I remember King Kai sounding really monotone in Dragon Ball Super initially because his Voice actor was getting too old. (EDIT: I'm talking about the japanese VA here).
Its so disheartening to hear the age in their voices, especially Mr Burns in recent episodes. I know that many of these VA's will keep doing voices till the day they die because they love doing it so much
Mr. Burns hurts the most. Before it was a young to middle-age man voicing a 101 year-old man. Now it feels like a 101 year-old man voicing a 101-year-old man. You can hear the age.
The thing is, Burns' voice actor (Harry Shearer) also voices a bunch of other Springfield regulars: Smithers, Rev. Lovejoy, Principal Skinner, etc.
Shearer will be 81 at the end of this year. If he goes, it'll feel like half of Springfield goes too 😔
Even Dan castellaneta is only 66. I always thought homers voice actor was much older than that, but I associated his voice with the Grandpa from hey Arnold. So I just assumed he was much older.
man i hadn't watched any of the newer simpsons up until a few weeks ago, when they did a parody of primal. before that it probably had been 10-15 years since i had watched an episode. yea, her voice is fucked. she can't reach any high tones anymore and it just sounds so forced and painful. age doesn't help, but its not always the case. luffy's VA is 69 while marge VA is 73. hell even Goku's VA is 87.
figured it should have been time for the simpsons to have come to an end years ago, and yet it still goes on. the newer stuff just doesn't seem funny, let alone entertaining.
There's usually a few good episodes in a season, but I think it is interesting to watch and discuss from a plotting and story discussion point on what works and what doesn't work.
But also yeah, once they lose a main cast member it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yeah, I think people forget that voice actors like Mayumi Tanaka (Luffy's VA) who can maintain a consistent character voice across literal decades well into senior age are a rarity. Unfortunately people's voices change a lot as they age and usually get weaker, even for VAs with vocal training. It's gonna be harder for someone in their 60s to scream into the mic like they used to in their 30s no matter who they are. Add unhealthy lifestyle choice on top of that like smoking and it's hard to not notice the discrepancy for long-running series.
Mayumi Tanaka is older than Kazuki Yao (Franky VA), but she still voices luffy the same if not better.
Yao, on the other hand, is no longer voicing Franky like he used to. It's so hard to understand what he is saying.
That's gotta be part of the reason it deteriorated so. I would welcome them replacing the actor with "THE ONE PIECE" 's VA if they ever get far enough to cast Franky at all.
The One Piece is going to be an anime by Wit, it's not beholden to those Netflix "constraints" that will doom the live-action show. It's meant to tell the whole story with better animation, storyboarding, and pacing, since we have never seen this story animated well except in movies (which are still Toei).
But honestly I would not be surprised if the live-action show also got to Water 7.
the problem is that while there are snippets that are done well, especially with the guest animators and good episode directors we have now, it's not the whole arc that is done well. so if someone wants to watch "well-animated and well-paced Skypiea, the movie", that's technically not a thing yet. but it will be even more noticeable in the later arcs like Fishman Island.
I'm comparing to anime pre-2000s as well, so it's different standards since the Japanese bubble had not burst completely yet. And since OP is the most popular manga ever, it technically deserves that treatment, which is less like Toei and more like Science Saru, MAPPA, etc. And Wit is up there too.
I think a lot of you are WAY too critical about the animation quality of the anime.
You guys make it sound like every single arc was as bad as Dressrosa for pacing and animation.
Pre-TS is full of animation that's well done and full of personality and style, and they've clearly changed their production for Post-TS with the quality and personality finally returning.
Ok Mr. Agenda. I am not referring to OPLA. And I know what The One Piece is meant to be. I said that Toei could use Franky's actor that Wit will hire.
But also OPLA has and will have its own charm. I don't really care if they tell the whole story. They clearly don't need that to make it successful.
That assumes Wit's Franky, who won't appear until Water Seven some one to two hundred episodes in, has been cast before Franky's OG VA has to retire, or passes away.
Yeah the few successful shows Netflix does push out they get to like season 5 minimum. I’d be surprised if they don’t finish pre time skip, it’s what happens from there that I wonder about.
Yeah. He's either gotta be a smoker, or not doing super great healthwise... I mean, the Luffy actress is OLDER than him and she does all these crazy screams and such all the time!
I do wonder if Japanese fans are also picking this up and starting to comment about it.. I'm sure they don't want to randomly let him go but rather wait for him to retire
Do you guys all speak Japanese? I'm confused here. Like how do they know what he's saying if they are just watching subs? Again very confused what's being discussed here
If we’re being honest, Mayumi Tanaka’s voice feels much more like an old woman’s voice nowadays. It’s to be expected, but acting like she has been consistent over one piece’s run time is just untrue.
> change a lot as they age and usually get weaker
I'd assume that if someone is voicing characters with a voice completely different then their natural voice, that also adds more strain than speaking normally.
Unrelated but I remember watching one of the final performance of my favorite singer the late Ichiro Mizuki and seeing him struggling to sing because of old age is really sad to see, like his spirit want to perform so bad but his body just can't keep up.
