Tony Tony Chopper moves and speaks in introduction video.

Against all odds, or at least a whole lot of them, the first season of Netflix’s live-action One Piece was a success. Considering how many Western-produced adaptations of anime/manga are announced but never actually get made, it wouldn’t have been a shock if Netflix’s One Piece had died on the pre-production vine, nor would it have been a big surprise if the unabashedly bizarre charm of the One Piece world and characters simply didn’t translate into live-action, but so far the Netflix series has been meet with a largely positive response from both preexisting fans and newcomers to the franchise.

Of course, the live-action One Piece’s job is only going to get tougher from here on out, as the scale of the story and creativity of its visual weirdness get continually ratcheted up as the story goes on. For Season 2, the biggest test for the Netflix One Piece is going to be how it handles the introduction of Tony Tony Chopper, who’s not only the doctor for the Straw Hat Pirate protagonists, but also an anthropomorphic reindeer. Netflix gave us a tiny sneak peek at their version of Chopper back in September, and now they’ve released a full character introduction video, in which the little guy finally reveals his face and voice.

Emerging from his half-hiding spot behind a stone pillar, Chopper shyly introduces himself. With his voice provided by voice actress Mikaela Hoover, he’s at turns shy, blustery, and overcome with boyish glee, even doing a little dance after he gets over his self-conscious embarrassment.

The CG is impressive, with the light playing convincingly off of Chopper’s individuals strands of fur, and the tufts swaying enough to be believable when he moves but not so much as to be distracting.

If there’s a complaint to be made, it could be that Chopper’s teeth are a little disturbing. This is something that happens pretty commonly when trying to bring cartoonishly designed characters into a photo-realistic aesthetic. Something similar happened with the first images for the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie, so maybe Netflix will be retooling Chopper’s teeth before Season 2 starts streaming.

All in all, though, Chopper’s live-action look is being received rather well by fans in Japan, judging from YouTube comments for the reveal video, which have included:

“When I saw the thumbnail, I thought ‘That’s freaky,’ but it’s amazing how much cuter he seems after seeing him move and hearing him talk.”
“I figured it was going to be hard to pull Chopper off in live-action, and looking at still images I still feel that way, but the way he moves and talks brings him closer to the anime version’s cuteness level.”
“They’re going for a more realistic look than I expected, but they’ve recreated his adorable atmosphere.”
“Gonna have to mentally prepare myself to see them dive into the sad backstory for Chopper when he looks this cute.”
“The artists are incredible. Even with the realistic design, they’ve instilled so much cuteness into the character with his movements and facial gestures.”
“It’d be an exaggeration to say he’s as cute as the anime and manga versions, but I love how they’re keeping his mannerisms true to the original work. Looking forward to this.”

It’s worth noting that we still haven’t seen Netflix’s Chopper on-screen with human actors, and trying to combine CG and live-action elements in the same shot is often where visual effects stumble. So far, though, Chopper seems to be on a good course for Netflix’s One Piece Season 2 premiere, which is slated for some time in 2026.

Source, images: YouTube/Netflix Japan
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!