27 Years Later, Luffy’s Original Voice Actor Officially Returns to the One Piece Anime

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Fans of One Piece worldwide instantly recognize Luffy’s voice, which is provided by voice actor Mayumi Tanaka. She has voiced the character ever since the anime series began in 1999.

Though Mayumi Tanaka is famous for voicing Luffy, she wasn’t the very first. Recently, after nearly 30 years, the original actor who played Luffy has made a comeback to the anime.

Luffy’s First Voice Actor Returns As Joy Boy

Urara Takano originally voiced Luffy in a 1998 animated special called “Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack!” produced by Production I.G. This was released just over a year before the main One Piece anime series began. Now, Takano is back voicing the character of Joy Boy.

In Episode 1151, you can briefly hear Takano voicing Joy Boy during a flashback scene with Emet. It’s a quick moment, but many fans immediately recognized her voice. Takano has expressed enthusiasm about returning to the series, and it appears she’ll continue to voice Joy Boy in future episodes. While it’s unclear how often she’ll be needed, we can expect to hear her reprise the role again.

I appeared in “ONE PIECE”!

Long ago, I was involved in “ONE PIECE” just once.

It’s been 27 years. Now, I’ll continue to live on through the memories of others, as the figure known as “Joy Boy”.

Those 27 years feel so long, like 800 or even 900 years…

But I’ll return to my original spirit and do my best!

Takano is a well-known voice actress, famous for playing Maria Tachibana in the Sakura Wars series and Kai Hiwatari in Beyblade. She’s also lent her voice to characters in popular anime like Hunter x Hunter, Hetalia, Macross, and Fate. Recently, she surprised fans by voicing Joy Boy in episode 1151 of One Piece, and will likely continue in the role, which has been met with a lot of positive reactions.

Is This a Cool Easter Egg, Or A Sign of Something Bigger?

It was a nice treat for fans to hear the same voice actress who played Luffy also voice Joy Boy. But there might be more to the casting choice than just pleasing fans. Joy Boy is a key figure in the One Piece story, even though his story happened long ago. Could bringing back Luffy’s original voice actor suggest a hidden link between the two characters?

Luffy and Joy Boy are already linked through the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Now that Luffy has awakened the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, becoming essentially a reincarnation of Joy Boy, this connection might just be a playful nod to fans. However, the series has often shown important characters connected in surprising ways, so it could be more than just a fun reference.

The fact that Luffy and Joy Boy share the same voice actor has fans wondering if there’s a hidden connection between them that hasn’t been revealed yet. Only the author, Eiichiro Oda, knows for sure. We’ll have to see if Toei Animation’s choice was just a neat Easter egg or if it actually foreshadows something important.

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2025-12-01 17:36