Voice actor Toru Furuya resigns from One Piece after affair scandal

Content Warning: This article contains descriptions of physical abuse. If you or someone you know is a victim of physical abuse, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE(7233).. For more resources, see Office for Family and Youth Services.

On June 22, anime voice actor Toru Furuya released a joint statement with his talent agency He announced that he will be stepping down from his roles as Sabo in One Piece and Toru Amuro in Detective Conan/Case Closed. His resignation came after a scandal in which the longtime voice actor admitted to having an affair and physically abusing a fan.

On May 22, Furuya confirmed a Report from Weekly Bushsin Magazine about his four-and-a-half-year affair with a fan on his now-deactivated X/Twitter account. In his statement, Furuya admitted to physically abusing the fan during an argument and that he had caused her to terminate her pregnancy, saying, “I will spend the rest of my life atone for my mistakes,” he said. Anime News Network.

“We have spoken with actor Toru Furuya, who is part of our agency, about the series of scandals that have occurred,” Aoni Production wrote in a statement (translated by Crunchyroll). “We asked (Furuya) to step down from two roles, namely Toru Amuro in Detective Conan and Sabo in One Piece, because the characters’ image was damaged. This request was accepted. We would like to deeply apologize to everyone involved in the production and the many fans of the work.”

“I, Toru Furuya, would like to apologize for my selfish actions and the many people I have caused trouble to,” Furuya said in the joint statement. “After careful consideration and with a heavy heart, I have decided to step down from my roles as Toru Amuro and Sabo as I have caused great harm to the characters. I would like to apologize once again to everyone I have caused great trouble to. I am truly sorry.”

Although Aoni Production has not yet announced Furuya’s recasting in One Piece and Detective Conan, there are already plans to replace the disgraced voice actor in the video game field. On June 11, Atlus announced Furuya’s removal from the cast of Metaphor: ReFantaziohis upcoming RPG, “for various reasons” and that his replacement would be announced sometime in July.

Furuya’s work as a voice actor spans over 50 years, with over 100 rollsincluding Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon, and Yamcha from Dragon Ball. Furuya also voiced video game characters such as Mewtwo in the Detective Pikachu series and Bryce Fairchild in Sega’s recent role-playing game Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

Photo credit Dick Thomas Johnsonlicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 General License.

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @ShinEyeZehUhh.