With 1,000 Episodes of ‘One Piece,’ Looking Back at the Bumpy English Dub Process for the Beloved Anime
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Very few anime series can lay claim to running for over 1,000 episodes. Even fewer have received English dubs that have reached that point: “Pokemon: The Series” (dubbed continually since 1998) and now ”One Piece.”
“One Piece” follows Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates as they travel the high seas in search of the titular treasure that will transform him into King of the Pirates. But the anime’s journey to a faithful English dub was almost as rough as Luffy’s adventures.
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While the series did have international name recognition not long after its 1999 debut in Japan, it wouldn’t be until June 2004 that it was licensed by 4Kids Entertainment, the company behind the “Pokémon” English adaptation. Fans were concerned, as 4Kids was becoming increasingly infamous for altering the anime shows they licensed to make them more palatable for younger audiences.
Despite the fandom’s trepidation, the first details regarding the 4Kids dub were promising. Instead of crafting a wholly original theme song as they often did, 4Kids created an English version of the show’s iconic Japanese theme, “We Are.” Unfortunately, the only recorded audio of this theme was from footage at a licensing event. The show’s eventual English theme ended up being… well, a bit different. ”Gum Gum Rap,” as it came to be affectionately nicknamed, went on to earn a decent fanbase who retroactively appreciate its “so bad, it’s good” appeal. (Fun fact: The song’s original rapper, Shawn Conrad, created an updated version several years back and has done a fascinating video on how it was originally conceived.)
The drastically altered opening theme was merely the beginning of what would quickly become 4Kids’ most infamous dub of all time.
To adhere to stringent Saturday morning broadcast standards, a number of substantial edits had to be made. Blood, alcohol consumption, and excessive violence were removed. Zoro’s name was changed to Zolo, likely to avoid any potential lawsuits with the “Mask of Zorro” films that were popular at that time. Sanji’s cigarette became a lollipop. In one instance, a gun was edited into a hammer. Entire episodes were removed or spliced together, often due to enough content being cut in a single episode to necessitate incorporating footage from the following episode to fill the runtime. Needless to say, this censorship didn’t sit well with fans.
In 2006, an unexpected development occurred. After 104 episodes, with little fanfare and no official explanation given, 4Kids ceased production on their “One Piece” dub. Many fans wondered if 4Kids’ treatment of the show had scuttled any chance of it ever receiving a faithful English dub or finding an English-speaking audience again.
They didn’t have long to wait. The following year, FUNimation Entertainment (now Crunchyroll), of “Dragon Ball Z” fame, acquired the rights to the series and produced a brand new, uncut English dub with a new voice cast. In order to smooth the transition from the 4Kids dub to theirs, they would temporarily adhere to 4Kids’ adaptation changes — Zoro would remain Zolo, swearing and excessive violence were still off the table, and religious references would be toned down. Once the new dub was fully established, it would go completely uncut and unedited.
However, FUNimation still had an uphill battle. Their dub premiered on Cartoon Network’s Toonami programming block in September 2007 with Episode 144. A week earlier, the Japanese series aired episode 325, putting them almost 200 episodes behind (not to mention the issue of redubbing the first 143 episodes unedited). It was a whirlwind of work, but FUNimation’s crew was up to the challenge.
Colleen Clinkenbeard, senior producer at Crunchyroll and the current voice of series protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, remembers that time well. “We were recording in three booths at the same time for a while there, which was vocally taxing and chronologically confusing,” she said, “but also very immersive and exciting!”
After getting over the initial humps, the crew continued dubbing the show practically non-stop over the next 16 years.
“We have gotten so much better and more efficient at everything throughout the years,” said Clinkenbeard. “Looking back now it seems like we were all just babies, trying to figure things out together. Now it’s a much more streamlined process.”
The process has become so streamlined, in fact, that the dub has managed to produce new episodes faster than ever before. What started as a seemingly insurmountable 300-plus episode gap has closed dramatically. By mid-2023, the show was fewer than 100 episodes behind the Japanese version — on August 15, the 1,000th episode aired, a feat for an English dubbed anime that only “Pokémon” had laid claim to.
“I’m so, so, proud to have reached this milestone,” said Clinkenbeard. “There were times we wondered if we’d get here, and there were times my voice wondered if we could handle this. But we’re here now, and the series has never been so exciting. I’m so glad there are still fans who have hung around to listen to our dub!”
Clinkenbeard, who is currently rewatching the entire series with her son, looks back on her journey so far with fondness. “What a thrill to go back and see how much the series has grown,” she said. “I’ve personally gotten to a place where I feel like I know Luffy so well that I don’t ever question how he would say something. I can react in character without any stress about acting choices. It’s a lovely place to be with a role, and one I think is singular to Luffy for me.”
As of this writing, the English dub of “One Piece” sits around 60 or so episodes behind the Japanese version. At its current pace, it could reach a point where episodes are released in Japanese and English the same week. When it comes to the continued English language voyage of “One Piece,” there’s nothing but sunny skies and calm seas ahead.
“One Piece” is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix. A live-action adaptation premieres August 31 on Netflix.
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