The ‘Friends’ Japanese Dub is a Hilarious Treat for Anime Fans

You would never have guessed an anime fan could enjoy a scene from NBC’s Friends, but a scene from the Japanese dub of the show is now funny for a number of reasons.

Spotted by Scott Frerichs on Twitter – who also helps produce the popular YouTube parody show Dragon Ball Z Abridged – the Japanese dub of Friends features the voice of One Piece‘s Sanji, Hiroaki Hirata reciting one of Joey Tribbiani’s more famous lines:

In this episode from Friends‘ tenth season, “The One with the Birth Mother,” Joey Tribbiani goes on a rant when a bad date of his eats off of his plate without ordering any food for herself. In this rant, Joey utters the now famous “Joey doesn’t share food!” and it takes on an entirely new level when factoring in Hiroaki Hirata’s voice acting.

Hearing his voice, it’s pretty easy to imagine this food rant coming from the incredulous pirate chef Sanji. Adding in another layer to this is the fact Joey is speaking to Phoebe, whose Japanase voice over is provided by Atsuko Tanaka.

Atsuko Tanaka is famous in the anime world for her portrayal of Major Motoko Kusanagi in the influentual anime series, Ghost in the Shell. Meaning that not only is the comedic timing of Hirata bouncing off of Tanaka’s, fans can close their eyes and imagine the wildest crossover where two completely different characters talk to each other about food ethic. Sanji’s lovelorn looks toward Kusanagi’s blank face staring back at him would sure be a sight to behold.

This is not the only crazy crossover to happen in Japanese dubbing of Western releases with Thor: Ragnarok recently featuring the voice of My Hero Academia‘s All Might and JoJo Bizarre Adventure‘s Noriaki Kakoyoin.

This recent revelation is bound to inspire all sorts of wild fan-art for sure. At the very least, it does highlight a number of similarities between Friends and One Piece. Might as well be titled “Nakama” for that extra level of goodness.

For those unfamiliar with One Piece, it’s a story about a kid named Luffy who mistakenly eats a first that turns his body to rubber. Using this new power, he rounds up a ragtag group of pirate friends with the intention of one day becoming the Pirate King. Sanji is the chef of the crew who has an explicit fondness for women.

Did this clip of Friends‘ Japanese dub make you search out other clips? Talk to me @Valdezology.