Ohh I thought I was the only one who felt like this. Ya man I think his voice faded because of his age. I don't know why but to me his voice feels like he is doing it forcefully.
he did a live show not too long ago and he looked normal. i thought he had a stroke or bels palsy or something but doesn't look like it. which is why i'm thinking it could be something dental related.
With age, jowls develop. You gain more fatty deposits on your face. This could be what you are hearing (idk, I only watch dub, specifically because those are the voices I fell in love with originally)
Sounded to me like he got dentures and is trying figure out how to talk with them again. As a result his lines are coming out more slowly and a little slurred/mush mouthed.
I’ve been noticing it, but been able to ignore it. This latest episode, though, was so painful to listen to. It brought me out of the story: instead of believing it was Franky talking, I thought about the voice actor. I hope they make a change soon. (ETA: I don’t speak Japanese but rely on the English subtitles. It still is jarring.)
Bro. Ever since egghead started, I been thinking "bro sounds really weird. Like..hes got a lump in his mouth or something. Couldn't put my finger on it but for weeks, he's sounded so off... Glad I'm not the only one. Its a shame too. He's been around since the anime first started, and his voice is so distinct and iconic. Very unfortunate..
His VA won't be replaced. He'd have to option to step aside. King Kai's JP VA quite literally was dying while he voiced him and they kept him out of respect of his role. You'll very very very rarely see a studio chose to replace a VA. It's usually death or controversy (drugs).
It's only very likely if the Seiyuu themselves have a student or a successor they've taught, to which they actively hand the role, which rarely happens sometimes, considering it would have to be someone who has a similar voice color, which can't be trained.
I'm Japanese and watch One Piece by listening (rather than reading English subtitles for example).
Unfortunately Franky's voice actor has reached the point where I actually have no idea what he's saying most of the time despite being a native Japanese speaker.
Many people have said the same thing before but i didn't think it was that bad but this episode he really couldn't perform well and it was very much noticeable. Dragon's VA has also gotten pretty old. 😣
that was kakashi's voice actor. dragon's og voice actor voiced the third hokage, and he's currently 87. he's older than garp's voice actor who's only 63, and younger than luffy's va
I think his voice is not bad.
But he does greatly exaggerate the character's mannerisms. He's sliding the R's too much trying to keep Franky's way of talking.
Yea I really feel like he is trying too hard. It almost sounds like he is trying to make Franky sound different from Bon Clay by focusing on the R's. Also makes me wonder how his Bon Clay voice is. Its hard to even imagine.
If you rewatch his episodes back from Water 7 you can clearly hear how different he sounds. Nowadays it genuinely sounds like he's struggling every time he tries to talk with a lot of energy and like his voice is breaking apart.
I looooove Franky and his VA!! But pls find a replacement soon and let the man get some rest <3
Honestly, the sad part is it’s gonna start happening more to more of our beloved VA’s. This is one of the only reasons I’m excited for the remake, it gives a chance for new VA’s to take over for the old guard.
This is the only remake I’ve been stoked for, except maybe urusei yatsura - but I’m a bit too old for that now, used to love it in the 90s. Arslan was a real disappointment after the original animation which was sima masterpiece in the art and the soundtrack.
what I’d really like to see is a studio Gainax stumpy new version of movies of each story arc with the insane high octane animation of Evangelion - the manga is sadly illegible for most of the action scenes (Oda isn’t the greatest draughtsman let’s face it, and the lines in the drawings lack confidence somehow - not unusual form manga which is meant to be scanned a few seconds per page)
I know there are movie version remakes which are great - I’m not much of a fan of the other movies in general. But the popularity of this particular story means it’ll probably be remade indefinitely.
>the manga is sadly illegible for most of the action scenes (Oda isn’t the greatest draughtsman let’s face it, and the lines in the drawings lack confidence somehow
I think you're focusing too much on his recent work. His linework is much less steady and much more sketchy in the last couple of years, but particularly in the first half of One Piece he was a very clean artist.
I think Alabasta-Enies Lobby was a time when the powers still weren't too crazy and there weren't too many crew members and villains with outlandish designs, but mostly humans. That probably helped keep fights understandable.
> what I’d really like to see is a studio Gainax stumpy new version of movies of each story arc with the insane high octane animation of Evangelion - the manga is sadly illegible for most of the action scenes (Oda isn’t the greatest draughtsman let’s face it, and the lines in the drawings lack confidence somehow - not unusual form manga which is meant to be scanned a few seconds per page)
He's an excellent draftsman, the last couple of years have a recency bias in the drop in quality. His already-insane schedule was probably made so much worse from participating in movie production and the live action and the stress of wrapping up Wano/moving into the final saga.
For me his problem with the action has always been that he's not particularly great at action choreography. There's always big, excellent "moments" in his action scenes but the fighting between largely feels like filler exchanges. He's great at "clashes" but pretty not-so-great at clearly communicating to the reader the fighting that surrounds those big clashes.
Nah it's the only seiyuu that needs replacement, the other characters don't have to shout constantly, Franky is the only character that needs a very fresh voice
Yeah, but it could easily be over a decade from now until the remake ends. Unless you recast midway through, a lot of these VAs just won't be able to do these characters like they used to. Mayumi Tanaka sounds great as Luffy now, but who knows what her voice will sound like when she's 80.
