Jump Festa 2024 was full of big announcements and a definite highlight for One piece fans was the announcement of Franky's new Japanese voice actor. One piece fans were shocked when Franky's Japanese voice actor, Kazuki Yao, announced his retirement. While the beloved actor's portrayal of Franky will certainly be missed, the NEW VOICE actor is quite talented and will definitely do Straw Hat justice.
At Jump Festa 2024, it was revealed that Kimura Subaru will replace Yao as Franky. The ad began with a summary of Fraanky's best moments throughout One piece before revealing that BLANK will take on the role in all future One piece projects. Kimura Subaru took the stage to hug Yao in a touching moment of a veteran actor passing the torch. Yao himself was full of energy during the early parts of the One piece panel during Jump Festa 2024, wearing matching holiday outfits alongside the other Straw Hat pirate voice actors.
Kimaru Subaru is officially One Piece's new Franky
Yao announced that he was stepping down from voicing Franky in a Post from December 7th on your X account. Yao, who voices several characters in the acclaimed anime, had previously given up his role as Jango to voice actor Wataru Takagi. One piece The official X account cited health reasons for the change, so it's not surprising that Yao would also choose to step down from the role of Franky. Given that Yao began voicing Franky in 2005, when he was 46, it's understandable that the actor now feels a certain distance from his most iconic role.
2024 was a year full of changes for One Piece voice actors
Yao is not the first One Piece voice actor to resign in 2024
Unfortunately, Yao is not the first One piece voice actor who had to leave his role during the series' almost quarter-century run. Kaidou's voice actor Tesshō Genda retired from voicing the iconic warlord in July 2024 due to health issues. This was after Kaido's epic death in One piece Wano Arc, meaning the anime hasn't necessarily needed to replace Genda yet, though it will do so if Kaido is needed in spin-off media or in flashbacks.
The other big fans will probably remember was Toru Furuya dropping out of voicing Luffy's brother Sabo. Although Sabo is a fan-favorite character, Furuya (who also voices Yamcha in Dragon ball) was criticized over accusations of having an affair with a much younger woman. This was a big enough scandal that Furuya decided to resign from the voice of Sabo, leading to the lead naruto voice actor Junko Takeuchi taking on the role.
While fans will likely feel differently about Sabo's voice actor replacement compared to Kaido and Franky's voice actor changes, it's interesting that all three will happen throughout 2024. The good news for fans is that One piece has always had a stellar voice cast, and while we'll miss Yao as Franky, Jango, and Bon Clay, the new voice actors hired will likely do an incredible job.