One Piece fans convinced another anime show holds clue to Imu’s voice

Imu is making more regular appearances on the One Piece anime, spurring discussion of their mysterious voice, and fans think they’ve found a new clue.

As the overarching antagonist of the whole series, Imu looms large in One Piece. As the manga heads into the Elbaf Arc, the anime show is just covering some of the supreme ruler’s bigger scenes.

We got to hear Imu’s voice for the first time, but their voice actor was left uncredited, creating all sorts of speculation. Meanwhile, in Episode 1119, the villain kills Cobra, creating even more mystery.

In speculating about Imu, fans are increasingly convinced they’ve put together a link to another iconic franchise that may provide clues: Fullmetal Alchemist. In that, the character Pride from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood sounds similar, with a girl voicing a boy to give an ethereal vibe.

People are convinced of the similarities. “It sounds the exact same as Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood’s Pride. The VA was a girl but the character was a guy (or I guess nonbinary since homunculus),” says one comment on Reddit.

“It’s almost exactly Pride’s voice from FMA Brotherhood, and that character was a male child,” another adds. “Imu’s giving me FMA Homunculus vibes – specifically Pride.,” a third states.

It’s noted repeatedly there isn’t enough to be able to discern gender – a willful choice as Imu’s gender hasn’t been explicitly revealed by creator Eiichiro Oda, but this might suggest some form of redirect is happening. Toei is no doubt aware of how the fanbase will continue to react, and is working accordingly.

Imu makes more and more appearances from here, but they’re still shrouded in mystery. Knowing One Piece, it’ll be a while before things clear up. You can find out about the latest happenings with our guides to Saturn’s death and Chapter 1126.