One Piece Season 2 Teases Tony Tony Chopper’s Debut

Netflix’s One Piece has become such a success that the streaming service has confirmed that the live-action Straw Hat Pirates will be returning for a second season. Netting well over thirty million views in its first two weeks, the live-action One Piece confirming its future so soon threw many for a loop. What threw many more anime fans for a loop is the message from creator Eiichiro Oda which seems to confirm that a certain reindeer doctor will be joining Luffy’s crew in the next season. 

Without diving too deeply into spoiler territory, Tony Tony Chopper will be the doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates. Discovered as a part of Luffy and company’s journey on Drum Island, Chopper finds himself working beneath the “tutelage” of Dr. Kureha, an elderly woman who acts like anything but. In the past, Halloween and Glass Onion star, Jamie Lee Curtis, hasn’t been scared to show off her love of the shonen franchise and has stated that she would love to play Kureha. With Chopper’s upcoming arrival, anime fans are now left wondering if the Straw Hat doctor will be brought to life entirely by computer graphics or if the series will rely on prosthetics to bring the reindeer to the “real world”.

Tony Tony Chopper’s Netflix Debut

In the new video released by Netflix to confirm One Piece’s second season order, creator Eiichiro Oda shares the good news. Acting as Executive Producer for season one, it seems that the mangaka is planning to stick around, which is good news for fans of the source material. Oda teases Chopper’s arrival by drawing the reindeer doctor and stating, “From here on, it seems to me that the Straw Hats will need a good doctor…”

Since joining the Straw Hat Pirates, Chopper has stuck by Luffy and his friends even into the final saga playing out in the pages of the manga. While Tony Tony might have been a movie medical practitioner in the early days, the reindeer/human hybrid has sharpened his skills and is looking to achieve his dreams of becoming the world’s greatest doctor. Chopper might be a wild addition to the cast, but he’s far from the only pirate aiming to join Luffy’s crew.

How do you think Netflix will bring Tony Tony Chopper to life in One Piece Season 2? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the Grand Line.