After defeating the metal-mouthed Wapol and saving the Drum Kingdom, the Straw Hat Pirates departed to their next adventure at the end of One Piece Season 2, but with a new crew member in tow. Tony Tony Chopper, the human/reindeer hybrid voiced by the frequently-crouched Mikaela Hoover, agreed to become the crew’s doctor. But before he left home for the first time, he was able to witness the dream of his late adoptive father finally realized. Hoover shared with CinemaBlend how she pulled off this tear-jerking scene in the Season 2 finale, which aired last month on the 2026 TV schedule.
In “Reindeer Shames,” which chronicled Chopper’s origin story, Dr. Hiriluk, who adopted him, was certain that if he found a way to create cherry blossoms, it would cure the Drum Kingdom of all its ills. Although he was able to finally create a working formula, he blew himself up shortly thereafter and never got to actually test it. So before Chopper left, Dr. Kureha and Dalton released the artificial cherry blossoms into the sky, prompting Chopper to heartbreakingly cry. When I asked Mikaela Hoover what her process was like of getting in this emotionally heavy state for the Netflix subscription-exclusive show, she first said:
