One Piece’s live-action series recently wrapped production on its second season, making Straw Hat Pirates’ fans all the more excited to once again step into Netflix’s take on the Grand Line. With Luffy and company headed to deadly locales such as Loguetown, Drum Island, Little Garden, Whiskey Peak, and more, the anime heroes are going to need to give it everything they got to survive. Luckily, the young actor Mackenyu, who plays the part of the green-haired swordsman known as Roronoa Zoro, has bulked up for season two and was more than happy to share how his love of the shonen series helped push him to new heights.
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In One Piece’s first live-action season, the Netflix series stuck close to the source material in terms of introducing Roronoa to Monkey D. Luffy. Fighting against the likes of Aarlong and other antagonists of the East Blue Saga, One Piece was able to highlight how Mackenyu was the perfect actor to bring Zoro to life. In previous interviews, the young actor went so far as to state that One Piece’s second season will have far more action than its first, which certainly makes sense if you know what’s to come from the source material.
[RELATED: One Piece’s Live-Action Zoro Confirms How Long He Wants To Stay In The Series]
A Bulky Zoro For Season 2
In a recent interview, Mackenyu confirmed that in One Piece’s first season, he didn’t have the time to “bulk up” for his role as the Straw Hat Swordsman. This go-around however, the actor has spent some serious time in the gym, even to the point wherein he described his training as “painful.” Here’s what Mackenyu had to say,
“I’ve been working hard to build my body & it’s painful. I didn’t have much time when I got cast in season one, so I did what I could. This time I want to shred & bulk-up more. I love Zoro so I want to appear as close as possible to his physique in the manga.”
Mackenyu’s Biggest Live-Action Anime Actor
One Piece is far from the first time that Mackenyu took on an anime role. As it stands, the actor has played major roles in live-action anime adaptations including Fullmetal Alchemist, Rurouni Kenshin, Knights of The Zodiac, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Kaiji, Tokyo Ghoul, and more. While a third season of Netflix’s One Piece hasn’t been confirmed, Mackenyu is in it for the long haul, recently stating that he wants to play Roronoa Zoro for as long as he can, even when he is an old man.
When it comes to the upcoming second season, One Piece has yet to reveal when we can expect it to hit the streaming service. Production might have wrapped, but it will surely take time to slap all the footage together as Netflix did not promote season two as landing in 2025 during a recent sizzle reel. Fingers crossed that we’ll see the live-action Straw Hat Pirates’ return sooner rather than later.
Want to see what further developments are revealed for the live-action Grand Line? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on One Piece and hit me up directly @EVComedy or leave a comment!
