Mackenyu

Mackenyu Maeda (前田 真剣佑, Maeda Makken'yū, born November 16, 1996), known professionally as Mackenyu Arata^[3] (Japanese: 新田 真剣佑, Hepburn: Arata Makken'yū) or simply Mackenyu (真剣佑, Makken'yū), is a Japanese actor. He rose to fame after portraying Arata Wataya in the Chihayafuru live-action trilogy in 2016, which earned him the 40th Japan Academy Newcomers of the Year Award in 2017.^[4] He has since portrayed characters in many other adaptations of popular manga series, including Okuyasu Nijimura in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I (2017), Sōta in Tokyo Ghoul S (2019), Yukishiro Enishi in Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021), Pegasus Seiya in Knights of the Zodiac, and Roronoa Zoro in the Netflix series One Piece (both 2023).

In this Japanese name, the surname is Maeda.

Mackenyu
真剣佑
Mackenyu in 2023
Born	Mackenyu Maeda (前田 真剣佑) (1996-11-16) November 16, 1996 (age 28) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Mackenyu Arata Mackenyu Chiba J.J. MacKenyu
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2005–present
Agent	Asian Cinema Entertainment
Children	1
Father	Sonny Chiba[1][2]
Relatives	Juri Manase (half-sister)[1][2] Gordon Maeda (brother)[1][2]
Website	www.mackenfamily.jp

Mackenyu is the son of actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba, the older brother of actor Gordon Maeda, and the younger half-brother of actress Juri Manase.^[1][5][2]

Early life

Mackenyu Maeda, known as Mackenyu Arata, was born on November 16, 1996, in Los Angeles.^[6][7] He is the son of Japanese parents, Tamami Chiba and Japanese action movie star Sonny Chiba, and has two siblings, an older half-sister named Juri Manase (his father's daughter from a previous marriage) and a younger brother named Gordon.^[1][2] He attended Beverly Hills High School in their Advanced Placement Program and appeared in a few films and TV shows while growing up, including the TV mini-series Team Astro (Astro Kyūdan) (2005), and the Japanese feature film Oyaji (2007), as he devoted most of his time to school and graduation. As a young child, Mackenyu had many interests. He learned horseback riding and Yabusame at the age of 7. He practiced Kyokushin Karate since he was eight years old, and he was placed third at the US kyokushin Karate Nationals in middle school. In high school he did gymnastics, water polo, and wrestling, becoming the school representative for the latter. He was also into music, playing piano since he was 10 years old, and later participated in the brass band of his high school in Beverly Hills, playing saxophone, and flute.

At the age of 15, Mackenyu watched a Japanese movie and the actor who starred in it inspired him to pursue acting professionally in Japan. He held on to the dream of co-starring with the actor once he established his acting career in Japan. He later revealed that it was the late Haruma Miura after he co-starred with him in the movie adaptation of Gunjō Senki.^[8] Mackenyu landed his first feature film lead role in Take a Chance (2015) and was featured in an acclaimed short movie depicting a Japanese family suffering the aftermath of the World War II in Tadaima (2015) in which the movie won The Best Narrative Short in Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.^[9] He moved to Japan later in the same year, stating that Japan would be the best place for him to learn due to the variety of roles that are available for young actors.^[10]

Career

In 2013, Mackenyu turned his full attention to acting—including roles in the feature film Buzz (So-On: The Five Oyaji) (2014) and TV movie Yo nimo Kimyō na Monogatari (2014). His acting quickly expanded to include three supporting roles in TV Mini-series including The Kindergarten Detective (Hanasaki Shin'ichirō wa Nemurenai!!) (2015), Yume o Ataeru (2015), and The Hatsumori Bemars (2015). His fame grew dramatically in Japan after landing the role of Eiji Tomari/Kamen Rider Dark Drive/Paradox Roidmude in Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future; the film Tie-in to the 2014-2015 Entry in the Kamen franchise, Kamen Rider Drive, based on the popular series created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori^[11]

In 2015, he also landed his first lead roles in two USA film productions, Take a Chance (2015) and Tadaima (2015); for the latter he won a best supporting actor award at the Asians of Films festival.^[12] In January 2016, he made his stage debut in the Japanese musical Boys Over Flower (Hana Yori Dango: The Musical) (2016). He had a prominent role in the two part feature film Chihayafuru Part I & II (2016) which was released back-to-back in March and April 2016.^[13] Japan's AM magazine featured him on the front cover of their 14 March 2016 edition and included an interview with him. One of his most challenging roles in his career to date was Shōjo (Little Girl). Having completed his lead role as "Makise" in the feature film Night's Tightrope (Shōjo) (2016), Mackenyu started to expand his acting opportunities in Hollywood with a supporting role of Cadet Ryoichi in the science fiction film Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018).^[14] 2018 was a busy year with series Kiss That Kills and movies Chihayafuru Part III, manga-based Impossibility Defense and speed-drive action-drama Over Drive.

