One Piece fans tear up as Kazuki Yao hands over Franky to the new voice actor

Modified Dec 23, 2024 13:30 GMT

One Piece fans tear up as Kazuki Yao hands over Franky to the new voice actor (Image via Toei Animation)

On December 22, 2024, Kazuki Yao, who played Franky in One Piece, handed over his role to Subaru Kimura on the Red Stage of Jump Festa 2025. As expected, the situation eventually became emotional for both the present voice actors and fans.

In a past Jump Festa, Eiichiro Oda revealed that the inspiration behind the Straw Hats' shipwright was Kazuki Yao, given his amazing voice acting role for some previous series characters. This might be why fans were emotional about his retirement, as it meant the end of the character. Moreover, this might also be why his fellow voice actors couldn't hold back their tears.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this article solely belong to the author.

One Piece: Kazuki Yao passes the torch of voicing Franky to Subaru Kimura

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During the Red Stage of Jump Festa 2025, the voice actors of the entire Straw Hat Pirate crew gathered for future announcements regarding the series. However, the main reason for their gathering was to give Kazuki Yao, the voice behind Franky, a proper farewell.

Since the Egghead Island arc on One Piece, Kazuki's declining health became prominent as his voice wasn't the same as before. He couldn't speak for long periods, and some of his lines seemed damp. So, after a lot of thinking, Kazuki Yao decided to retire, and during the Jump Festa 2025 Stage, he passed the role of voicing Franky to Subaru Kimura.

Subaru Kimura, known for voicing characters like Aoi Todo from Jujutsu Kaisen, might be the only suitable replacement for Franky, given his persona and unique voice. However, Kazuki Yao's departure was a hard pill for the voice actors and fans to swallow.

Monkey D Luffy as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

During Jump Festa 2008, Eiichiro Oda revealed that while thinking of a character design for Franky, he had Kazuki Yao in mind. So, Kazuki Yao's graduation from the Straw Hat Pirates meant the end of Franky too.

Luffy's voice actor, Mayumi Tanaka, couldn't hold back her tears and kept hugging Kazuki Yao until the event concluded. After the event, Kazuki Yao returned to the stage and gave Franky's underwear to Subaru Kimura. This underwear was part of Franky's iconic wardrobe, as he hardly wore anything else on his lower body.

"Hard to see him go"— Fans react to Kazuki Yao's retirement

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During the Jump Festa Event, Kazuki Yao taught Subaru Kimura how to do the 'Super' pose, an iconic pose of Franky. While this was to bring nostalgia, it made fans emotional, given how this pose hasn't been showcased for a while in the anime. Moreover, fans admitted that Franky was there because of Kazuki Yao, and it was hard to see him go before the series concluded.

Sadly, fans also admitted that while seeing Kazuki Yao retire from his voice-casting role of Franky was hard to see, his health (as seen during the Jump Festa) made it evident that he needed to go. So, the best act Kazuki Yao could do was to pass on the legacy to another one.

'You know what's sad... franky has lowkey been so put in the background, he hasn't said "super" in years' a fan said

'Man Yao was made to play Franky… hard to see him go but i hope he has a great retirement' another fan said

'You know, at first I was sad that my fav was retiring, now that I’ve seen him, man he deserves it' another one said

'Passing the legacy gracefully' another fan claimed

Final thoughts

Kazuki Yao (Image via X | @yaochan_defu)

Kazuki Yao was a phenomenon. Fans might not see a voice like his in the upcoming decade, but like everything, he had to leave before it was too late. His retirement was a reminder of the importance of the One Piece anime, given that there are hardly any characters based on a voice actor in this medium.

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Edited by Shreya Das