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Netflix is about to debut One Piece's best character: a half-human half-reindeer that will stretch the bounds of CGI

We love Tony Tony Chopper but he is gonna be so scary to look at.

Tony Tony Chopper in One Piece
Image credit: Toei Animation

 

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.

 

Tony Tony Chopper in Human form in One Piece
Image credit: Toei Animation

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.


Trent Cannon

Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

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