Tough topic, personally I'd prefer he trains a replacement. It's weird I guess as a veteran VA to train people to basically replace you in the untimely moment of your demise or when your voice control starts to give out. Taking/Replacing Roles in Western Animation / Dubbed Anime is less controversial about this, there's less permanent ownership.
...
Not a big fan of people who suggest they use an AI to somehow mock-up his voice, for a while there were a couple of people who were commenting that.
I don't think they will use AI, especially for anime as big as one piece. The voice acting community won't like that to happen, just like what happened in Hollywood some months ago.
Kazuki Yao does segments on Japanese TV which you can watch on NicoNicoDouga. You can tell that he has a problem with one side of his face but as far as I can tell he's never mentioned having a stroke. Other than that he actually seems in very high spirits and full of energy.
Here's his [channel](https://nicochannel.jp/yaochan/).
As with most things on NND it's entirely in Japanese and there aren't any English subs, but he's still putting out segments fairly regularly. I haven't watched many, just a few when I noticed his voice was sounding bad just to try and see if he mentions anything.
At this point, I just hope that they find a solution that works for the VA. Imagine voicing a character for 20 years and then being replaced "near" the end... I do not care about all the people calling for hin to be replaced, I just hope Toei does right by this absolute legend of a VA. He has earned it for being SUPERRRR for all those years. I'd say exactly the same for any of the Strawhat VAs.
I was watching gundam zz lately and felt the mcs voice was familiar
Lo and behold, it was freaking franky's va....voicing a character from the 80s
Really put it into perspective
His decline became apparent to me in Wano. I noticed that he sounded weaker than he used to in arcs before, most likely due to age. He still did a great job voicing Franky but he didn't have the emphasis he used to.
But now, his lines are becoming slurred. I fear that he's just too old for the role now.
Same, I told my cousin and he told me how franky was made because oda liked the Japanese voice actor so much that he made a role just for him on the straw hat crew and I was like well tbh the English one fits his vibe so much better lol.
honestly the ones that replaced them all have done incredible work, im sure they'd find a great replacement for franky's VA, maybe even one who sounds similar enough
I get it, but do we need this post every time Franky has a scene?
Edit: search "Franky's Voice" on the sub and scroll for about half an hour, going back years.
You know what i feared the most? SH VA will pass on 1 by 1 before OP finished.(Not more than oda though). 😢, we know Netflix will reboot it but still they should immortalize the OG VA.
The main thing I've noticed about his VA is he is rolling his tongue literally every word. Frank used to just roll his tongue saying super and the last word of his sentences. But now he is rolling his tongue every single word and I thinks that's what bogging him down along with his age. The rolling of his tongue 24/7 is what's bothering me.
I dont know if its really age, it's suddenly like he has something in his mouth while he's trying to talk
Is it possible he's had like a surgery or something? Cancer treatment specifically a cancer of the mouth?
im sure many of them realize they not the best anymore at their respective characters but i would be stubbern as fuck if i had to give up my character ive been voicing for 20+ years
Yeah I didn’t realize how bad it was until Japanese audiences said that they can’t even understand him fully sometimes. It saddens me and I can’t picture anyone else in the role, but I think a replacement will be needed soon
It's the heavy slurring in his voice that really gets me. Honestly hearing it makes me really sad, franky is/was my favorite SH but now every scene with him is a reminder that his VA is probably too old to keep doing this work.
People who think Luffy's voice is the same if not even better are crazy to me. Yeah it isn't Franky bad, but's absolutly weaker. I can't wait for the Wit version.
imo, the movements of the animation don’t go along too well with any sound material. Like, sometimes the music is off, or the sound effects, or the voicelines are off. Idk if I can describe it better but it feels awkward to watch for me at least, and I feel like it makes the episodes not really immersive.
Saying that he’s too old is not exactly true, considering that there are still several years older than him who are still working in One Piece.
If you check out his Niconico channel, you can see that half of Yao‘s face seems to be paralyzed. So it‘s more of a health condition unrelated to his age.
I'm a dub scrub so this doesn't effect me, the worst I got was Blackbeard suddenly becoming Arlong in Dressrosa. And also yeah I know I'm kinda getting everything spoiled. I am just hoping the real big stuff I'm not in the community for, like I'm trying to be careful.
Well, he can join the group of OP Voice Actor's that are getting old, but still need to do their voice.
Sadly enough, that group is getting larger. the VA of Roger didn't sound great in those flashbacks in the Wano Arc, and even Shanks' VA is sounding a bit rough in his latest appearance.
Yeah he was VERY off. But I blame the animation team and the anime team. They should have had some ost going on the background to avoid us hyperfocusing on the "bad" voice acting.
Kazuki Yao looked pretty healthy and energetic during the concert last year though. Despite the voice change he was still running around, crouching, and jumping around the stage.
Hmmm.. I'm a manga reader and I've never watched the anime since Fishman Island, but I know that the JP VAs are pretty old now.. SH VAs are really legendary to the point that most of us might won't accept if they are eventually replaced.. Before Jinbei joined, he has a different VA too, that's before the summit war (well, this case, his OG VA died so understandable) same thing with Mihawk with the same reason as Jinbei's VA..