In 2019, he was cast as the final villain, Yukishiro Enishi, in the last two movies of the Rurouni Kenshin live-action adaptation.^[15]

In December 2020, Mackenyu announced that he would be leaving his agency, Top Coat, in April 2021 as well as suspending his Japanese activities for the time being. He announced that he wants to focus on global activities in 2021.

In 2021, he starred as the lead in the manga adaptation of Brave: Gunjou Senki. He is now in Asian Cinema Entertainment. In November 2021, Mackenyu was cast as Roronoa Zoro in the American Netflix live action series adaptation of One Piece.^[16]

In March 2022, he was cast as Scar in the live-action sequel of Fullmetal Alchemist.^[17]

Personal life

Mackenyu married a non-celebrity woman seven years his senior, whose name was not disclosed.^[18] The marriage was announced along with his younger brother's marriage in January 22, 2023.^[19] In August 24 of the same year, it was reported by media outlets that Mackenyu's wife had given birth to their first child in Honolulu, Hawaii, in late July 2023.^[20][18]

Brand endorsements

In 2018, Mackenyu became the brand ambassador for Japanese men's grooming brand GATSBY.^[21] He starred in the TV commercial "GATSBY Cop", together with popular Japanese actor Yuya Yagira.^[22]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
2015	Tadaima	George		[23]
	Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future	Eiji Tomari		[24]
	Take a Chance	Masa	Lead role	[25]
2016	Chihayafuru Part 1	Arata Wataya		[26]
	Chihayafuru Part 2	Arata Wataya		[27]
	Night's Tightrope	Hikaru Makise		[28]
	Bittersweet	Atsushi Babazono		[28]
2017	Let's Go, Jets!	Kōsuke Yamashita		[29]
	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I	Okuyasu Nijimura		[30]
	Peach Girl	Kazuya "Tōji" Tōjigamori		[28]
2018	Pacific Rim: Uprising	Cadet Ryoichi		[28]
	Chihayafuru Part 3	Arata Wataya		[31]
	Over Drive	Naozumi Hiyama	Lead role	[32]
	Impossibility Defense	Asao Momose		[28]
	Code Blue: The Movie	Akio Kishida		[28]
2019	12 Suicidal Teens	Shinjirō	Lead role	[28]
	Tokyo Ghoul S	Sōta		[28]
	NiNoKuni	Haru (voice)		[33]
2020	Kaiji: Final Game	Minato Hirose		[34]
	Our 30-Minute Sessions	Aki Miyata	Lead role	[35]
	Tonkatsu DJ Agetarō	Guest of VIP room	Cameo	[36]
2021	Brave: Gunjō Senki	Aoi Nishino	Lead role	[37]
	The Master Plan	Makoto	Lead role	[38]
	Rurouni Kenshin: The Final	Yukishiro Enishi		[39]
2022	Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar	Scar		[40]
	Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy	Scar		[40]
2023	Knights of the Zodiac	Pegasus Seiya	Lead role	[41]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
2015	Yume wo Ataeru	Masaaki	Miniseries	[42]
2016	Sakurasaku	Ippei	Lead role; miniseries	[43]
	Tomorrow, I'll Surely Love You Again	Shouta	Lead role; miniseries	[44]
	Brass Dreams	Ren Kitora		[45]
2017	Fugitive Boys	Ichihashi Tetsuto		[46]
2018	Kiss that Kills	Takauji Namiki		[47]
2019	Two Homelands	Yu Amada	Miniseries	[48]
	Our Dearest Sakura	Aoi Kijima		[49]
2020	Murdered Remotely	Nomura Yusaku	Lead role; special	[50]
2021	The End of the Tiny World: Half A Year Later	Makoto	Lead role	[38]
	Ichikei's Crow: The Criminal Court Judges	Bunta Ishikura		[51]
2023–present	One Piece	Roronoa Zoro	Lead role	[52]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
2025	Assassin's Creed Shadows	Gennojo (voice)	Also likeness	[53]

Awards

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, nominee(s) of the award, award category, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Nominee/work	Category	Result	Ref(s)
Asians On Film Festival	2015	Tadaima	Best Supporting Actor	Won	[54]
Hochi Film Award	2016	Chihayafuru	Best New Artist	Nominated	[55]
	2018	Overdrive	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated	[56]
Japan Academy Film Prize	2017	Chihayafuru	Newcomer of the Year	Won	[57]
Mainichi Film Awards	2017		Best New Actor	Nominated	[58]