The official animator for One Piece, Sota Shigetsugu, has caused a stir within the anime community by criticizing the sound team at Toei Animation. Known for his work on other popular series like Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen, Shigetsugu took to social media to express his dissatisfaction with the sound design in the latest One Piece episode, Episode 1127. His now-deleted post called the sound team "unprofessional," and he even suggested that Toei Animation should fire them, stating, “Toei should urgently fire the sound team for One Piece. That’s not the work of professionals.”
The criticism stemmed from the audio in Episode 1127, which featured a highly anticipated battle between Luffy and Admiral Kizaru. While the animation received praise, the sound effects were heavily criticized for being outdated, repetitive, and poorly timed, which many fans felt detracted from the impact of the battle. Some viewers joked that the sound effects seemed unchanged for decades despite the series' massive success.
Shigetsugu’s post resonated with many fans, some of whom have long voiced their frustrations with the audio quality in One Piece. In response, a number of fans took matters into their own hands, editing the scenes with improved audio, which were positively received online. This suggests a significant demand for sound design that matches the high-quality animation the series is known for.
Despite the widespread backlash, Toei Animation has not publicly responded to the criticism or Shigetsugu’s comments, leaving the debate to continue online.