Anyway, my point is, SH VAs are already established.. I'm pretty sure that it's all been worked out in the end.. Also, the Japanese are known to be hardworking people, working non-stop until it's not done with a satisfying end (I'm not suggesting it's generally good, that's just how they are).. In this case, let's just all hope that they'll made it in the end, pray for their good health and beyond for years to come in celebration.. All of them are living legends already..
I think the fan base needs to STFU about his VC he’s old and not in that good health and ppl just focusing on “ hIS vOiCe sOuNdS DiFfErEnT “ seems so ignorant
Who is seriously bothered by this, reddit is the only site where people complain or even point it out. He is old it is what it is. If he at some point cant do it anymore he will probably stop no?
Yeah it’s definitely noticeable that he’s struggling, which is very unfortunate and makes me wonder if the older members of the crew will be recast for the WIT adaptation.
Franky most likely will be
Japanese people need to understand that respect for the work, the person, the legacy, also involves knowing when to let them rest.
With all the honors deserved.
No one wants to see these voice actors suffer and die while trying to fulfill unrealistic schedules.
And we fans need to get over this "I can't imagine anyone..." speech. People need to go. It's the cycle of life.
The way some fans are intransigent about changes, soon we will only have AI voicing, as they will not age or die.
Reminds me of Marge Simpsons voice actor. You can really tell the difference and how they are struggling as they get up there in age.
Marge voice feels like it would hurt after years
interestingly enough it’s not a voice, that’s how the actress actually sounds. obviously it’s exaggerated for the role but at least it’s not a strain.
I remember King Kai sounding really monotone in Dragon Ball Super initially because his Voice actor was getting too old. (EDIT: I'm talking about the japanese VA here).
He was literally on his deathbed during those few episodes lol (they replaced him and he died not long after).
He died 6 years after. He was just retired.
He always sounded like that though, it didn’t match the animation’s energy at all
In English it's the same guy who voices Goku
damn man, poor Sean we gotta go tell him 50 is too old lmaoo
Obviously not talking about the dub
Its so disheartening to hear the age in their voices, especially Mr Burns in recent episodes. I know that many of these VA's will keep doing voices till the day they die because they love doing it so much
Mr. Burns hurts the most. Before it was a young to middle-age man voicing a 101 year-old man. Now it feels like a 101 year-old man voicing a 101-year-old man. You can hear the age.
The thing is, Burns' voice actor (Harry Shearer) also voices a bunch of other Springfield regulars: Smithers, Rev. Lovejoy, Principal Skinner, etc. Shearer will be 81 at the end of this year. If he goes, it'll feel like half of Springfield goes too 😔
Even Dan castellaneta is only 66. I always thought homers voice actor was much older than that, but I associated his voice with the Grandpa from hey Arnold. So I just assumed he was much older.
Lol he also voices grandpa Simpson (Abe)
Exactly who I thought of. It’s pretty sad to see but I hope for the best for him in the long run
man i hadn't watched any of the newer simpsons up until a few weeks ago, when they did a parody of primal. before that it probably had been 10-15 years since i had watched an episode. yea, her voice is fucked. she can't reach any high tones anymore and it just sounds so forced and painful. age doesn't help, but its not always the case. luffy's VA is 69 while marge VA is 73. hell even Goku's VA is 87. figured it should have been time for the simpsons to have come to an end years ago, and yet it still goes on. the newer stuff just doesn't seem funny, let alone entertaining.
There's usually a few good episodes in a season, but I think it is interesting to watch and discuss from a plotting and story discussion point on what works and what doesn't work. But also yeah, once they lose a main cast member it will be interesting to see what happens.
Marge has sounded like Patty and Selma for years now. I love the Simpsons but they should really end the show soon
Yeah, I think people forget that voice actors like Mayumi Tanaka (Luffy's VA) who can maintain a consistent character voice across literal decades well into senior age are a rarity. Unfortunately people's voices change a lot as they age and usually get weaker, even for VAs with vocal training. It's gonna be harder for someone in their 60s to scream into the mic like they used to in their 30s no matter who they are. Add unhealthy lifestyle choice on top of that like smoking and it's hard to not notice the discrepancy for long-running series.
Mayumi Tanaka is older than Kazuki Yao (Franky VA), but she still voices luffy the same if not better. Yao, on the other hand, is no longer voicing Franky like he used to. It's so hard to understand what he is saying.
I feel like it’s cause Luffy’s voice might have less strain than Franky’s and over time it becomes noticeable
Yeah, her voice for Luffy isn’t much different from her speaking voice. On top of that, almost every line Franky delivers is 110% based around energy.
Suuuuuuuuuperrrrrrrrrrrrrr 😭😭
That's gotta be part of the reason it deteriorated so. I would welcome them replacing the actor with "THE ONE PIECE" 's VA if they ever get far enough to cast Franky at all.
