One Piece has had its fair share of rivalries in the shonen series’ history but one of the strongest is definitely the one between the Straw Hat Pirates’ resident swordsman and their chef. Since the early days of the anime series, Zoro and Sanji have had a “friendly” rivalry that will see the two swashbucklers tally their victories on the battlefield and/or how many animals they can take down for dinner. In a recent interview with the Japanese voice actors that brought Sanji and Zoro to life, Hiroaki Hirata and Kazuya Nakai, the duo described which scenes they consider to be the saddest in One Piece history.
Ironically enough, both of the voice actors for the legendary Straw Hats agreed that the scene where Luffy and company saw goodbye to Vivi during the Alabasta was the saddest moment. To start, Hiroaki Hirata, the voice of Sanji, described the scene that was closest in bringing a tear to his eye, “Vivi, when she talks about her adventure. The scene where we say goodbye to Vivi was emotional. That kind of scene really could make any actor start crying but it reminds me of Vivi’s words from voice actor Watanabe Misa. ‘I definitely won’t cry.’ So, I don’t think there’s a scene where I cry or look like I will cry.”
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Zoro’s Emotional Moment
Kazuya Nakai then shared his thoughts on Vivi’s farewell scene which capped off the Alabasta Arc, “In episode 129, ‘Everything Began That Day!’ the scene where we bid farewell to Vivi almost made me cry, but I didn’t cry. The only one who cried off-record was Kappei Yamaguchi (Usopp’s voice actor) during our break. He saw the Going Merry burning in the Enies Lobby Saga in the manga, even though we hadn’t reached that point yet in the anime.”
While far from confirmed, the live-action One Piece series may have this farewell to Vivi in its second season finale. The next season of the Netflix hit is currently in production, assembling the young actors who play Luffy and his crew while also sharing recent casting decisions online. With both One Piece Day happening later this month and Netflix Geeked taking place in September, expect more showings from the Straw Hats in the near future.
Want to see what the future holds for the Straw Hats? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for the latest updates on the Grand Line.
