Admiral Ryokugyu will appear in next week’s episode of One Piece (Episode 1079), and he has a new voice actor. When he previously appeared in the show, Keiji Fujiwara voiced him. However, from his next appearance and onwards, Junichi Suwabe will portray the character. This is because Fujiwara passed away in 2020 from cancer.
In One Piece, Ryokugyu (or Aramaki) is an admiral in the Marines. He first appeared after the time skip and debuted during the Levely Arc. However, it was not until the end of the Wano Country Arc when readers and viewers got to see his full appearance or learn his real name.
Keiji Fujiwara was a prominent and well-known voice actor who portrayed major roles in a wide variety of anime and games. Since his debut in the early 1990s, he went on to play characters like Hiroshi Nohara in Crayon Shin-chan, Maes Hughes in both Fullmetal Alchemist series, and Axel in the Kingdom Hearts series.
His replacement, Junichi Suwabe is also someone who debuted in the 1990s and should be a familiar voice for many anime and game fans. Some of his popular roles include Grimmjow in Bleach, Victor in Yuri!!! On ICE, and Archer/EMIYA in Fate/stay night.
Junichi Suwabe will replace Keiji Fujiwara as Ryokugyu on One Piece starting from Episode 1079. You can watch One Piece via outlets such as Crunchyroll. Viz Media handles the manga.