Imu's voice reveal in the One Piece anime is coming, and there's one clear choice for the best way to do it

Modified Sep 03, 2024 15:30 GMT

Imu's voice reveal in the One Piece anime is coming (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece anime will feature Imu's voice reveal in the next few weeks, and the fandom has been on fire over their voice actor reveal because of the World Government leader's unspecified gender. In such a situation, it would be safe to assume that two voice actors, or a voice actor whose voice resembles both female and male characters, will be chosen for Imu.

However, the bigger impact will be if the animation studio chooses to give Imu a voice actor that is either male or female. This would drown the lore Eiichiro Oda has surrounded this character in, and might even ruin the series for the fans - especially the manga fans and theorists who have speculated the true identity of Imu through their unspecified gender.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series and reflects the author's opinion.

One Piece anime: The best choice for Imu's voice reveal, explored

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Imu, or Im-sama, is one of the main antagonists of the One Piece anime. Despite being one of the biggest key figurines, Imu has hardly made any significant appearances in the series. Moreover, Imu's gender is one of the biggest controversies in the anime, as they haven't been voiced till now. However, things could change in the next one or two episodes.

One Piece anime episode 1117 saw Sabo revealing what he saw at the Reverie regarding the murder of King Cobra, who was about to meet the Five Elders. King Cobra wanted to inquire from the World Government executives about why Nefartari Lili, the first ruler of the Arabasta Kingdom, didn't become a Celestial Dragon like the other First Twenty families.

The conversation would soon bring the meaning of the D into question, which would lure out Imu. Imu would sit on the Empty Throne, the throne that the First Twenty created so that none of them would rise to become a dictator. This would surprise King Cobra, leading to a conversation between them and seeing the World Government leader speak for the first time.

Imu as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

With the anime's pacing, Imu's voice could be featured in episode 1118 or the next one. The biggest question in this scenario will be the choice of voice actor by the production team, as Imu's unspecified gender is the reason behind hundreds of theories of their true identity. So, if the production team chooses a specific gender for their voice, this could ruin Imu's lore.

Moreover, choosing a specific gender for Imu's voice could also ruin the mystery surrounding the character that Eiichiro Oda has developed by not revealing anything regarding Imu in the manga. So, choosing a voice actor who combines the pitches of both, a male and female character, could be the best choice in this case.

Who could be the possible voice of Imu?

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The voice of Imu could be a vague one, like that of demons in anime, as it is hard to specify the gender of a character that way. This voice could be combined with a distortion, giving Imu's mysterious character justice.

On the other hand, the production team could use two voice actors and combine their voices, playing both of them at the same time, keeping Imu's gender identity a mystery, just as in the manga.

Kaiser Insight (left) and Geordo Stuart (right) (Image via CygamesPictures & Silver Link)

Lastly, a voice actor who could be a perfect voice actor for Imu, considering their past roles and unique voice, is Shouta Aoi. As some fans might already know about him, the male voice actor is famous for his grown-up female voice.

Some of his most notable roles are Kaiser Insight (female) from Princess Connect and Geordo Stuart (male) from My Next Life as a Villainess. Shouta's mature voice would fit the World Government leader's personality, without hinting at their gender - making him a perfect candidate for voicing Imu.

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Edited by Janhavi Chauhan