Netflix’s One Piece continues to be sailing strong. Season 2 hit No. 1 after its March debut with 16.8 million views, while the manga recently crossed a wild 600 million copies in print.
So naturally, the casting discourse is already somewhere deep in Wano.
Susann Alicia, the German content creator known online as LienSue, has turned handmade anime costumes right into a seven-figure profession and amassed greater than 6 million followers across her platforms. Now she’d wish to add another credit: playing Yamato if Netflix’s live-action adventure ever reaches that a part of the Grand Line.
“I’ve read the manga, watched the anime and defended Yamato in additional comment sections than I can count,” Sue said in an announcement. “At this point, I mainly am Yamato. Learning the lines can be the straightforward part.”
For anyone who needs the short pirate briefing, the role is a giant one. Yamato is Kaido’s horned child — a Wano arc powerhouse who idolizes the legendary samurai Kozuki Oden. Fans adore the character, who ranked No. 17 out of greater than 1,500 contenders within the midterm results of this 12 months’s global One Piece popularity poll.
Sue isn’t coming to the role cold, either. Her cosplay work has gone viral multiple times across Reddit, Instagram and Twitch since 2022 and even earned coverage from gaming publications.
In 2024, she entered streamer Emiru’s fourth annual cosplay contest as Yamato and placed second within the fan-voted Chat Favorite category, winning $2,500. The competition awarded greater than $50,000 to cosplayers overall, with Sue standing out in a field filled with Diablo, Elden Ring, Destiny 2 and Final Fantasy XIV builds.
Still, the OnlyFans model knows winning over the web in horns and a wig isn’t the identical thing as stepping onto a set. “You’ll be able to’t fake loving Yamato,” she explained. “This fandom would see all the way through it, which is precisely why I believe a cosplayer should at the least be within the conversation.”
That concept isn’t as far-fetched because it sounds. Viral cosplayer Jessica Nigri built her name on the convention circuit before landing voice roles in RWBY and Super Sonico. Even the present solid makes Sue’s pitch sound a little bit less wild. Emily Rudd grew up watching anime, fell hard for One Piece and said she wanted “one shot” at playing Nami. She landed the part from a single audition tape.
The excellent news for Sue is that she has loads of time to make her case. Season 3 wrapped production in June and is headed to Alabasta, with Xolo Maridueña joining as Ace and Cole Escola as Bon Clay. In other words, Wano continues to be a great distance down the map. “One Piece fans know how you can wait,” she teased. “I’m just ensuring Netflix knows where to search out me when the story finally reaches Yamato.”