One Piece’s Live-Action Zoro Confirms How Long He Wants To Stay In The Series

Many anime fans believed that it would be truly impossible for anyone to create a successful live-action take on the Grand Line, especially considering the anime world’s previous track record with live-action adaptations. Netflix managed to prove fans wrong with the arrival of One Piece’s first season, depicting the formation of the Straw Hat Pirates in the East Blue Saga. As the second season continues filming and plans to take Roronoa Zoro and the crew to locales like Drum Island and Little Garden,

The actor who plays Roronoa Zoro is no stranger to bringing anime franchises to the “real world.” Mackenyu has played major roles in live-action anime adaptations including Rurouni Kenshin, Fullmetal Alchemist, Knights of The Zodiac, Tokyo Ghoul, and even JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable. When it comes to his portrayal as Zoro, many anime fans might agree that this is his best performance yet as it’s been clear that he’s been giving his Straw Hat role his all. In recent days, Mackenyu has been hyping the action that he plans to bring to the second season, which makes sense if the live-action series continues to follow the story of its source material. In fighting against Baroqueworks, the live-action Roronoa will have more than a few chances to test out his swords.

[RELATED: Netflix’s One Piece: Mackenyu Slips New Season 2 Updates in Latest Live Chat]

Zoro Forever

Last year, Mackenyu attended “Comic Con Brussels,” taking the chance to discuss his part in the Grand Line. When asked by a fan if he’s looking to play any other iconic anime roles, the live-action Zoro stated that he would need to “finish One Piece first.” Hoping to see the Netflix series follow in the footsteps of the manga and anime adaptation, Mackenyu said the following, “There’s like 50 more seasons to go… so when I turn 70, I’ll retire playing Zoro.”

At present, the anime series has over eleven hundred episodes that have followed the Straw Hats since One Piece arriving in the late 1990s. Needless to say, it is going to take quite some time for the Netflix series to bring all of Monkey D. Luffy’s story to life and its questionable if it will actually portray events like Egghead Island and Luffy discovering Gear Fifth. Hopefully, the actors portraying the Straw Hats will have their dreams come true and we’ll get decades of Netflix’s live-action series.

Live-Action Anime Adaptations’ Rise To Power

Many anime fans believe that One Piece’s live-action success has paved the way for the new projects that have been announced in its wake. On top of Netflix’s take on the Grand Line, live-action movies for the likes of Naruto, One-Punch Man, Voltron, Mobile Suit: Gundam, and My Hero Academia are in the works. Fingers crossed that these other projects are able to hit the same heights as Netflix’s series and the rise of live-action anime adaptations goes higher.

Want to stay updated on Netflix’s live-action Grand Line? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on all things One Piece and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk comics and anime.