the same day of the announcement, Luffy reads the phrase "First of all, gather comrades, I want ten people", and it is believed that it is Mayumi Tanaka herself who read these lines. In addition, the "re-animated version" will be a Netflix project just like the live-action version of "ONE PIECE," but the voices of the Japanese dub of this series are using the same voice actors from the original Toei Animation franchise. Plans for a remake should have already been in discussion up to that point, so it could be interpreted as Netflix intending to continue with the same voices."

"If a remake is supposed to be intended for an audience that is unfamiliar with ONE PIECE, that would open the doors for new voices to join the project which, it is inferred, is meant to be long-running. What is the production team thinking?"

Source: Myjitsu