One Piece has undergone major changes that could be coming for The Simpsons

One Piece is one of the longest-running anime series of all time. a truly legendary show worthy of its reputation. Based on Eiichiro Oda’s manga of the same name, One Piece is still thriving after 25 years as a cultural institution. And after all this time, the show is better than ever. Even the last story arc, “Egghead Island Arc”. made it to our list of the best anime of the year. Between the anime, the live-action show, and the upcoming Netflix anime remake, there’s never been a better time to become a One Piece fan. With so much source material still to come, it could be a few years before we see the end of “One Piece.”

And yet, the anime has just been hit with a major overhaul that has left fans devastated. After nearly 20 years, one of the Straw Hats is stepping off the ship and saying goodbye to the show. Kazuki Yao, who joined the cast back in 2000 and voiced characters such as Django and Mr. 2 Bon Clay before voicing Frankie, has officially retired, citing health issues. His roles change, and starting in 2025, voice actor Subaru Kimura (Toda in “Jujutsu Kaisen”) takes on the role of Straw Hat Pirates’ ship master Franky.

Unfortunately, the Straw Hat Pirates voice acting isn’t getting any younger. The youngest member of the cast is Akemi Okamura, who voices Nami, who is 55 years old. Mayumi Tanaka, who voices Luffy, is 69 years old herself, and despite the fact that her voice is wonderful, the anime shows no signs of getting close to the end of the story. Yao retiring and needing a replacement is just a sign of things to come. And across the Pacific, American fans should take a look at what’s happening with One Piece for a possible tease of the future of another cultural institution, The Simpsons.

Frankie wouldn’t exist without Yao. Oda himself created the character with Yao’s voice in mind, and it’s the voice acting combined with the expressive design that makes the character so special and memorable. He is like a big brother to the younger Straw Hat and a way for Oda to explore her love of giant robots. Indeed, Frankie became more machine than man, creating a giant robot for himself that was dubbed the Iron Pirate “General Frankie” to the delight of the other Straw Hats—especially Chopper, Luffy, and Usopp. That is, Yao’s performance was incredibly important to the character, but now that the time has come, the character is simply being remade.

It won’t be long before The Simpsons faces a similar conundrum. The cult cartoon still doesn’t lose its strength even after 35 years recent seasons are the best in decades. We get episodes that experiment with the show’s formula and challenge the characters in exciting new ways. Like The Straw Hat Pirates, The Simpsons cast isn’t getting any younger. The youngest members of the main cast, Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith, are 60 years old, and Harry Shearer is 81. Of course, Shearer just gave his best performance as Ned Flandersbut can he continue to voice Mr. Burns, or Smithers, or Skinner? How about Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneto? The man is 67, and Julie Kauner, who voices Marge, is 74 (and her performance as Marge has undoubtedly suffered in recent years).

Pamela Hayden recently made waves when she announced her retirement after 35 years of voicing Milhouse Van Houten — as well as Rod, Jimbo Jones and many others. It looks like Disney and Fox will at least remake her characters instead of using AI (thankfully) to try to keep his voice in future episodes, but what happens when Castellaneta can no longer voice Homer? What if Nancy Cartwright has to stop voicing Bart? Will they hire soundalikes like Rick and Morty for the two main characters? Or will they go the way of Darth Vader, who Disney is officially voicing with AI?

It remains to be seen (well, heard) how Kimura fares as the new voice of Frankie, but hopefully he shows that it’s much better to go the remake route rather than artificially trying to replicate an iconic voice. The voiceover still works, it can’t be reproduced by a machine or an algorithm. Let’s hope The Simpsons remembers this when the time comes.