One Piece suffered a major shakedown that might happen on The Simpsons next

“One Piece” is one of the longest anime series of all time. A truly legendary show that deserves its reputation. Based on the manga of the same name by Eiichiro Oda, “One Piece” is still going strong 25 years later, becoming a cultural institution. And after all this time, the show is better than ever. The latest story is the “Egghead Island Arc” even It made it to our list of the best anime of the year. Between the anime, the live-action show, and the upcoming anime remake from Netflix, there’s never been a better time to be a “One Piece” fan. With so much source material, it may be several years before we see the end of “One Piece.”

However, the anime was subjected to massive blackmail, which devastated fans. After nearly 20 years, one of the Straw Hats gets off the ship and bids farewell to the show. Kazuki Yao, who joined the cast in 2000 and voiced characters like Django and Mr. 2 Bon Clay before voicing Franky, has officially retired due to health issues. His roles were replaced, with voice actor Subaru Kimura (Todo in “Jujutsu Kaisen”) taking over the role of Franky the Straw Hat Pirates’ shipbuilder starting in 2025.

Unfortunately, the voice cast for Straw Hat Pirates isn’t getting any younger. The youngest cast member is Akemi Okamura, who voices Nami, who is 55 years old. Luffy’s voice actress, Mayumi Tanaka, is 69 years old, and despite her amazing voice, the anime shows no signs of the story being near the end. Yao’s retirement and need for a replacement is just a sign of things to come. And on the other side of the Pacific, American fans should look at what’s happening with “One Piece” for a possible hint at the future of another cultural institution – “The Simpsons.”

Frankie wouldn’t exist without Yao. Oda created the character himself with Yao’s voice in mind, and it was the voice acting combined with the distinctive design that made the character so distinctive and memorable. He serves as an older brother to the younger Straw Hats and a way for Oda to explore his love of giant robots. In fact, Franky has increasingly turned into more machine than human, building himself a giant robot that he names the Iron Pirate “General Franky” much to the delight of the other Straw Hats – especially Chopper, Luffy, and Usopp. This means that Yao’s performance was very important to the character, but now that the time has come, the character is simply being recast.

It won’t be long until “The Simpsons” faces a similar dilemma. Likewise, the iconic cartoon is still going strong 35 years later The latest seasons are the best in decades. We get episodes that test the show’s formula and challenge the characters in new and exciting ways. As with the Straw Hat Pirates, the cast of The Simpsons isn’t getting any younger. The youngest members of the main cast, Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith, are 60 years old, while Harry Shearer is 81 years old. Shearer has just given his best performance ever as Ned Flandersbut can he continue voicing Mr. Burns, Smithers, or Skinner for much longer? What about Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta? The man is 67 years old, while Julie Kavner, who voices Marge, is 74 (and her performance as Marge has certainly suffered in recent years).

Recently, Pamela Hayden caused a stir when She announced her retirement after 35 years of voicing Milhouse Van Houten – In addition to Rudd, Jimbo Jones and many others. It looks like Disney and Fox will at least recast their characters Instead of using AI (thankfully) To try and retain her voice in future episodes, but what happens when Castalaneta can no longer voice Homer? What if Nancy Cartwright had to stop voicing Bart? Will they hire voices similar to what “Rick and Morty” did for its two distinct characters? Or will they go the route of Darth Vader, which Disney officially voices using AI?

It remains to be seen (well, heard) how Kimura will fare as the new voice of Frankie, but hopefully it shows that it’s much better to go the recast route than to try to artificially replicate the iconic voice. Voice acting is still acting, it cannot be replicated using a machine or algorithm. Let’s hope The Simpsons remembers that when the time comes.