One Piece Anime to Change Sabo’s Voice Actor After Toru Furuya Controversy

On Saturday, June 22, 2024, Aoni Production and Toru Furuya, the voice actor for characters such as Sabo in the One Piece anime and Toru Amuro in Detective Conan, announced that he will be resigning from these roles. The agency had requested Furuya to step down, and he agreed to do so. This means that he will no longer be voicing Sabo or Toru Amuro in the future.

On June 11, Atlus revealed that Furuya would no longer be part of the cast for their upcoming fantasy role-playing game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, due to “various circumstances.”They also stated that the replacement cast member would be announced in July, without specifying the character or role that Furuya was originally set to play.

At the time this article was written, there was no information regarding when Toei Animation would announce a replacement for Furuya in the roles of Detective Conan or One Piece in the anime series.

Actor Toru Furuya Announces Departure from One Piece and Other Projects

Furthermore, in light of the recent announcement about his role in the One Piece anime and other projects, Furuya once again expressed his sincerest apologies for the significant burden he has placed upon all those involved in the situation. The controversy initially arose in May when the Weekly Bunshun magazine published a report claiming that Furuya had engaged in an affair with a fan. In response, Furuya openly addressed the issue in an interview for the article and also publicly acknowledged it through his X (formerly Twitter) account on May 22.

Furuya confessed to being in a romantic relationship with a female fan for four and a half years, which came to an end in September 2023. He acknowledged that he was initially drawn to her due to her unwavering support for him and revealed that he was the one who initiated the affair. Additionally, he admitted to physically lashing out at her during a disagreement and also disclosed that he was responsible for her having an abortion while they were together.

Following the admission, Furuya’s bookings and schedule were immediately affected. Animate, which had planned to host a Detective Conan event on July 27 featuring Furuya as a speaker, cancelled the event. Additionally, Furuya chose to withdraw from a stage reading production scheduled for August 10 to 11. These changes add to the previous departures Furuya has faced due to this revelation. As of Saturday, Furuya’s X account was also deactivated.

With a career spanning over 50 years, Furuya has established himself as a renowned voice actor, having lent his talents to more than 100 titles. He is best known for his iconic roles as Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon, Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam, Yamcha in Dragon Ball, Pegasus Seiya in Saint Seiya, Kyosuke Kasuga in Kimagure Orange Road, and Ribbons Almark in Mobile Suit Gundam 00.

Despite the previous mention, the team responsible for the One Piece anime has not made any official statements regarding the replacement of Furuya as Sabo at the time of writing this article. Nevertheless, as Sabo is expected to play a significant role in the current Egghead arc, it is likely that an announcement will be made in the near future.