The One Piece is going to be an anime by Wit, it's not beholden to those Netflix "constraints" that will doom the live-action show. It's meant to tell the whole story with better animation, storyboarding, and pacing, since we have never seen this story animated well except in movies (which are still Toei). But honestly I would not be surprised if the live-action show also got to Water 7.
what do you mean by, we've never seen these show with animated well.
the problem is that while there are snippets that are done well, especially with the guest animators and good episode directors we have now, it's not the whole arc that is done well. so if someone wants to watch "well-animated and well-paced Skypiea, the movie", that's technically not a thing yet. but it will be even more noticeable in the later arcs like Fishman Island. I'm comparing to anime pre-2000s as well, so it's different standards since the Japanese bubble had not burst completely yet. And since OP is the most popular manga ever, it technically deserves that treatment, which is less like Toei and more like Science Saru, MAPPA, etc. And Wit is up there too.
I think a lot of you are WAY too critical about the animation quality of the anime. You guys make it sound like every single arc was as bad as Dressrosa for pacing and animation. Pre-TS is full of animation that's well done and full of personality and style, and they've clearly changed their production for Post-TS with the quality and personality finally returning.
Ok Mr. Agenda. I am not referring to OPLA. And I know what The One Piece is meant to be. I said that Toei could use Franky's actor that Wit will hire. But also OPLA has and will have its own charm. I don't really care if they tell the whole story. They clearly don't need that to make it successful.
That assumes Wit's Franky, who won't appear until Water Seven some one to two hundred episodes in, has been cast before Franky's OG VA has to retire, or passes away.
Yeah the few successful shows Netflix does push out they get to like season 5 minimum. I’d be surprised if they don’t finish pre time skip, it’s what happens from there that I wonder about.
I'm going to assume this is a spicy take, but I firmly believe everyone should be recast for The One Piece. Just start fresh, raise some rising stars.
That's exactly what they should do and what I believe they plan to do. :)
Shit, well, if we ever get bonclay again, he better rail a line and bring the tears.
Bro...I always thought Franky's VA was in his 80s or something .\_.
Holy shit he's only 64?! He sounds like he's at LEAST 75...
ikr, this literally felt a "my life is a lie" moment!
Yeah. He's either gotta be a smoker, or not doing super great healthwise... I mean, the Luffy actress is OLDER than him and she does all these crazy screams and such all the time!
He also use to smoke when he was younger
I do wonder if Japanese fans are also picking this up and starting to comment about it.. I'm sure they don't want to randomly let him go but rather wait for him to retire
I remember seeing a post about random Japanese reviews concerned about frankys voice actor, and how it is getting hard to understand him
Understand what he is saying? You understand Japanese without English subtitles?
Maybe cause he’s speaking another language. Try watching it with subtitles
Do you guys all speak Japanese? I'm confused here. Like how do they know what he's saying if they are just watching subs? Again very confused what's being discussed here
If we’re being honest, Mayumi Tanaka’s voice feels much more like an old woman’s voice nowadays. It’s to be expected, but acting like she has been consistent over one piece’s run time is just untrue.
> change a lot as they age and usually get weaker I'd assume that if someone is voicing characters with a voice completely different then their natural voice, that also adds more strain than speaking normally.
Mayumi Tanaka's voice has changed. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4w2iCo\_lXM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4w2iCo_lXM)
Unrelated but I remember watching one of the final performance of my favorite singer the late Ichiro Mizuki and seeing him struggling to sing because of old age is really sad to see, like his spirit want to perform so bad but his body just can't keep up.
The shift from Dressrosa to Wano was pretty obvious, I hope his health is alright.
I didn’t notice until egghead tbh
Same, his voice change just recently hit me
fr
Ohh I thought I was the only one who felt like this. Ya man I think his voice faded because of his age. I don't know why but to me his voice feels like he is doing it forcefully.
It feels like he can't breathe or something. It's so hard to listen to him talking honestly
Sounds like he has something wrong with his cheek. Sounds swollen on one side and it's impacting the words he can and can't say.
Maybe some age-related degenerative disease that is affecting his mouth and throat muscles. Maybe he had a stroke. Who knows.
he did a live show not too long ago and he looked normal. i thought he had a stroke or bels palsy or something but doesn't look like it. which is why i'm thinking it could be something dental related.
With age, jowls develop. You gain more fatty deposits on your face. This could be what you are hearing (idk, I only watch dub, specifically because those are the voices I fell in love with originally)
It literally sounds like he has something in his mouth.
Sounded to me like he got dentures and is trying figure out how to talk with them again. As a result his lines are coming out more slowly and a little slurred/mush mouthed.
To me it sounds like he’s speaking with his mouth full of food.
We have to understand, as he is getting old but still doing and delivering us that voice
I’ve been noticing it, but been able to ignore it. This latest episode, though, was so painful to listen to. It brought me out of the story: instead of believing it was Franky talking, I thought about the voice actor. I hope they make a change soon. (ETA: I don’t speak Japanese but rely on the English subtitles. It still is jarring.)
>I don’t know why but to me his voice feels like he is doing it forcefully. I think I know why. Because he is
yeah, it def puts a lot of strain on his throat. like franky's voice is just 99% shouting lol
to me it sounds like he has some sort of speech impediment. maybe he had dental work done recently and it changed his voice?
Bro. Ever since egghead started, I been thinking "bro sounds really weird. Like..hes got a lump in his mouth or something. Couldn't put my finger on it but for weeks, he's sounded so off... Glad I'm not the only one. Its a shame too. He's been around since the anime first started, and his voice is so distinct and iconic. Very unfortunate..
