Addressing the Hate & Hypocrisy # 2 | Vinsmoke Sanji

So just in case, there are fans that aren't up to date on One Piece, I won't spoil too much (preferably be up to date with the anime at least). Also, this shouldn't be as long as the post for Sakura Haruno because there are only one or two issues regarding Sanji. Anyway, let's just straight into things!

Background

Vinsmoke Sanji originally belongs to a renowned and powerful family that uses scientific tools & tech. They are called Germa 66; however, they weren't really introduced to us until a good part of the series - until Whole Cake Island. Before then, we knew of Sanji of East Blue, who was a cook that worked at Baratie with Zeff. Zeff was like a father figure to Sanji as we later discover that Sanji's real father is pretty cruel.

Sanji loves the ladies, always wears a suit, and refuses to ruin his hands by fighting; he uses his legs because his hands are only for cooking.

Reason for Hate # 1 - Sanji's Love for the Ladies

By no means is it a secret that Sanji has a thing for the ladies. Whenever he sees the ladies, it's like Sanji becomes a whole other person and even adopts his infamous heart-eyed noodle form. Personally, I never did find it annoying to the extent that others may find it, but I can understand why people would dislike (not hate) this trait of Sanji's.

However, that is only because it can interfere with the task at hand sometimes, but that never really happens that often that I can recall. Sanji's love for the ladies literally only cost him his life once and that was against Kalifa during the Water 7 arc.

We could possibly also say that his encounter with Viola in the Dressrosa Arc got him into trouble, but it definitely didn't get him into the same amount of trouble Kalifa did. While doing some more research on this topic, I also discovered that some do not like Sanji because they feel like he is "sexist" and "perverted".

Just like having a dumb main character is typically for a shonen, so is having a perverted character around. While I do believe that there should be a limit (which I don't think Sanji has even come close to crossing), there are characters like Brook (One Piece), Master Roshi (DBZ), Jiraya (Naruto), and Licht (Plunderer) that have perverted tendencies.

For some reason, I never see hate about any of these characters, and I have to wonder if Sanji solely gets crap because of his refusal to hit women. Personally, I do not believe that Sanji is sexist or rather I think to call Sanji sexist is an exaggeration. There has never been a time where Sanji has taken over because he didn't think Robin or Nami was capable of fighting. Like Sanji has never told Robin or Nami that they should stick to just looking pretty and cook in the kitchen.

I genuinely believe that Sanji respects Robin's and Nami's abilities to fight and doesn't undermine them, but he just doesn't want to see them get hurt. If Sanji can stop it, he most certainly will. Many people may disagree with me, but there's just a clear difference to me. Now I hope that it is understood that One Piece shouldn't be classified as sexist because One Piece actually has a lot of strong women (even though they are sexualized more than they used to be in the beginning), but One Piece is actually fairly inclusive.

Reason # 2 - Compared to Zoro Roronoa

This is an observation on my part, but for some reason, fans feel like they can only like one character or the other when that is not the case. For example, Sakura and Hinata from Naruto, you may choose to hate one or the other, but you don't have to. I hate that there is so much division within the anime community, but it is possible to like both Goku and Vegeta as well as Sanji and Zoro. I personally like both Sakura and Hinata, but I like Sakura more; Sakura's a true underdog.

That's just my preference.

Sanji seems to suffer from Zoro's shadow a bit because he is constantly compared to Zoro when they are literally two different characters with two different fighting styles. It would be rather boring if you had a bunch of duplicated characters and personalities all over the place. It should be taken into consideration that every character is going to have some sort of flaw or imperfection to make them interesting and more relatable.

Reason # 3 - Sanji Fought Luffy (Whole Cake Island Arc)

I happen to notice that Sanji attacking Luffy, his leader, made fans very upset. I will admit that it did shock me at first, but instead of getting mad at Sanji, I understood that this was out of Sanji's character. Sanji would never attack Luffy without a reason - not saying that it was a good or a bad reason. Sanji really did have good intentions but it was delivered horribly, and in his own way, Sanji was literally trying to protect Luffy and the others. I said the same about Sakura when she lied to Naruto and I said the same about Hinata when she lied to/and rejected Naruto in The Last.

These characters, like Sanji, had good intentions and were just trying to protect someone close to them. Nevertheless, it doesn't make the things Sanji said or the actions Sanji did any less hurtful. This is completely different from when Usopp literally attacked Luffy for the GoingMerry, but that's a different post for another day. Anyway, I personally find that Sanji is a very likable and reliable character. Sure, he has his faults, but at the end of the day we knew that Sanji loved ladies since the beginning; we knew how chivalrous Sanji tended to be and it's all a part of his character.

Let me know if you think I missed a reason for the Sanji hate or let me know if you disagree with what I said or left something out!

#SierraNovaa #OnePiece #Sanji