Summary
Nami from One Pieceisone of the most iconic female characters in anime and manga.The talented navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates is very popular, and her reputation stems from a number of things, like her design and her personality. However, there’s another thing that has helped Nami stand out. That is the Japanese voice actress who brings her to life in the anime,Akemi Okamura.
While Okamura has been voicing Nami for over 25 years, she has also made appearances in other popular anime, using her lovely voice to portray many other characters. She hasn’t appeared in as many projects as her fellowOne Piececo-stars, but she still had a good number of memorable roles to choose from. The following are the best in her extensive career.
Akemi Okamura might be renowned for portraying Nami nowadays, but back in 1992, she had the opportunity to voiceFio Piccolo, one of the main characters ofPorco Rosso.Landing a lead role in a Studio Ghibli film is one of the most prestigious thingsa Japanese voice actor can achieve and, at just 23 years old, this is the role that put Okamura on the map.
What’s especially curious is that Fio shares a lot of similarities with Nami. They’re both young women with short orange hair and carefree personalities. As a result, Okamura’s performance is similar to her work as Nami, only 7 years beforeOne Piecebegan airing. Fio has a smooth and kind-sounding voice, but can raise it whenever she gets angry or serious. While neither Eiichiro Oda or Toei Animation have ever mentioned Fio Piccolo as an inspiration for Nami, it almost feels like they chose Akemi Okamura for the role in part based on this legendary performance.
Akemi Okamura workedon another iconic IP fromWeekly Shōnen Jumpone year beforeOne Pieceaired on TV: She voicedMito Freecss, Ging’s cousin and Gon’s foster mother, in the 1998 OVA Pilot ofHunter x Hunter. She was eventually replaced by Akiko Kimura in the 1999 series, most likely because Okamura had begun working onOne Piecearound that time.
Curiously enough, Mito is another female character that looks and acts a lot like Nami. Okamura’s performance made her feel like the kind-hearted but protective maternal figure that she is. It would have been satisfying to hear Okamura on this in any of the twoHunter x Hunteradaptations, but it was not meant to be.
AfterOne Piecebegan airing and the world got to hear Akemi Okamura’s excellent performance as Nami, the talented voice actress went on to work on another of Toei Animation’s animated adaptations ofa classicWeekly Shōnen Jumpmanga. Interestingly,her colleague, Ikue Ōtani (Tony Tony Chopper’s voice actress)also portrays the titular character inZatch Bell!.
Okamura’s performance as the mamodo known asKidois distinct from most of her other roles. While she usually specializes in voicing young but mature women, this time around she got the chance to portray a small boy. Nevertheless, she managed to pull it off and made Kido sound innocent and youthful, proving that, like Ikue Ōtani, she can voice small anf adorable characters.
Akemi Okamura has actually voiced many female characters in thePokemonanime throughout its extensive run. However, one role stands out over the rest. That isSaturn, one of Team Galactic’s main commanders in theDiamond & Pearl Series.
Once again, hearing Okamura’s signature voice coming out of a male character is a surprise, especially considering that Saturn is a villain. However, she was able to make him sound malicious, ambitious, and despicable, with a hint of misguided innocence,seeing as he’s one of the youngest members of Team Galactic. Okamura returned to the role in 2022, when Saturn reappeared inThe Arceus ChroniclesTV special.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhoodis one of the very few shows that featured a fair share of the Straw Hat’s Japanese voice actors.There’s Kazuya Nakai (Zoro/Miles), Kazuki Yao (Franky/Yoki) and, of course, Akemi Okamura as the voice ofPaninya. While this is a minor character with fewer appearances, Okamura still managed to make the character memorable with her excellent performance.
Paninya is a thief from Rush Valley who made her debut in the anime when she stole Edward Elric’s watch. After befriending the Elric brothers and Winry,she becomes a trustworthy ally and a good friend to them. That’s right, Paninya is a petty thief with a tragic backstory who is eventually shown to be very kind. She’s so similar to Nami that it almost feels like Okamura was chosen for this role on purpose, and she ended up doing a great job.
Most of Akemi Okamura’s voice roles have been for nice and/or innocent characters from fairly lighthearted shows. Even Saturn, who is supposed to be a villain, isn’t that dark or serious. However, this changed in 2016, when she voicedAkemi HinazukiinErased. This groundbreaking role proved that Okamura has an impressive and versatile voice.
Akemi Hinazuki is one ofErased’smain antagonists, but this isn’t a fantasy shōnen anime likeOne PieceorFullmetal Alchemist. This show is quite serious and grounded in reality. Hinazuki is infamous for being Kayo’s abusive and manipulative mother. Every time she appears, the mood shifts, and everything gets disturbing and uncanny. None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for Okamura’s excellently creepy performance. It is quite mind-blowing to think that such a despicable character shares a voice actress with Nami. This is undoubtedly one of the best roles in Okamura’s entire career.
