One Piece Star Mackenyu Compares Zoro & Assassin’s Creed Character

One Piece fans are insanely excited for the second season of the live action adaptation from Netflix, and one of its biggest stars is taking on another role with impressive similarities ahead of a what they promise will be an even better performance in the next installment.

One Piece has been at the pinnacle of popularity in its native Japan for more than two decades, and has also netted itself immense international renown both before and after the more recent mainstream explosion of anime in the West. One of the main factors that has always driven this growth is the IP’s endless collection of memorable and unique characters, with all sorts of archetypes and storytelling conventions expertly deployed with a unique twist. This charm and appeal translated perfectly to Netflix’s live-action show thanks to the flawless casting for the protagonists and their adversaries, a trend that has seemingly continued as the show adds cast members in the lead up to its second season, which original creator Eiichiro Oda has confirmed his involvement with.

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One of the show’s standout characters across all mediums is Zoro. While live-action One Piece star Mackenyu sees himself in that role for the long haul, he’s also made out time to do other projects and even found one similar to his One Piece character. Speaking to Crunchyroll in a recent interview that touched on his One Piece role, Mackenyu also discussed his role in the upcoming game project Assassin’s Creed Shadows as Gennojo, a character he describes as “complex, a little reckless, very charming and has swagger.” When asked about finding any crossover between Zoro and his Assassin’s Creed Shadows character, Mackenyu drew a neat throughline between the two for fans. “Gennojo and Zoro both have a strong moral code that they bring to their missions, but also an underlying loyalty to the people around them,” the actor explained. “I wouldn’t want to pick a fight with either one of them.”

Mackenyu’s ability to find similarities between the two characters likely means that his performances in both roles will also reflect across both franchises. This could be great for fans of both, as any character could benefit from some of Zoro’s unique charm and personality, and Mackenyu’s recent promise to bring a ‘deadlier and cooler’ Zoro to One Piece’s second season can certainly be helped along by Assassin’s Creed experience. The actor also revealed the live-action Rurouni Kenshin adaptations as another source of inspiration, saying “that action was pretty cool and that was one of the reasons why I brought in the team from that show to One Piece. Season 2 has a lot more action and Zoro is a lot deadlier.” This addition to the crew behind the scenes on the set for the second season is another great indicator for Mackenyu’s goal of bringing more of Zoro’s appeal and combat prowess to the live action show. While Kenshin’s Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū is pretty far removed from Zoro’s Santōryū, there’s a lot the two could stand to learn from one another, much like with Gennojo.

Any sort of improvement in the already stellar work done by the cast of One Piece is great news for the fans, and even better news when that performance can inform another role the actor is taking on. With a third season already confirmed by Mackenyu himself in a hilarious way, the One Piece series is on track to take the actor up on his offer concerning the role. Fans will have to wait to see just how Mackenyu improves on his Zoro performance in the next season, but they can get their hands on Assassin’s Creed Shadows much sooner as the game releases on the 20th.

Netflix’s live-action One Piece is available to stream on Netflix, with Season 2 set for a late 2025 release.

One Piece (Live-Action)

Release Date

August 31, 2023

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Source: Crunchyroll