The latest episode of the hit anime ONE PIECE—titled Episode of Kuma: The Precious Little Jewel Left Behind—aired on May 18 via Fuji TV, delivering an emotional look into the past of Bartholomew Kuma. Notably, the voice of young Kuma was performed by renowned voice actor Nobuhiko Okamoto, known for voicing Katsuki Bakugo in My Hero Academia and Himmel in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.
Okamoto took to his official X (formerly Twitter) account to share his thoughts, writing, “It was my first time playing a baby’s voice.”

Based on the manga created by Eiichiro Oda, ONE PIECE has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since July 22, 1997. The story follows Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who gains the ability to stretch his body like rubber after eating the Gum-Gum Fruit. Luffy assembles a crew called the Straw Hat Pirates and sets off on an epic adventure to find the legendary treasure left behind by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger—known as the “One Piece.”

The manga has become a global phenomenon, with over 510 million copies in circulation worldwide. The TV anime adaptation has been airing since 1999. In 2022, the film ONE PIECE FILM RED became a cultural sensation, grossing 20.34 billion yen in Japan alone.

Source : ORICON NEWS