One Piece is one of the longest running anime series of all time. a truly legendary show worthy of its reputation. Based on Eiichiro Oda's manga of the same name, One Piece is still going strong 25 years later, becoming a cultural institution. And after all this time, the show is better than ever. The latest story arc, "Egghead Island Arc" even made our list of the best anime of the year. Between the anime, the live-action show, and the upcoming animated remake on Netflix, there's never been a better time to be a One Piece fan. With so much source material still to go, it could be a few years before we see the end of One Piece.

And yet, the anime just experienced a major shakedown, one that devastated fans. After nearly 20 years, one of the Straw Hats is disembarking and saying goodbye to the show. Kazuki Yao, who joined the cast in 2000 and voiced characters such as Jango and Mr. 2 Bon Clay before voicing Frankie has officially retired, citing health issues. His roles are reversed, with voice actor Subaru Kimura (Todo in Jujutsu Kaizen) taking on the role of Straw Hat Pirates' captain Frankie starting in 2025.

The Straw Hat Pirates voice cast isn't getting any younger, unfortunately. The youngest member of the cast is Akemi Okamura, who voices Nami and is 55 years old. Luffy's voice actor, Mayumi Tanaka, is 69 years old herself, and as great as the voice is, the anime shows no signs of being anywhere near the end of the story. Yao retiring and needing a replacement is just a sign of things to come. And on the other side of the Pacific, American fans should look to what's happening with "One Piece" for a possible tease about the future of another cultural institution - "The Simpsons."

Frankie wouldn't exist without Yao. Oda himself created the character with Yao's voice in mind, and the voice acting combined with the special design made the character so special and memorable. He is like an older brother to the younger Straw Hats and an avenue for Oda to explore his love of giant robots. Indeed, Frankie increasingly turned more machine than man, building a giant robot for himself called the Iron Pirate "General Frankie" much to the delight of the other Straw Hats - especially Chopper, Luffy, and Usopp. So, Yao's performance was incredibly important to the character, but now that the time has come, the character is just pretending.

It won't be long until The Simpsons faces a similar conundrum. The iconic cartoon is similarly still going strong after 35 years, with recent seasons are the best in decades. We get episodes that experiment with the show's formula and challenge the characters in exciting new ways. Much like the Straw Hat Pirates, The Simpsons cast isn't getting any younger. The youngest members of the main cast, Hank Azaria and Gordley Smith, are 60 years old, while Harry Shearer is 81 years old. Shearer has just delivered his best performance yet as Ned Flandersbut much longer could he continue to testify to Mr. Barnes, or Smithers, or Skinner? What about Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta? The man is 67, while Julie Kavner who voices Marge is 74 (and her performance as Marge has undoubtedly suffered in recent years).

Recently, Pamela Hayden made waves when she announced her retirement after 35 years voicing Milhouse Van Houten - as well as Rod, Jimbo Jones and many others. It looks like Disney and Fox will at least remake her characters instead of using artificial intelligence (thankfully) to try to keep the voice in future episodes, but what happens when Castellaneta can no longer voice Homer? What if Nancy Cartwright had to stop voicing Bart? Will they hire voice actors like Rick and Morty did for the two title characters? Or will they go the way of Darth Vader, which Disney officially voices using artificial intelligence?

It remains to be seen (well, heard) how Kimura will fare as the new voice of Frankie, but hopefully he shows that it's much better to go the remake route instead of artificially trying to replicate an iconic voice. Voice acting still works, it can't be replicated by a machine or algorithm. Let's hope The Simpsons remembers that when the time comes.