1 week Ago By Nick Valdez
Toei AnimationOne Piece is now airing its new episodes following a historically long hiatus, and the anime has opened up a promising future for Franky’s new voice actor following the latest episode. One Piece took a six month hiatus following the end of the first half of the Egghead Arc as the team behind the anime got ready for the next half of the arc. But while the team was getting ready for what was next, there was also a major shake up behind the scenes as the Straw Hat crew had lost one of the original voices behind their characters in the meantime.
Kazuki Yao officially announced his retirement from the role of Franky in the anime, and One Piece officially debuted his replacement, Subaru Kimura, with the premiere of One Piece: Egghead Arc Part 2. The debut episode didn’t feature much of Franky to properly showcase the new take on the character that Kimura had offered, but it was much clearer with the second episode of this new era that Kimura has a promising future as Franky as the anime continues. Though it’s going to be quite different than what fans might be used to.
LONGER CLIP OF FRANKY'S NEW VOICE ACTOR #OnePiecepic.twitter.com/9zcgynbKQ1— Artur – Library of Ohara (@newworldartur) April 6, 2025One Piece Introduces Franky’s New Voice to the AnimeOne Piece Episode 1124 debuted this past week as part of a special double episode premiere weekend to celebrate the anime’s return from its six month hiatus.
While the first episode had featured Kimura’s first new lines as Franky, it wasn’t until Episode 1124 that fans got a better idea of Kimura’s take on the character. It’s a much different sound, and almost unrecognizable at first as Kimura speaks for a bit off screen but we don’t find out it’s Franky until a little later as he and the Straw Hats are breaking down everything that happened since we saw them last. It takes some getting adjusted to for fans who have been watching One Piece through all of these years, and that’s natural because its such a significant change.
Kimura seems to have his own take on Franky that doesn’t try to mirror what Yao had done before. It’s not going to completely revamp the character to make him unrecognizable in the anime, as that’s never going to happen as Kimura and the anime team will respect the role, but it’s going to be a shift in the way we see Franky. As of now, however, Franky still seems the same.
Franky gets to have a moment with Dr. Vegapunk as the two of them bond over the fact that Franky is using cola to help the Thousand Sunny fly, and it’s something that fans had been hoping to see between the two. Franky has been seeking Vegapunk all this time, and that’s one of the elements that fans had been hoping for with this new arc.
They want Franky to spend time with this scientist in the hopes that they can finally form a connection, but for the most part it’s been nothing but chaos from around Egghead in the episodes thus far.RELATED: “Please Don’t Say This to Me”: One Piece Director Responds to Backlash From FansToei AnimationWhat’s Next for Franky? The real test for this new Franky, however, is yet to come as One Piece: Egghead Arc is really only getting started with Part 2. As Luffy and the Straw Hats try their best to escape from Dr.
Vegapunk’s future island laboratory, there is going to be a lot that goes down as Franky and the others will need to step in some of the big fights and moments. It’s with these more intense moments that the new Franky will be pushed to the limit, and there’s still one other element to see as well. Franky’s “SUUUUUPER!” catchphrase has yes to be said with these new episodes thus far, so that will be likely when many One Piece fans truly accept the new voice.
It’s going to be important because as fans of the anime has shown thus far, any small complaint can turn into something much bigger if they feel any of the characters have been slighted. A lot of them might go about things the wrong way when they are angry at the anime as well, and have taken things in a much more extreme direction. It’s clear that One Piece fans love each of the Straw Hats that they have been following since they were first introduced to the anime series, so any small change feels big.
This is probably the biggest shift for the Straw Hats in the anime thus far, so hopefully fans remain above the line when it comes to fairly assessing Franky’s new voice. Give it time, and everything will work out. For now, you can watch the newest episodes of One Piece now streaming with Crunchyroll and Netflix.
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