![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dethoratsBefore I get into Volume 6 and Sanji, I wanted to take a brief moment to note that I am definitely biased against Sanji and have been for a very long time. In light of the revelation from more recent chapters (see below), I am going to try my best to be more sympathetic to Sanji. This may be, in some ways, almost a self-justifying explanation/retcon by Oda, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t take it to heart when considering Sanji as a character.
Given these panels, I have to say that I don’t think Zeff intended for his words to be taken to the extreme that Sanji does, esp. in Water 7/Enies Lobby. However, I do think Sanji took these words to heart very directly and – over the course of the series – seems to grow more and more dedicated to them. I do think it’s a bit weird that Sanji doesn’t recognize how his actions are still, in their own way and in certain circumstances, harmful to women. And he’s definitely a low-key sexual harasser – the kind that can usually be brushed off but definitely does also lead to those feelings of ‘Just get a clue and go away already, buddy!’ or ‘Who asked you to comment on me and my appearance? Gross!’ or ‘Ugh, we get it. You really like women. Doesn’t mean we want to ____ with you.’ You know, the kind that likes to inflict themselves on women, esp. when stuck in positions where there’s no way to escape.
This low-key sexual harassment is why I pretty much disliked Sanji from the beginning even though his background as a chef (and the concurrent smoking and potty mouth) should have been like catnip to me and is super-relatable since I spent many of my teenage years and early 20s working in restaurants and completely think that this part of his character rings true. Additionally, his backstory and the lasting impact it’s had on him are actually quite fascinating and he’s the only East Blue Straw Hat to have a clear (and living) parental figure as Koshiro-sensei does not seem to have any kind of emotional bond with Zoro (I am not sure where Shanks falls on this spectrum – he’s definitely a mentor but I don’t know that I’d call him ‘parental’). Despite all of this (and his fighting style, which is also very interesting), the way Sanji acts towards women, coupled with his treatment of Zoro, really turned me off pretty quickly. I don’t tend to like ladies-man characters anyway, and I was much farther in the anime by the time the manga had come out in English and the anime (esp. post Little Garden) plays up the antagonism with Zoro a bunch more and that altogether just turned me off to his character.
One other thing – I made a post recently detailing how Sanji was a dick specifically to Zoro (stopping at the end of Little Garden in terms of what I looked at). I do have to say that in that post I had not yet considered how Sanji would react to Zoro’s hair. It’s not the same shade, but both Zoro and Yonji have green hair. And, even though all of his brothers treat Sanji like dirt, it is Yonji who seems to be the most inclined to get in his face and initiate physical violence against him. This may stem from Yonji’s birth order (making him technically below Sanji in the pecking order) or for some other reason, but it is clear that Yonji is the brother who does the most damage to Sanji. Now…I don’t think this excuses Sanji’s actual actions and statements towards Zoro in the slightest. Zoro is definitely NOT Yonji. However, it does provide a possible explanation for why Zoro ends up getting singled out for this treatment. Nami, as a woman, is exempt. And Luffy and Usopp both have black hair whereas Sanji’s brothers have red, blue, and green hair and his father’s hair is a golden-blond color that’s darker than Sanji’s own. No one else would trigger Sanji’s past the way Zoro might. Again – doesn’t excuse it but it does explain.
Here, again, comes the question of what did Oda intend and when. We know One Piece has gone on for quite a bit longer than Oda initially planned. He’s a masterful storyteller and his memory for his own details is ridiculously good and contributes to HOW he’s been able to keep the plot so engaging for so long. Who’s to say if Yonji was even a glimmer in Oda’s eyes back when Sanji was introduced? But he does exist now and so that is another element I will try to bear in mind as I approach the next few volumes and dig deeper into Sanji’s arc.
Given these panels, I have to say that I don’t think Zeff intended for his words to be taken to the extreme that Sanji does, esp. in Water 7/Enies Lobby. However, I do think Sanji took these words to heart very directly and – over the course of the series – seems to grow more and more dedicated to them. I do think it’s a bit weird that Sanji doesn’t recognize how his actions are still, in their own way and in certain circumstances, harmful to women. And he’s definitely a low-key sexual harasser – the kind that can usually be brushed off but definitely does also lead to those feelings of ‘Just get a clue and go away already, buddy!’ or ‘Who asked you to comment on me and my appearance? Gross!’ or ‘Ugh, we get it. You really like women. Doesn’t mean we want to ____ with you.’ You know, the kind that likes to inflict themselves on women, esp. when stuck in positions where there’s no way to escape.
This low-key sexual harassment is why I pretty much disliked Sanji from the beginning even though his background as a chef (and the concurrent smoking and potty mouth) should have been like catnip to me and is super-relatable since I spent many of my teenage years and early 20s working in restaurants and completely think that this part of his character rings true. Additionally, his backstory and the lasting impact it’s had on him are actually quite fascinating and he’s the only East Blue Straw Hat to have a clear (and living) parental figure as Koshiro-sensei does not seem to have any kind of emotional bond with Zoro (I am not sure where Shanks falls on this spectrum – he’s definitely a mentor but I don’t know that I’d call him ‘parental’). Despite all of this (and his fighting style, which is also very interesting), the way Sanji acts towards women, coupled with his treatment of Zoro, really turned me off pretty quickly. I don’t tend to like ladies-man characters anyway, and I was much farther in the anime by the time the manga had come out in English and the anime (esp. post Little Garden) plays up the antagonism with Zoro a bunch more and that altogether just turned me off to his character.
One other thing – I made a post recently detailing how Sanji was a dick specifically to Zoro (stopping at the end of Little Garden in terms of what I looked at). I do have to say that in that post I had not yet considered how Sanji would react to Zoro’s hair. It’s not the same shade, but both Zoro and Yonji have green hair. And, even though all of his brothers treat Sanji like dirt, it is Yonji who seems to be the most inclined to get in his face and initiate physical violence against him. This may stem from Yonji’s birth order (making him technically below Sanji in the pecking order) or for some other reason, but it is clear that Yonji is the brother who does the most damage to Sanji. Now…I don’t think this excuses Sanji’s actual actions and statements towards Zoro in the slightest. Zoro is definitely NOT Yonji. However, it does provide a possible explanation for why Zoro ends up getting singled out for this treatment. Nami, as a woman, is exempt. And Luffy and Usopp both have black hair whereas Sanji’s brothers have red, blue, and green hair and his father’s hair is a golden-blond color that’s darker than Sanji’s own. No one else would trigger Sanji’s past the way Zoro might. Again – doesn’t excuse it but it does explain.
Here, again, comes the question of what did Oda intend and when. We know One Piece has gone on for quite a bit longer than Oda initially planned. He’s a masterful storyteller and his memory for his own details is ridiculously good and contributes to HOW he’s been able to keep the plot so engaging for so long. Who’s to say if Yonji was even a glimmer in Oda’s eyes back when Sanji was introduced? But he does exist now and so that is another element I will try to bear in mind as I approach the next few volumes and dig deeper into Sanji’s arc.