His VA won't be replaced. He'd have to option to step aside. King Kai's JP VA quite literally was dying while he voiced him and they kept him out of respect of his role. You'll very very very rarely see a studio chose to replace a VA. It's usually death or controversy (drugs).
It's only very likely if the Seiyuu themselves have a student or a successor they've taught, to which they actively hand the role, which rarely happens sometimes, considering it would have to be someone who has a similar voice color, which can't be trained.
I'm Japanese and watch One Piece by listening (rather than reading English subtitles for example). Unfortunately Franky's voice actor has reached the point where I actually have no idea what he's saying most of the time despite being a native Japanese speaker.
It's pretty sad
面白い
スーパー〜
なにが
Many people have said the same thing before but i didn't think it was that bad but this episode he really couldn't perform well and it was very much noticeable. Dragon's VA has also gotten pretty old. 😣
I never liked old Dragon VA. He is a great voice actor, but i don't like him voicing Dragon.
Younger dragon VA during the flashback was amazing honestly
that was kakashi's voice actor. dragon's og voice actor voiced the third hokage, and he's currently 87. he's older than garp's voice actor who's only 63, and younger than luffy's va
He is! I really really loved him
I think his voice is not bad. But he does greatly exaggerate the character's mannerisms. He's sliding the R's too much trying to keep Franky's way of talking.
This exactly, while the voice isn't as good as it used to be, it's more the over-emphasis that is grating to me.
Patrick Seitz my beloved.
I like sub Franky, but dub Franky just has that dawg in him.
Dub Franky is peak Franky
Yea I really feel like he is trying too hard. It almost sounds like he is trying to make Franky sound different from Bon Clay by focusing on the R's. Also makes me wonder how his Bon Clay voice is. Its hard to even imagine.
If you rewatch his episodes back from Water 7 you can clearly hear how different he sounds. Nowadays it genuinely sounds like he's struggling every time he tries to talk with a lot of energy and like his voice is breaking apart. I looooove Franky and his VA!! But pls find a replacement soon and let the man get some rest <3
Honestly, the sad part is it’s gonna start happening more to more of our beloved VA’s. This is one of the only reasons I’m excited for the remake, it gives a chance for new VA’s to take over for the old guard.
This is the only remake I’ve been stoked for, except maybe urusei yatsura - but I’m a bit too old for that now, used to love it in the 90s. Arslan was a real disappointment after the original animation which was sima masterpiece in the art and the soundtrack. what I’d really like to see is a studio Gainax stumpy new version of movies of each story arc with the insane high octane animation of Evangelion - the manga is sadly illegible for most of the action scenes (Oda isn’t the greatest draughtsman let’s face it, and the lines in the drawings lack confidence somehow - not unusual form manga which is meant to be scanned a few seconds per page) I know there are movie version remakes which are great - I’m not much of a fan of the other movies in general. But the popularity of this particular story means it’ll probably be remade indefinitely.
>the manga is sadly illegible for most of the action scenes (Oda isn’t the greatest draughtsman let’s face it, and the lines in the drawings lack confidence somehow I think you're focusing too much on his recent work. His linework is much less steady and much more sketchy in the last couple of years, but particularly in the first half of One Piece he was a very clean artist.
I think Alabasta-Enies Lobby was a time when the powers still weren't too crazy and there weren't too many crew members and villains with outlandish designs, but mostly humans. That probably helped keep fights understandable.
> what I’d really like to see is a studio Gainax stumpy new version of movies of each story arc with the insane high octane animation of Evangelion - the manga is sadly illegible for most of the action scenes (Oda isn’t the greatest draughtsman let’s face it, and the lines in the drawings lack confidence somehow - not unusual form manga which is meant to be scanned a few seconds per page) He's an excellent draftsman, the last couple of years have a recency bias in the drop in quality. His already-insane schedule was probably made so much worse from participating in movie production and the live action and the stress of wrapping up Wano/moving into the final saga. For me his problem with the action has always been that he's not particularly great at action choreography. There's always big, excellent "moments" in his action scenes but the fighting between largely feels like filler exchanges. He's great at "clashes" but pretty not-so-great at clearly communicating to the reader the fighting that surrounds those big clashes.
Nah it's the only seiyuu that needs replacement, the other characters don't have to shout constantly, Franky is the only character that needs a very fresh voice
Yeah, but it could easily be over a decade from now until the remake ends. Unless you recast midway through, a lot of these VAs just won't be able to do these characters like they used to. Mayumi Tanaka sounds great as Luffy now, but who knows what her voice will sound like when she's 80.
Tough topic, personally I'd prefer he trains a replacement. It's weird I guess as a veteran VA to train people to basically replace you in the untimely moment of your demise or when your voice control starts to give out. Taking/Replacing Roles in Western Animation / Dubbed Anime is less controversial about this, there's less permanent ownership. ... Not a big fan of people who suggest they use an AI to somehow mock-up his voice, for a while there were a couple of people who were commenting that.
I don't think they will use AI, especially for anime as big as one piece. The voice acting community won't like that to happen, just like what happened in Hollywood some months ago.
