The Real Reason Toei Isn’t Happy With One Piece — Vincent Chansard Explains

Here is one you do not hear every day: a top-tier animator who has worked on both One Piece and Dragon Ball just called out Toei Animation for bad sound. Not story. Not animation. Sound. And he did it in public.

What kicked this off

In a recent YouTube interview hosted by KOL: Requiem, animator Vincent Chansard — the guy behind a bunch of standout cuts in One Piece and Dragon Ball — said Toei's sound choices are a long-running problem. He did not mince words about the studio's sound effects team, saying they routinely miss the mark, and he pointed to recent One Piece episodes as exhibit A.

Chansard also shared a memory that adds some weight to the complaint: he recalled Akira Toriyama himself being wary of Toei's music direction on Dragon Ball, to the point of feeling like the sound was hurting his own show. That is a pretty stark data point if you are keeping score.

So, will Toei fix it?

Chansard was asked if he sees One Piece's sound production improving. He wants it to happen, but he did not sound confident, especially with the current run racing toward what could be the end of the original series.

"I am of the same opinion as everyone, [many] people on the One Piece team are very close to my opinion as well. Will it change in the future? I hope."

Translation: folks inside the production know the sound is not where it should be, but there is no clear path to an overhaul anytime soon.

The remake wildcard

He did note the bright side: WIT Studio's upcoming One Piece remake could finally deliver the series with across-the-board top-shelf production, sound included. If you have been frustrated by the audio in recent arcs, that project might be the reset button.

Why fans are annoyed right now

If you felt something was off in certain big fights, you are not alone. The Gear 5 Luffy vs. Kizaru throwdown had people baffled — massive moment on the page, then the anime rolls in with music and effects that feel like they time-traveled in from an older era. That mismatch keeps happening: sometimes the tracks land, but other times the scoring undercuts the momentum instead of juicing it.

• Episode 1127: Luffy vs. Kizaru — battle undercut by outdated, poorly executed effects.
• Episode 1128: The Nightmare Strikes — sound did not track with what was happening on-screen.
• Episode 1071: Luffy's Peak – Fifth Gear — overly cartoonish effects in a moment that needed weight.
• Post-Wano fights (Luffy vs. Kizaru, Zoro vs. Lucci) — heavy reuse of old effects from earlier periods.

Stuff like this matters. The right score can make a fight immortal; the wrong one makes you wonder what could have been. And on a hype-driven series like One Piece, that is the ballgame.

Where this leaves things

Chansard's take is blunt, and honestly, it lines up with what a lot of fans have been saying for a while. If Toei course-corrects, great. If not, the WIT remake may be where the audio finally catches up to the animation. In the meantime, all current One Piece episodes are streaming on Crunchyroll if you want to judge the sound for yourself.