The live action One Piece adaptation coming to Netflix is bringing back the anime's original cast to voice the Japanese dubbed version.
As reported by Deadline, protagonist Luffy's longtime voice actress Mayumi Tanaka announced at Anime Expo 2023 that the entire Japanese Straw Hat crew would feature in the series. Unlike the anime, however, which is released first in Japanese, the cast will be voicing over the English language portrayals of the characters.
"I’ve been voicing Luffy for more than 23 years now, and I think everyone has a little bit of Luffy in their heart," Tanaka said. "Iñaki, who performs Luffy in this live-action series, is so fun and joyful that he really makes a perfect Luffy. I’m very happy to be able to voice Luffy in this adaptation as well.
"One Piece is a story whose words and images can resonate with you in different ways depending on your situation or perspective at any given moment, allowing for new discoveries all the time. And of course, nothing would bring me greater joy than if people who’ve never experienced One Piece can become part of the family beginning with this show."
Tanaka as Monkey D. Luffy will be joined by Kazuya Nakai as Roronoa Zoro, Akemi Okamura as Nami, Kappei Yamaguchi as Usopp, and Hiroaki Hirata as Sanji. These original cast members will be voicing over the performances of Godoy, Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson, and Taz Skylar respectively.
Netflix has been fairly tight-lipped about the show until recently, but shared a behind the scenes look last year that showed off its incredible sets including the Baratie Bar, a giant restaurant ship that was built piece by piece for the series.
Having confirmed a 2023 release window earlier this year, Netflix finally revealed an August 31 premiere date for One Piece last month.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
