Popverse's top stories of the day

• How Disney+'s What If...? is the moonshot for the next 50 years of Marvel Studios & the MCU
• Watch: Dune: Prophecy's Desmond Hart explained: His secret identity, his past, and his possible future [SPOILERS]
• Dune: Prophecy's Desmond Hart explained: His secret identity, his past, and his possible future [SPOILERS]

We finally have official confirmation of what arcs the Netflix One Piece adaptation will be covering in its second season. While some fans might be disappointed that the season won’t cover everything to the end of the Alabasta arc, we’re excited because the final episodes of One Piece season two are going to cover the Drum Island arc. This is honestly one of the best arcs in the whole series, but it comes at a price – Netflix has to make a half-human half-reindeer CGI monstrosity known as Tony Tony Chopper.

For the uninitiated, Tony Tony Chopper is the doctor of the Straw Hat pirates who also happens to be a reindeer that ate a Devil Fruit, giving him human intelligence and the ability to transform into multiple forms when needed. It also made him so freaking adorable that I just want to squeeze his little cheeks until he pops – in the anime. In the live-action, I expect him to give that weird uncanny valley vibe the whole time I’m watching.

This isn’t going to be an isolated incident in season two of One Piece. Not only is Buggy the Clown back to terrify me and everyone else with eyes, but we also get introduced to Nico Robin whose power is… hands. Just hands that sprout out of everything and everywhere. Walls. Weapons. Other people’s faces. It is gonna be terrifying, but it will be nothing compared to seeing Tony Tony Chopper transform from a cuddly teddy bear creature into an eight-foot-tall hulking giant of a man.

The thing is, I love the character of Tony Tony Chopper. He’s fantastic and really well-written in the manga and stands out as one of my favorite Straw Hats. I’m just marking him down as one of those things that works better in animation than in live-action, yet there is no way that Netflix can get away with not doing the character in this way. His inhumanity and strange appearance are core to the character – the fact that he technically isn’t human is what makes him fun to read. Toning down his strangeness would undermine the entire Drum Island Arc.

Netflix has no choice but to unleash the CGI monstrosity of Tony Tony Chopper upon us all when One Piece returns for season two.

THE ONE PIECE IS REAL...ly important to Popverse! That's why we've put together the key articles to keep your fandom of the manga-turned-anime-turned-live-action-show alive:

• How to watch One Piece One Piece in chronological and release order (All 1,100+ episodes plus the movies!)
• When the next episode of One Piece is coming
• The One Piece English cast shared the life lessons they've learned playing the Straw Hats for nearly 20 years
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect hero for the dark times ahead
• Every difference between the live-action One Piece and the original manga
• One Piece Gear 5 Form: Everything we know about Luffy's latest transformation
• Wondering what ethnicity and nationality the One Piece pirates are? Here is what Oda himself has to say
• Ranking the One Piece anime's arcs, from best to worst
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• The English cast of One Piece explain what they love about Eiichiro Oda's storytelling - "He's a genius!"