May 5 marks the official birthday of One Piece's iconic hero, Monkey D. Luffy. In honor of the event, Toshio Furukawa, who voices Portgas. D. Ace in the Japanese anime version, dedicated a special birthday artwork to his “little brother”.
Furukawa shared the said artwork on his official X (formerly Twitter) page. As shown below, the post shows Luffy happily announcing his birthday to the world. Although Furukawa's style is quite different from that of One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda, it still highlights the cheerful and carefree personality that has endeared Luffy to fans around the world. In the background, a silhouetted figure representing Ace politely asks the audience to “take care” of his younger brother. A prominent One Piece-centric X account named Pew (or @PewPiece) translated the Japanese text for their followers.
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The official voiceover artwork of Portgas D. Ace is both touching and tragic
One Piece chronicles the journey of Luffy, who dreams of finding the mysterious treasure of famous pirate captain Gol D. Roger and becoming king of all pirates. In both the anime and manga, Portgas D. Ace is said to be as beloved by One Piece fans as Luffy himself. Although he is actually Gol D. Roger's biological son, Ace grew up with Luffy under the supervision of Monkey D. Garp. Like his brother, Ace eventually ate one of the infamous Devil Fruits, giving him the power to use fire as a weapon in combat. After leaving home, Ace eventually joined the Whitebeard Pirates, becoming their second division commander. Notably, he was one of the key characters in One Piece's “Marineford Arc”, in which he famously risked his life to protect Luffy from the villainous Admiral Akainu. In Furukawa's artwork, Ace's message can be interpreted as a subtle allusion to the character's tragic fate.
Since its launch in 1997, One Piece has become the #1 best-selling manga of all time, with over 523.2 million copies worldwide (as of February 2024). Toei Animation's hit anime adaptation premiered in 1999. More than 25 years and more than 1,000 episodes later, fans from Japan, America and beyond continue to tune in every week to watch the Adventures of Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates. In honor of the series' continued success, Toei recently announced the first US-based One Piece cafe, which features a colorful array of merchandise inspired by the world and its characters in the series. The cafe, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, will open to the public on May 11 – just a few days after Luffy's birthday.
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One Piece's Toshio Furukawa as Ace has also been in Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer and more
Toshio Furukawa has taken on a number of important voice roles throughout his career, including Hantengu in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kai Shiden in Mobile Suit Granada, Taro Soramame in Dr. Slump and Arale-chan and Ataru Moroboshi in the film adaptation of Pierrot's original 1981 anime. by Urusei Yatsura (The Abominable Aliens!). Besides Ace, he is perhaps best known for his role as Piccolo in Toei Animation's other classic, Dragon Ball.
The latest chapters of One Piece are available in English on VIZ Media. The One Piece anime series is currently available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll.
One Piece (1999)
Follow the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew to find the greatest treasure ever left behind by the legendary Pirate, Gold Roger. The famous mysterious treasure is called “One Piece”.
Release date October 20, 1999
Creator(s). Eiichiro Oda
Cast Mayumi Tanaka, Akemi Okamura, Laurent Vernin, Tony Beck, Kazuya Nakai
Seasons first
Studio Toei Animation
Creator Eiichiro Oda
Production company Toei Animation
Episodes 1K+
Source: X (formerly Twitter)