After twenty-five years aboard the Merry and the Sunny, one may anticipate at the very least a smidge of existential drift from the iconic voices of the Straw Hats from One Piece. After all, voicing the identical character — yr after yr, arc after arc — requires a specific mix of loyalty, flexibility, and cosmic endurance. Yet, when Kappei Yamaguchi and Hiroaki Hirata, the voices of Usopp and Sanji, respectively, sat down for a chat forward of their first go to to India for Comic Con Mumbai 2025, it’s clear that their connection to their beloved crew is something however stagnant.
Across One Piece’s quarter-century’s price of seafaring throughout the Grand Line, there’s been no scarcity of larger-than-life goals. But tucked between the three-sword slashes and Gomu Gomu punches are two characters who’ve quietly grow to be unlikely role models for a whole era of boys making an attempt to determine what sort of males they wish to be. Usopp and Sanji — the sniper who perjures his means into braveness and the prepare dinner who’d somewhat starve than hit a girl — are a few of the collection’ most vital emotional anchors.
‘One Piece’ voice actors Hiroaki Hirata (L) and Kappei Yamaguchi (R) carry out throughout a reside recital at Comic Con Mumbai 2025
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When Yamaguchi-san first auditioned for the anime adaptation of One Piece, he wasn’t aiming to be the ship’s sharpshooter. “I originally went in for Luffy, but I was rejected,” Yamaguchi-san says, and the role went on to the legendary Mayumi Tanaka, who voices the Straw Hat captain to this present day. For many actors, which may’ve been the finish of it. But destiny — or maybe a little bit of Oda-esque foreshadowing — had different plans. “After playing Usopp for 25 years, he feels he’s the most perfect person for the role,” the interpreter continues. “It’s the closest character to who he is now.”
For all his tall tales and impeccable comedian timing, Usopp has by no means been the loudest or the strongest. But he could very properly be the bravest of the Straw Hats as a result of, not like Luffy or Zoro, he doesn’t begin out believing he’s invincible, and his worry is rarely erased. He exhibits up. He stammers. He runs. And then he comes again anyway.
There’s a mild kindness and humility in the means Yamaguchi-san speaks about Usopp. The character nearly doesn’t really feel crafted, however as somebody he’s grown alongside. Picking a favourite second from the anime is, unsurprisingly, an unattainable job for somebody who’s voiced over a thousand episodes. But he does recall the farewell to the Going Merry — a second as teary for followers because it was for the forged. “That episode is very close to me,” he says. “But it’s a sad one. Maybe something more fun would be my actual favorite.”
‘One Piece’ voice actor Kappei Yamaguchi poses beside his on-screen persona Usopp at Comic Con Mumbai 2025
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The melancholy, although, is a part of the territory. Usopp’s journey has all the time had an underdog undercurrent in One Piece’s sprawling narrative. While Luffy barrels towards Pirate King-hood, Usopp’s dream is obscure, tender, and undeniably human — to grow to be a “brave warrior of the sea.” Yamaguchi-san interprets it as an emotional inheritance: “Usopp wants to be like his father, who he respects and loves deeply. That is his real dream.”
Usopp is for the children who’ve by no means gained a battle, who’ve advised lies to look taller, who’ve been scared as a rule. And for them, he affords one thing higher than bravado: permission to really feel worry and nonetheless maintain going. There’s no want, Yamaguchi-san notes, to make Usopp “cooler” in the conventional anime sense. “It’s better for him to grow naturally.” The assertion might simply as simply be a credo for the collection itself: nothing pressured and every thing earned.
Meanwhile, there’s Sanji, who has by no means been quick on charisma. He smokes, he spins, he simmers with cool. But peel again the macho theatrics, and you discover a man weighed down by insecurities but nonetheless ruled by a curious concoction of old-world chivalry and bone-deep tenderness.
Hirata-san, carries that sharp hearth of Sanji. He describes his relationship with the materials with a shrug of wry acceptance. “Even when I read the manga and got the script, there wasn’t a part where I was like, ‘Why is this happening to me?’” His ease with Sanji’s extra melodramatic arcs, particularly with the developments at Whole Cake Island, comes from years of immersion. “I think it’s easier to act in dramatic scenes than everyday ones,” he notes. “Over the years, it’s become natural.”
‘One Piece’ voice actor Hiroaki Hirata poses beside his on-screen persona Sanji at Comic Con Mumbai 2025
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That naturalness extends to the many masks of Sanji — the flirt, the fighter, the prepare dinner. Hirata-san doesn’t compartmentalise the character’s persona. “It’s 3 o’clock when he’s cooking. It’s 3 o’clock when he’s fighting. It’s 3 o’clock when a beautiful woman passes by. I don’t divide those parts, they’re all Sanji.” That blurring of identification between performer and efficiency is a part of what makes his voice work so compelling. He doesn’t play Sanji, however merely is.
When requested what Sanji may encourage in younger males battling their insecurities with relationships, Hirata-san doesn’t default to the usuals about respect or romance. “Think not about what you can get from someone — but what you can give. Rather than thinking, ‘What can I get from her?’ ask, ‘What can I do for her?” That’s Sanji in a sentence. He doesn’t love girls as a result of they love him again, however loves them as a result of he’s chosen to, fiercely and unconditionally. That’s to not say he’s a flawless icon — his flirtation borders on nose-bleeding farce, and he has extra blind spots than eyes. But his code, nevertheless ridiculous at occasions, is unwavering.
The sense of unshakeable character perception echoes once more when requested about Sanji’s long-held dream to search out the All Blue — the legendary sea the place all the world’s fish meet, the place flavors converge and potentialities bloom. “I wonder if it will actually come to pass,” Hirata-san says, not dismissively, however with the weariness of somebody who’s spent 25 years watching goals deferred. “But if he does find it, Sanji will react seriously. Coolly. Because it’s serious to him.”
Asked to recall his favourite fights, Hirata-san chuckles at the reminiscence of Sanji fleeing the trans ‘Okama’ warriors whereas holding onto his chivalrous vow to by no means kick a girl. “He had to obey his own rules — even if that meant running away.” The second could have been diminished to slapstick by most followers, however Hirata appears to see it as a testomony to Sanji’s unbending ideas beneath the pervy exterior.
Together, Usopp and Sanji complicate the ordinary shonen formulation. They aren’t the strongest and even the most aspirational. But they’re persistently the most human. They stumble, they cry, and they run. And in doing so, they mannequin a masculinity that isn’t about dominance or detachment, however about exhibiting up along with your full self, mess and all. Maybe that’s why they’ve lasted this lengthy. And perhaps that’s why, lengthy after the sea calms and the One Piece is lastly discovered, an entire era of followers will nonetheless carry somewhat Usopp and Sanji of their again pockets.
‘One Piece’ voice actors Kappei Yamaguchi (L) and Hiroaki Hirata (R) pose pose for a photograph with followers at Comic Con Mumbai 2025
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And that’s the secret sauce. For a narrative that stretches throughout oceans, islands, and infinite creativeness, One Piece thrives for the beating hearts at its core, each drawn and spoken. “We were really looking forward to the new season,” Yamaguchi-san says of the anime’s return after its lengthy hiatus. “I was surprised by the response from all over the world.” He smiles as if the waves nonetheless maintain surprises. After 25 years, the journey nonetheless hasn’t ended. Not for Usopp. Not for Sanji. And actually not for the followers who’ve grown up chasing goals of their stead.
New episodes of One Piece can be found to stream on Crunchyroll
Published – April 13, 2025 08:08 pm IST
