The following contains spoilers for episode 1047 of One Piece, which will air on Jan. 15.
The One Piece anime has found its man for the role of adult Kozuki Momonosuke.
The official One Piece franchise website announced that Attack on Titan voice actor Hiro Shimono would be making his first appearance as Momonosuke in the upcoming episode 1047, titled "Rise to the Dawn! The Peach Colored Dragon Rages!" Shimono played the role of Conny Springer in the massively popular adaptation of Hajime Isayama's manga, and is also known for his performances as Zenitsu Agatsuma in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Nacht Faust in Black Clover. He will be taking over the reins as Momonosuke in One Piece from Ai Orikasa, who has voiced the character in his eight-year-old form since 2013.
Momonosuke's Voice Actor Loves One Piece
The post on One Piece's website included comments from Shimono, who stated that he'd been a fan of the manga and the series as a whole since the original "Romance Dawn" arc. He also promised to honor Orikasa's performance and keep it in mind as he takes on the adult version of the character. Orikasa commented in the announcement as well, reflecting on how much she enjoyed embodying the character and hoping that even though Momonosuke's voice is changing, the fans will continue to embrace the character.
Episode 1047 continues the third act of One Piece's "Wano Arc," which has become the longest arc of the anime by far, beginning with episode 892 back in 2019. The casting of adult Momonosuke is a sign that the saga is finally nearing its end, as the character decides to have his body aged up by 20 years to help set up the final confrontation between protagonist Luffy and the central antagonist of the Wano Arc, Kaido. With almost all of the Straw Hat subordinates winning their respective battles against Kaido's crew, only a few climactic fights remain, including the showdown between Sanji and Zoro and their strongest opponents yet, Queen and King, which kicked off in last week's episode 1046.
While the anime remains in the land of Wano, the One Piece manga continues to forge ahead of its TV counterpart. Despite rumors the upcoming arc will be the final one of the series, creator Eiichiro Oda has assured fans that Luffy's story isn't ending any time soon, ensuring we'll be hearing a lot more stellar voice work from actors like Hiro Shimono and Mayumi Tanaka in the future.
Episode 1047 will air on Jan. 15 on Crunchyroll. The One Piece manga is available in North America from Viz Media.
Source: One Piece