In an Emblematic Moment, Mayumi Tanaka, the Voice Behind Luffy in One Piece, Personally Bequeathed the Mantle of Luffy's Legacy to Iñaki Godoy, Saying, "Keep it safe until it's time."

Iñaki Godoy, who plays the role of Monkey D. Luffy in Netflix’s One Piece, had the opportunity to meet one of the legendary figures in the world of anime. Mayumi Tanaka has been the Japanese voice behind Luffy for over 20 years. Her first-ever meeting with the live-action Luffy resulted in the recreation of an iconic scene.

Tanaka, aged 68, has been voicing Luffy since the animation was released by Toei in October 1999. Her shift in tone and voice expressions as the straw hat pirate grew over the years have been remarkable. She is responsible for renowned lines such as ‘kaizoku ni orewa naru’, and the notoriously famous ‘Luffy’s Baka’ song.

Mayumi Tanaka and Iñaki Godoy

Given that she has been in the voice acting industry since 1979, Mayumi Tanaka has voiced multiple iconic characters. She has previously given voice to Krillin from Dragon Ball Z, Koenma in YuYu Hakusho, Kirimaru Settsuno in Nintama Rantaro, among others.

Mayumi Tanaka Passed the Torch of Monkey D. Luffy’s Legacy to Iñaki Godoy

Before the release of the now-popular One Piece Live-Action, Netflix organized a meeting between the live-action version of Luffy and the original voice actor for the character. Iñaki Godoy and Mayumi Tanaka exchanged pleasantries upon meeting for the first time. It was subsequently revealed that Luffy’s Japanese dubbing in One Piece Live-Action will be voiced by Tanaka herself.

Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece anime

At the end of the recording, Mayumi Tanaka formally passed the responsibility of portraying Monkey D. Luffy to Iñaki Godoy. He kneeled in front of her, who subsequently kept Luffy’s straw hat on top of his head and followed it with dramatic words:-

“I leave this hat with you. Bring it to me someday… once you have become a great pirate.” (pats Godoy on the head)

Mackenyu, who plays the role of Roronoa Zoro in the live-action, exclaimed that the moment gave him goosebumps. Godoy did reveal previously that he mostly watched the Japanese dub of One Piece to get an idea about the character he was about to play. Despite being heavily inspired by Tanaka’s voice, the 20-year-old wanted to put something original in the voiceover for the series.

Mayumi Tanaka and Iñaki Godoy recreated a legendary moment from the One Piece animeMayumi Tanaka and Iñaki Godoy recreating an iconic Monkey D. Luffy moment

Mayumi Tanaka passing the straw hat to Iñaki Godoy was truly a unique moment created by Netflix to hype the series. One Piece fans may also co-relate it with an iconic scene that is depicted early in the manga and in Episode 4 of the anime.

In a flashback, Eiichiro Oda reveals in his manga that Monkey D. Luffy got his straw hat from Red-Haired Shanks, a powerful pirate who is playing a major role in the ongoing Egghead arc. Shanks places the hat on Luffy and makes him promise to return the ‘mugiwara’ when he becomes a strong pirate like him. He then sets sail with his crew.

Tanaka’s words to Godoy echoed that of Shanks. Figuratively, the red-haired pirate assigned the responsibility of claiming the One Piece treasure to Luffy when he gave him the straw hat.

One Piece Live-Action has been a tremendous success on the OTT platform, garnering millions of views since its release on August 31, 2023. Season 2 is expected to roll out in 2025 and feature the debut of Tony Tony Chopper and a Marine Captain named Smoker.