One Piece star Mackenyu (Zoro) says season 2 will be even better than season 1

The voyage of the Straw Hat pirates continues apace in South Africa, where the team behind Netflix's live-action One Piece series are hard at work on filming season 2. Based on the beloved and long-running manga by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is about a ragtag crew of pirates led by an unflappable young man named Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), who's on a quest to claim the mythical One Piece treasure and become king of the pirates. Live-action adaptations of manga and anime don't always turn out well, but One Piece's first season was the rare exception that pleased fans of the original source material, newcomers and critics alike.

Netflix was quick to renew the hit series, and filming on season 2 began in early July. With more than two months of work down on production, the cast is starting to get an impression of what the season could be like overall — and it's sounding pretty good! Mackenyu, who plays the swashbuckling swordsman Roronoa Zoro, recorded an Instagram live this week where he answered fan questions about season 2, and on the whole he sounded pretty optimistic about where things are headed. The video itself has disappeared into the ether as lives often do, but ComicBook.com's Megan Peters recorded a few of the most intriguing things that Mackenyu said.

Peters writes that "Mackenyu expects it to be better than season one," and that the actor specifically praised the action sequences. Considering that season 1 already had some pretty epic fight scenes, many of which featured Mackenyu, that's exciting. Mackenyu also brought a team of stunt people into the production from the Rurouni Kenshin films, so not only are there seasoned people working on this, they've worked together before in creating epic, jaw-dropping sword fights.

One Piece season 2 will feature Loguetown, Drum Island and more!

We do know a few important places and characters that will feature in season 2, thanks to a fun teaser Eiichiro Oda released in late August which laid out the overall map of the season. It will include the arcs of Loguetown, Reverse Mountain, Whiskey Peak, Little Garden and Drum Island. If that sounds like a bunch of giberish to you, I'd recommend checking out either the manga or the anime adaptation, which you can also watch on Netflix!

To go along with the exciting location announcements, Netflix also revealed a ton of new cast members, including Katey Segal as Dr. Kureha, Mark Harelik as Dr. Hiriluk, Brendan Sean Murray as Brogy, Callum Kerr as Smoker, Camrus Johnson as Mr. 5, Clive Russell as Crocus, Daniel Lasker as Mr. 9, David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3, Jazzara Jaslyn as Miss Valentine, Julia Rehwald as Tashigi, Rob Colletti as Wapol, Ty Keogh as Dalton, and Werner Coetser as Dorry. It's going to be a packed ship for One Piece season 2!

Of course, it will be a while until we get to see One Piece season 2 and can judge how it all turned out for ourselves. Season 1 released in August of 2023; I wouldn't expect season 2 until mid-2025 at the earliest. But considering how good that first season was, I'm more than willing to go wherever the Straw Hats lead.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.