Voice actors often turn to the source material to perfectly nail the characters they are playing and while many would expect One Piece actor Mayumi Tanaka to do that as well, that isn’t the case. No matter the medium that is being adapted, artists utilize the already available material to make sure the character they are enacting isn’t far from what the creator intended for them to be.
Learning about their characters helps artist improve their own approaches. It helps them embody who they play while also giving them a bigger picture of just what kind of a person their character is. Fans find the approach just as engaging because of how much life such a little gesture can put into the work as well.
Mayumi Tanaka Never Read the One Piece Manga
During an interview with 7 Rules (via Comicbook), Mayumi Tanaka admitted that it wasn’t in her to consult the manga Eiichiro Oda had so carefully crafted. One Piece has been going on for multiple decades now with fans following both the manga and the anime dedicatedly. While that too would be expected of Tanaka, she refuses to indulge in the manga.
I don’t read the manga, she stated. It might actually be better if I did, but my style is to do my performances while still holding onto that fresh feeling of surprise and going ‘Whoa, so this is what happens!’ that comes from reading about it in the script for the first time and seeing the artwork for the first time too.
According to the voice actor, it isn’t about any personal grudge against the manga but more so to do with the anticipation factor. Playing Luffy means that she stands as the center of the plot in most cases. Reading the manga would give Tanaka an omniscient viewpoint of what she is working on.
However, that isn’t something she wants. Instead, the entire thrill of discovering what her character goes through while she does too makes things better for her. It keeps that curiosity factor alive and also allows her to give her genuine reactions.
Mayumi Tanaka Knows Reading the Manga Can Help Her Improve
When Mayumi Tanaka admitted that it wasn’t in her to actually open the manga and go through everything that was to come, she also wasn’t one to deny that it would help her. Understanding the source material comes with its own power and advantage. Luffy’s voice actor, although having nailed her character ever since the anime first started airing, is still one who sees room for improvement.
There was no denying that if she had consulted the manga beforehand, there would have been ways in which she could have changed her approach. However, minor those changes may be, in the long run, it would have helped her regardless.
Despite the possibility for her own improvement, the anticipation and curiosity that is followed by the thrill is just too strong. She isn’t one to let anything else overcome the joy that comes when being handed the script for the first time and experiencing Luffy’s journey with her own eyes and voice.
One Piece is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
