The popular pirate-themed manga that has sold over 516 million copies, One Piece has gained a plethora of fans over the course of 25 years. It is the best-selling manga series in history, as well as the best-selling comic series printed in volume, making Eiichiro Oda one of the best-selling fiction authors in the history of Mangakas. The Manga also has an anime series by Toei Animation that has been running for a long time and is considered to be one of the biggest anime shows in the world. And it still has no plan of ending soon.
The protagonist Monkey D. Luffy is a pirate who wants to become the King of the pirates with the help of his crew members/ Nakamas. Luffy is voiced by Mayumi Tanaka, who has been his voice since the start of the show. Despite being associated with the anime for so long, she has never read the manga to date.
Mayumi Tanaka Revealed the Reason for Not Reading One Piece Manga
In an interview last year, Mayumi Tanaka talked about her experience as the voice actor for Luffy and how she portrays the character. She also said that she avoids reading the One Piece Manga, which surprised a lot of fans. She said:
“I don’t read manga. It may be better if I did, but my approach is to do my performances while still hanging onto that new sense of surprise and thinking ‘Whoa, so this is what happens!’ that comes from reading about it in the screenplay for the first time and seeing the artwork for the first time.”
According to her, she avoided reading the series to make her portrayal of Luffy more realistic. Generally, voice actors study the character through the manga to give a better implementation of the character, but her reason for not reading the manga was shocking.
Luffy Will Be Mayumi Tanaka’s Last Role
One Piece anime has been on air since 1999. This will be the 25th year for the series and Mayumi Tanaka has been part of the journey since the beginning. She has voiced Luffy since the start and wants to end her career at the end of One Piece.
While talking about it in the interview, she said:
“I’ve portrayed numerous young boy roles in my time, and I’d want to end my career as a voice actor with Luffy. Even if I can’t continue to voice young boys after this, I feel like I’ve done all I ever wanted to do with that kind of part “
Mayumi Tanaka’s portrayal of Luffy is considered one of the reasons why the series has gained such a grand fan following. Her work for the past 23 years is seriously appreciated and fans love her voice.
Source: AnimeSenpai
