Netflix’s One Piece live-action series is one of the most anticipated series today because of the popularity of the original manga of the same name by artist Oda Eiichiro. The actors participating in the film also received special attention from the audience.
Among the cast, the most notable is probably the Asian handsomeness of Japanese actor Arata Mackenyu, who plays the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro. One Piece live-action version is not the first film adaptation the actor has participated in. He has appeared in manga adaptations such as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I (2017), Tokyo Ghoul S (2019), Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021), Pegasus Seiya in Knights of the Zodiac (2023)…
In a new interview with GamesRadar, Arata Mackenyu shares what brought him into the role of Roronoa Zoro. “I’m like Zoro, maybe that’s what helped me get this role!”, Arata Mackenyu said.
This answer is pretty straight to the point, but Mackenyu himself has a lot to do with making him the perfect choice as a character with great fencing skills.
The Korean actor used to “work” with swords. However, having to fight with three swords at once was unprecedented. This requires him to practice quite a bit.
By Zoro in the original One Piece, is a pirate hunter. He is the only character in Luffy’s group to follow the Three Swords style, using swords when fighting. Later, after going through more than 1,000 chapters, Zoro showed tremendous strength, being one of the strongest pirates along with Captain Luffy in the Straw Hat Pirates.
Mackenyu Arata said, “I have experience using two swords at the same time and have done live-action shows using swords in the past, but using three swords in battle is a different story. . The training I did for One Piece was exclusive to Zoro, learning the skills needed to truly be him. My jaws were trained on the spot!”
It must have been difficult to adjust the actor’s jaw when he had to hold a sword. Although it is possible that this detail will be used CG (computer graphics effects are added to the film to make the frame more realistic), Arata Mackenyu still has to hold the hilt of the sword in his mouth.