Speaking at a stage event that was held to commemorate the culmination of One Piece Film: Red‘s successful run at Japanese theatres, Luffy’s voice actress Mayumi Tanaka made a comment indicating that One Piece anime might not end for the next 10 years.

Mayumi Tanaka (Luffy’s VA), Shuichi Ikeda (Shanks’ VA) and Kaori Nazuka (Uta’s VA) were present at the stage greeting which took place on Jan 15, 2023 at Tokyo.

At the event, Tanaka was congratulated by the other two for her 68th birthday, gifting her a bouquet in the shape of a giant straw hat.

Receiving the bouquet, Tanaka beamed that she will continue to do her best voicing Luffy for another ten years, suggesting that One Piece anime won’t be coming to an end anytime soon.

Once the voice actors started making conversations, assuming the personas of the characters they voiced, the topic naturally turned to the final arc of One Piece.

Ikeda asked Tanaka to become a splendid pirate and added that he would be waiting for Luffy to return Shanks’ hat. Tanaka had just the reply in store for him too.

“Please do your best? Do you understand the story? To return the hat to Shanks…you should do your best too! Is there an ending where I do not go to return the hat? You do your best to be there too,” Tanaka said.

The voice actress had revealed earlier in 2022, that One Piece anime might go on for another 7-8 years. In a later interview, Tanaka had hoped that One Piece anime came to an end when she was still alive.

“I have two feelings about One Piece,” she said. “One is that it has become something we take for granted, so I would be sad if it were to disappear. On the other hand, I hope it will end while I am still alive!”

One Piece Film: Red is the 15th film in the anime’s franchise. It continued its long-running success since its August 6, 2022 release and has grossed 19 billion yen as of Jan 10, 2022.

Source: Livedoor