Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is a phenomenal work of art. Oda has created magic with the One Piece franchise, which has millions of fans worldwide for both the anime and manga series. Starting in July 1997, the manga series is still going strong, with over 1000 chapters. The anime series has already caught up to the manga series and has over 1000 episodes currently.
VA Mayumi Tanaka revealed One Piece to Wrap up within 2030
In an interview in 2022 with a local Japanese portal, Voice Artist Mayumi Tanaka revealed her desire to be a part of One Piece till the end.
Mayumi Tanaka, a well-known voice actress in the anime industry, has lent her voice to more than 200 roles with 162 titles, including video game shorts and a few ads. She is famously known for voicing Monkey D Luffy in One Piece, Krillin, Yajirobe, Uranai Baba in Dragon Ball, and a lot of other famous animes.
Mayumi Tanaka is now 68 years old. In the interview, Tanaka revealed her desire to stay with the series till the end. She is afraid that she is already aging and may not get to see the ending of the series.
I also don’t know the end of the work, so I want to live to the end and keep watching until the end. If I die in the middle of the story, I’m going to beg someone who knows the ending, saying, “Tell me the last time! By the way, regarding the one-piece treasure “One Piece” that is supposed to be revealed at the end, I expected it to be something conceptual like “friends” and “bonds”. But Odacchi said, “It’s not like that. We have one piece!” The treasure of ONE PIECE is in the form of “things”. I’m looking forward to seeing what it will be like.
She gives her on-screen persona, Monkey D. Luffy, a lot of devotion. During the interview, she disclosed that she had been concerned about what would happen if someday she was no longer able to perform her job. By discussing with her son, it was revealed that she had already decided on who could succeed her as Monkey D Luffy.
When I thought about it, I became anxious and consulted with Shinji Shimizu, who was the producer at the time, saying, ‘I might die inadvertently.’ If I decide on someone to ‘succeed Luffy’ as a will, everyone may be convinced. So I asked my son, ‘Who would you think would be the one to replace Luffy?’ My son said, ‘I only have Masako Nozawa in mind’ (laughs). When I told him that when I co-starred with Masako, everyone laughed and Masako said, ‘Mayumi, I’ll do it’ (laughs),” said Tanaka.
In a 2019 interview, Eiichiro Oda also stated that he intends to complete the series in 4-5 years.
We believe that everything wonderful has a shelf life, and One Piece is no different. Though there are still at least 5 or 6 years remaining to enjoy the series, fans shouldn’t be excessively disheartened.
Source: Asahi