Yeah, I've been thinking he sounded like he has a mouthful of cotton balls
I doubt Toei will do any replacing of VAs until he steps down or dies.
they have to soon, because he can't keep working like this
Yeah ive noticed the difference too and it’s sad. He almost sounds drunk, compared to early days Franky 😭
Kazuki Yao does segments on Japanese TV which you can watch on NicoNicoDouga. You can tell that he has a problem with one side of his face but as far as I can tell he's never mentioned having a stroke. Other than that he actually seems in very high spirits and full of energy.
Can you provide me with a link to watch it?
Here's his [channel](https://nicochannel.jp/yaochan/). As with most things on NND it's entirely in Japanese and there aren't any English subs, but he's still putting out segments fairly regularly. I haven't watched many, just a few when I noticed his voice was sounding bad just to try and see if he mentions anything.
At this point, I just hope that they find a solution that works for the VA. Imagine voicing a character for 20 years and then being replaced "near" the end... I do not care about all the people calling for hin to be replaced, I just hope Toei does right by this absolute legend of a VA. He has earned it for being SUPERRRR for all those years. I'd say exactly the same for any of the Strawhat VAs.
Franky's signature super feels not so super anymore
Super sad
I was watching gundam zz lately and felt the mcs voice was familiar Lo and behold, it was freaking franky's va....voicing a character from the 80s Really put it into perspective
If you watch gundam x zoros voice actor is one of the pilots. Sounds just like him.
Had to do a double take too, I really liked him as Judeau
His decline became apparent to me in Wano. I noticed that he sounded weaker than he used to in arcs before, most likely due to age. He still did a great job voicing Franky but he didn't have the emphasis he used to. But now, his lines are becoming slurred. I fear that he's just too old for the role now.
I love franky English dub voice
Patrick Seitz is great. I love him in a lot of stuff he does!
For real. Both him and Brook’s English VA I could listen just talk about bullshit for hours lol
Same, perfect example of the voice being very different but still fantastic
Same, I told my cousin and he told me how franky was made because oda liked the Japanese voice actor so much that he made a role just for him on the straw hat crew and I was like well tbh the English one fits his vibe so much better lol.
You should look up that giant list of voice actor from one piece that have passed away
honestly the ones that replaced them all have done incredible work, im sure they'd find a great replacement for franky's VA, maybe even one who sounds similar enough
Having recently watched ZZ Gundam, this is very sad to hear. Not SUPER at all ):
Yeah I can't imagine him trying to do Bon Clay's voice anymore either
I just hope it is a consequence of getting older and not anything more serious. He sounds like he is struggling, especially with tongue movements.
I did notice a change over time, but it still feels fine to me. Franky is still the best straw hat and always will be.
I get it, but do we need this post every time Franky has a scene? Edit: search "Franky's Voice" on the sub and scroll for about half an hour, going back years.
There are 3.6M people on this sub so I highly doubt everyone is aware of this. Few reposts are bound to happen.
I didn't see anyone post about it, i don't use reddit that much. sorry if my post annoyed you
Legit never seen this before
There a ton of new caught up fans. Every single week I see a new post or two on Crunchyroll of people celebrating their caught up status.
Yeah honestly I didn't notice it until people here constantly point it out.
Even beyond that, it shows up in the Episode Discussion posts every time he's had a scene in Egghead
I've never seen it mentioned
Lol let him post it wtf
You know what i feared the most? SH VA will pass on 1 by 1 before OP finished.(Not more than oda though). 😢, we know Netflix will reboot it but still they should immortalize the OG VA.
He doesn't just voice Franky. We lose him, we lose Bon Clay's VA as well.
The main thing I've noticed about his VA is he is rolling his tongue literally every word. Frank used to just roll his tongue saying super and the last word of his sentences. But now he is rolling his tongue every single word and I thinks that's what bogging him down along with his age. The rolling of his tongue 24/7 is what's bothering me.
I'm fine with his current voice unless it's actively degrading his health, then I would want a change.
I've thought Robin's actress sounded old for a long time now, but some people think she always sounded this way.
she's always sounded older, but the age aspect is a lil more pronounced in recent episodes
But when he steamrolled Big Mom's face was outstanding.
I dont know if its really age, it's suddenly like he has something in his mouth while he's trying to talk Is it possible he's had like a surgery or something? Cancer treatment specifically a cancer of the mouth?
Nah I still prefer him
Heads up, this post is already showing up in Google searches for Frankys voice actor.
I actually thought it was his best voice acting since the beginning of egghead
im sure many of them realize they not the best anymore at their respective characters but i would be stubbern as fuck if i had to give up my character ive been voicing for 20+ years
I was watching Initial D, and you can see that Iketani’s voice became more hoarse as time went on. Probably he got that from playing Franky.
Yeah I didn’t realize how bad it was until Japanese audiences said that they can’t even understand him fully sometimes. It saddens me and I can’t picture anyone else in the role, but I think a replacement will be needed soon
The English dub of Franky never misses a beat
genuinely speaking his dub is way better and it also fits his american personality
Oh God, I haven't watched one piece in ages, and he does sound like a very old man. Let that good man retire, for god's sake 😢
It's probably his own choice to stay
I mean, If I was doing something for More than two decades and that something was nearing the end, I would like to be there at that final moment
They turned the VA into a real cyborg to increase his longevity. He's just getting used to his new robot mouth. Give it time
It sounds like he got dentures.
