'One Piece' star Mackenyu visiting the Philippines in November for ManiPopCon 2023

MANILA, Philippines — Japanese actor and "One Piece" star Mackenyu Arata will be in the Philippines this November as the headlining guest for this year's Manila Pop Culture Convention (ManiPopCon) to be held in Ayala Malls Manila Bay.

ManiPopCon organizers opted to invite Mackenyu months before Netflix's live-action series adaptation of "One Piece" premiered to immense success, prompting its renewal for a second season.

Apart from portraying Roronoa Zoro in the live-action version of Eiichiro Oda's long-running manga, Mackenyu is also known for starring in "Rurouni Kenshin: The Final," two editions of "Fullmetal Alchemist," and "Tokyo Ghoul S."

Also confirmed to attend ManiPopCon 2023 is Japanese cartoonist and comic book writer Stan Sakai as he discusses on a panel the upcoming 40th anniversary of his most popular creation "Usagi Yohimbo."

The event organizers are in talks with other television actor and video game voice actors to attend, all of which will be announced a couple of weeks before ManiPopCon 2023 once confirmed.

Activities for ManiPopCon 2023 will spread all around the venue at scheduled times for better organization and crowd control. Some events will be ticketed like closer access to Mackenyu's panel though most areas of the convention will be open to the public.

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Another ticketed activity are the screenings of classic Filipino films care of ABS-CBN's Sagip Pelikula, highlighted by the remastered version of the 1941 film "Ibong Adarna."

Other films to be screened are the Lorna Tolentino horror films "Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara" and "Init ng Apoy," Dolphy movies "Captain Barbell" and "Omeng Satanasia," the 1939 movie "Giliw Ko"