Toru Furuya is a renowned voice actor with five decades of experience and many iconic characters. The anime world was shaken when he recently confessed to a 4-year affair with a fan, leading to public outrage.
His apology came after serious allegations surfaced, including violence and pressure to terminate a pregnancy. Furuya stepped down as voice actor for many characters, including One Piece’s Sabo.
Who will be the new voice of Sabo in One Piece?
It was announced that Miyu Irino would be taking over the responsibility, and he would be the new voice of Sabo. Miyu Irino’s debut as Sabo’s voice actor was in One Piece Episode 1116. Miyu Irino has voiced many popular anime characters, so most fans should know him.
Miyu Irino has voiced characters in popular anime like – Ritsu from Mob Psycho, Ishida Shouya from A Silent Voice, Sugawara from Haikyuu!!!, Jintan from The Flower We Saw That Day and Young Minato from Naruto, Naruto Shippuden.
What Did Toru Furuya Do?
In an interview with Weekly Bunshun magazine, voice actor Toru Furuya revealed his affair with a 33-year-old female fan, which spanned four and a half years starting in 2019. The interview happened when there were already many public allegations made about the affair.
The scandal worsened after details beyond the breach of professional ethics emerged. Toru Furuya had shown constant and extremely violent behavior and caused personal trauma to the fan during the relationship.
After an altercation at Furuya’s villa on a certain instance, the fan called the police, but Furuya took her phone away. Although she escaped and retrieved her phone, the police called her multiple times. Furuya eventually apologized, but the incident left a lasting impact on her.
In an unfortunate turn of events, the fan also became pregnant during the affair. When she informed Furuya, he pressured her to terminate the pregnancy, scared of the consequences if the truth ever surfaced.
He even questioned if he was the father, causing further trauma to the fan. She ultimately terminated the pregnancy under his repeated attempts at pressuring her.
Toru Furuya’s Apology
Following the scandal, Toru Furuya issued a public apology on X (formerly Twitter). He confessed to the affair, expressed regret for his violent actions, and acknowledged the emotional and physical harm he caused.
Furuya also apologized to his fans for betraying their trust and dishonoring the characters he voices. In his apology, he vowed to spend the rest of his life making amends and said he would accept any punishment for his deeds.
Notable Roles in Furuya’s Career
Furuya has been a voice actor for over 50 years. He is best known for iconic roles such as Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, Sabo from One Piece, Yamcha from Dragon Ball, Toru Amuro/Rei Furuya from Detective Conan, and Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon.
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