Monkey D. Dragon’s popularity just skyrocketed among fans after the character’s new voice actor made his debut in One Piece Episode 1097.
One Piece fans were hardly surprised when the anime went on hiatus a week after Episode 1096, which revealed Dr. Vegapunk’s relationship with Dragon, Monkey D. Luffy’s father. Episode 1097, “Ohara’s Will! Legacy Research”, continues this story by exploring the backstory of Vegapunk and Dragon, before the formation of the Revolutionary Army. This is explored in a flashback to the complicated relationship of young Dragon and Vegapunk Shaka. Although manga readers had already predicted the turn of events in the anime, they were still extremely surprised to hear Monkey D. Dragon voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue. Fans immediately took to Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) to approve the casting.
Related
The One Piece creator ends his nearly decade-long streak with stunning new artwork
Nearly a decade on, Eiichiro Oda has delivered a stunning two-page story worthy of its grand reveal in One Piece Chapter 1110.
One Piece’s Dragon gets a new voice actor known for his work on Naruto
Inoue is known to many Naruto fans as the Japanese voice actor for Kakashi. The actor debuted as the voice of Tetsusai in 1975’s Ikkyu-san but has since worked on other iconic anime titles such as Mobile Suit Zeta Gun, City Hunter, Ranma ½ and Fushigi Yuugi. It’s yet to be confirmed whether Inoue will play Dragon permanently, but One Piece fans have considered him a worthy successor to Hidekatsu Shibata, Dragon’s Japanese voice actor for nearly 25 years now. Shibata is beloved by the One Piece fan community, but many accept that someone must eventually replace him since he is 86 years old. Active since 1957, he has an impressive legacy of voice work in video games and anime.
Anime voice actors are famous people
Anime fans are known to be staunch defenders of their chosen IPs. This commitment extends to the voice actors who create the characters and stories. Actors who are practically inseparable from their roles have been embraced by fan communities, who sometimes treat voice actors with the same reverence as anime creators. While many people prefer to watch anime in its original Japanese version, the English voice actors hold their own by giving honest performances. The English dub of One Piece was largely well-received, especially the voice acting of characters such as Sanji, Trafalgar Law, and Nico Robin. Studio Ghibli is also famous for recruiting a team of Hollywood people to dub Ghibli films in English.
Related
One Piece’s Uta comes to life in the unveiling of her iconic stage costume
The “Singer of a New Era” will soon be available as a highly detailed model in this stunning Uta figure based on the anime One Piece Film: Red.
One Piece Episode 1097 is the next adaptation of the Final Saga’s “Egghead” arc from the manga, which has so far published more than 1,000 chapters and 107 compilation volumes.
The One Piece anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix, while the manga has been licensed by Viz Media in North America.
A piece
Follow the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew to find the greatest treasure ever left behind by the legendary Pirate, Gold Roger. The famous mysterious treasure is called “One Piece”.
Release date October 20, 1999
Creator(s). Eiichiro Oda
Cast Mayumi Tanaka, Akemi Okamura, Laurent Vernin, Tony Beck, Kazuya Nakai
Seasons 1
Studio Toei Animation
Creator Eiichiro Oda
Production company Toei Animation
Episodes 1K+
Source: X (formerly Twitter), Reddit