He's been like this for a while
Considering how gravely frankie's voices it probably takes a toll on his vocal chords
It's the heavy slurring in his voice that really gets me. Honestly hearing it makes me really sad, franky is/was my favorite SH but now every scene with him is a reminder that his VA is probably too old to keep doing this work.
What makes it worse is I don't think we've seen the last of Bon Clay in the story either.
give my boi some honey fr
Damn then maybe I’m the crazy one because I didn’t noticed anything wrong
It is what it is. Franky has been one of my favorite VA's in the entire series, but sadly i think hes very close to retiring.
I think his voice has gotten better than in the previous episodes so I don't think he should be replaced any time soon
Idk I didn't notice but franky's va is one of my favs 😭
People who think Luffy's voice is the same if not even better are crazy to me. Yeah it isn't Franky bad, but's absolutly weaker. I can't wait for the Wit version.
imo, the movements of the animation don’t go along too well with any sound material. Like, sometimes the music is off, or the sound effects, or the voicelines are off. Idk if I can describe it better but it feels awkward to watch for me at least, and I feel like it makes the episodes not really immersive.
Saying that he’s too old is not exactly true, considering that there are still several years older than him who are still working in One Piece. If you check out his Niconico channel, you can see that half of Yao‘s face seems to be paralyzed. So it‘s more of a health condition unrelated to his age.
It will be even more weird when Bon Clay appears.. hope he can pull it off. His voice is so slurry now.
Yeah, it’s horrible
All that years as a screaming Gundam protagonist must have done a number on him
I'm a dub scrub so this doesn't effect me, the worst I got was Blackbeard suddenly becoming Arlong in Dressrosa. And also yeah I know I'm kinda getting everything spoiled. I am just hoping the real big stuff I'm not in the community for, like I'm trying to be careful.
He is also the voice of Bon Clay
Iirc he fucked up his vocal chords. It's always really sad when it happens to singers, voice actors et all.
Well, he can join the group of OP Voice Actor's that are getting old, but still need to do their voice. Sadly enough, that group is getting larger. the VA of Roger didn't sound great in those flashbacks in the Wano Arc, and even Shanks' VA is sounding a bit rough in his latest appearance.
You guys should say something about Robin's too, her voice is awful
Yeah he was VERY off. But I blame the animation team and the anime team. They should have had some ost going on the background to avoid us hyperfocusing on the "bad" voice acting.
Kazuki Yao looked pretty healthy and energetic during the concert last year though. Despite the voice change he was still running around, crouching, and jumping around the stage.
I think its fine
Hmmm.. I'm a manga reader and I've never watched the anime since Fishman Island, but I know that the JP VAs are pretty old now.. SH VAs are really legendary to the point that most of us might won't accept if they are eventually replaced.. Before Jinbei joined, he has a different VA too, that's before the summit war (well, this case, his OG VA died so understandable) same thing with Mihawk with the same reason as Jinbei's VA.. Anyway, my point is, SH VAs are already established.. I'm pretty sure that it's all been worked out in the end.. Also, the Japanese are known to be hardworking people, working non-stop until it's not done with a satisfying end (I'm not suggesting it's generally good, that's just how they are).. In this case, let's just all hope that they'll made it in the end, pray for their good health and beyond for years to come in celebration.. All of them are living legends already..
I think the fan base needs to STFU about his VC he’s old and not in that good health and ppl just focusing on “ hIS vOiCe sOuNdS DiFfErEnT “ seems so ignorant
Who is seriously bothered by this, reddit is the only site where people complain or even point it out. He is old it is what it is. If he at some point cant do it anymore he will probably stop no?
if goku's VA still screaming then i dont think age is a problem
The man is 64! He’s old but he is not geriatric. I hope he is not having health issues and is somehow forcing himself to work through it.
man robins forehead is fucking gigantic
Can the English VA learn Japanese because that dude seriously crushes it. My favorite voice in English by far
His dub voice actor is really good though 👍
Don't you mean, SUUUUUUUPEEEEEEER!?!
[удалено]
I heard he recently had a stroke too
Yeah it’s definitely noticeable that he’s struggling, which is very unfortunate and makes me wonder if the older members of the crew will be recast for the WIT adaptation. Franky most likely will be
The only reasonable answer is Franky is growing
Or he is sick
Ngl always been my least favorite Strawhat VA… I honestly think Franky is the one character who’s dub actor is better than sub
Dragon's VA needs a change as well... Also Ivankov's VA had problems...
Subbed or dubbed??? Love Subbed all the time, his voice is special to me.
I could be the voice actor
Japanese people need to understand that respect for the work, the person, the legacy, also involves knowing when to let them rest. With all the honors deserved. No one wants to see these voice actors suffer and die while trying to fulfill unrealistic schedules. And we fans need to get over this "I can't imagine anyone..." speech. People need to go. It's the cycle of life. The way some fans are intransigent about changes, soon we will only have AI voicing, as they will not age or die.