One Piece episode #1118 was one of the most hotly-anticipated episodes in weeks for one reason: it was set to be the first time Imu would speak in the anime. Everything about Imu’s character has been kept deliberately vague, so episode #1118 was finally a chance to learn something about them, even if it was indirectly.

One Piece episode #1118 ended exactly where people thought it would—on Imu’s first proper voice line—and the anime did a great job with it. Between the direction surrounding their appearance and how the issue of their voice was handled, One Piece episode #1118 perfectly handled Imu’s reveal in a way that was notably dramatic while still keeping to the manga’s aesthetic. Even if episode #1118 wasn’t as definitive about Imu’s true identity as people hoped it would be, it still had a great handling of the character, and that was great to see play out.

One Piece’s Anime Has A Brilliant Way Of Hiding Imu’s Gender

One Of The Biggest Questions About Imu Remains Unanswered

One of the biggest questions people have had about Imu’s identity from the moment they first appeared has been about their gender; Imu has always been depicted in silhouette and isn’t addressed with gender-specific pronouns, adding more mystery to their identity. Rather than give a definitive answer, though, One Piece episode #1118 hides Imu’s gender by leaving their voice actor uncredited and filtering their voice. What little can be heard of their voice sounds somewhat androgynous, as well, so it’s still impossible to tell Imu’s gender.

As odd as it might be to go to such lengths to hide Imu’s gender, it makes sense that the One Piece anime would do that. Even with the most recent events of the manga, very little about Imu has been revealed, so the anime making a statement about their gender when the manga has yet to would be a major spoiler. Because of that, One Piece episode #1118 making it impossible to figure out Imu’s gender through their voice actor helps maintain the ambiguity of their character, and overall, this was probably the best way to sell that idea.

One Piece’s Anime Continues To Perfectly Sell Imu As The Main Villain

Imu’s appearance in episode #1118 had them doing little more than walking upstairs and sitting down on the Empty Throne, but the way One Piece episode #1118 dragged it out with impressive camerawork and a haunting soundtrack did a great job of selling Imu as an imposing and villainous figure, even before they spoke. Even with Imu not actually doing much in One Piece episode #1118, it did a perfect job of making their moment as big as possible, and with any luck, the rest of their appearances will follow suit.

One Piece releases new episodes Saturdays on Crunchyroll.