Reclaiming My Time

When it gets to a point where a character is damned if they do damned if they don’t… you’re just being a hater.

That is genuinely all this is.

I saw @oplastuff talk about it a bit and I agree with them that I feel like some of these people aren’t watching the same show. I also think their personal bias and negativity (on how they view the actor and anime live actions in general) affect how they see or watch these characters.

There’s a recent post on the OPLA tag that said something along the lines that OPLA Sanji is an awful dudebro who is just looking to get laid while anime Sanji is just a lovable child. I truly feel we aren’t watching the same show at all if these people think this way. It’s also funny that they don’t have much likes or reblog, which meant that a lot of people saw that post and did not agree with them at all.

They are definitely projecting their feelings about Taz onto Sanji. Nothing about Sanji is dudebro coded in the slightest. In fact he barely leans into his whole cool guy bit like in other mediums. And Sanji is not a dudebro when he’s doing that either. He’s being a flirty womanizer but that’s… not what a dudebro is????

Like OPLA Sanji never does the creepy gag with women and actually hypes up their strength more than their beauty. He’s affectionate with all his guy friends. Even when bickering with Zoro he’s smiling and non threatening. There’s never any postering , locker room talk, or general male stupidity from him. How do they define dudebro?

Calling manga Sanji a lovable child in comparison is interesting because they usually complain OPLA Sanji is too nice and too goofy. Like they just said he’s not cool enough so I guess we’re moving goal posts randomly now?

Genuinely don’t know how OPLA Sanji could be more lovable when he was hugging the crew every episode and smiling at them. The one who cried to Nami about his mom?

It’s actually unfair that Luffy takes the credit on having Bon Clay as their ally when Sanji was actually the one who made a big impact on him. I saw people say that he befriended Luffy before he met Sanji. But he only met and “befriended” them so that he can have the ability to copy their appearances. He had malicious intentions the first time he meets the crew. His view on them changes AFTER his fight against Sanji.

I hope that Season 3 shows this, especially how impactful Sanji’s kindness is to the point that the crew’s enemies became their allies instead. I feel like that is what was missing in OPLA, especially season 1.

Him turning ememies into allies is a big deal. It has saved the Strawhats so many times. He does it often but I feel like it’s not talked about by fans because they find those traits unimportant. Gin, Bon Clay, G-5 marines and Tashigi, Viola, Pekoms, Pudding, Bege, the Vinsmokes etc etc etc

Anonymous...you asked for this rant LOL. I'll put it under a read more

One Piece has a lot of characters who are self-actualized when you meet them so theres not much room for them to grow, and then it has a handful of characters who are very clearly on a journey to become their best selves (to be fair that's how a lot of stories are structured)

Look at Sanji fighting Queen and King in Wano. He was facing them at the same time and they struggled to land a hit. King had to resort to using his own teammate as bait in order to finally clip Sanji.

I’ve seen a Twitter post be like:

So Luffy is the King of the Pirates

Zoro is the King of Hell

Sanji is the King of ???

I saw someone say it’s either the King of Love or the King of the Heavens (since he’s mom’s name is Sora, which means “Sky”)

I kinda always thought he was holding himself back. He refuses to use weapons or his hands in a fight and refuses to fight women ( not judging him but it’s a self nerf for sure). This is kinda on brand for him when I think about it.

And yeah he’s talented at fighting but I don’t think he gets a thrill out of it like Luffy and Zoro. He full out avoids fights in some arcs by doing things behind the scenes.

Gaban, to Sanji: "Become a king yourself if you truly wish to make Luffy the King of the Pirates."

ODA IS INSANE FOR THIS

Yeahhh long answer sorry… but I I gotta say I don’t think One Piece is hard to understand and it almost feels like a prank that they didn’t see this coming.

Broggy and Dorry parallels didn’t clear things up? They are never surpassing each other.

The whole ‘wings of the pirate king’ thing didn’t help them understand? A bird with one weaker or smaller wing cannot fly. They know that and yet…

The strength is based on feats argument (and powerscaling in general) is stupid. If someone is fighting more people of course they win more fights? Thats how math works. Someone who fishes everyday catches more fish than someone who fishes 2 x a week. Yeah no shit Zoro has more feats his role on the team is literally fighting. And powerscaling always acts like one person in the fight cannot dodge. What’s the worth of your ~attack power~ if you can’t land a hit?

Zoro has had CH since Wano… and Gaban just said who cares. Because he essentially has a gun with no bullets. Like the gun is cool but who is he shooting? The idea he was stronger than Sanji because of that was also debunked the moment Zoro said he didn’t know he had it. That should have made powerscalers stop and think for a minute. If Zoro didn’t know he had it why even bother continuing with the hypothetical of him expertly using it at will in a fight with Sanji. We saw them spar after he unlocked it and it was another offscreen draw.

After Gaban called him out they truly should have hung that shit up then and there. Instead they interpreted Zoro not knowing he had CH as him…checks notes…being a CH prodigy surpassing even Luffy. If Zoro got it like that why did he struggle with Lucci? Just use that shit Mr. Conquerers Haki Prodigy.

And actually back to point 4…why can’t he beat Sanji in a spar? We don’t need hypothetical fights because they are having actual fights and he cannot beat Sanji

Anyway I’ll repeat again that the point of the interaction with Zosan and Gaban was Oda saying they both have to master CH to defeat the Holy Knights.

WHY would Oda raise the stakes in such a specific way and then put Sanji in a fight he cannot possibly win? What would be the point if that.

Gaban tells Zoro he has it but it’s useless if he can’t control it.

Sanji asks if he has it and then they talk offscreen. After that Zosan leave together to go fight the Holy Knights. Luffy actually tells both of them to go ahead and he’ll catch up. I saw so many Zoro fans laughing and saying Gaban told Sanji he doesn’t have it but like… why would Sanji then take his ass up there? To die? I’m truly not getting why they think Luffy and Gaban would send Sanji into a fight he can’t possibly win. Sanji fans told everyone that offscreen convo was obviously gonna be revisited during Sanji’s fight. We were called stupid but here we are.

Reading Comprehension indeed.

I genuinely don’t know what other way Oda could have made this more clear.

Gaban told Sanji he has the qualities of someone with Conqueror’s Haki BUT for some reason, Sanji “harbor a dangerous *self-deprecation*”

(The Japanese term is *jigyaku* It literally means "self-torture," but in this context, Gaban is saying that Sanji is being “self-deprecating" or "undervaluing" himself.)

Gaban literally tells Sanji: “You must become a "King" yourself too... if you truly want to make Luffy the "King of the Pirates"!!”

This SAME Chapter also has Zoro stating his confidence on Sanji.

Zoro: “What a coincidence... One of our crew [Sanji] just so happens to be heading to the village too...Though I don't think your colleague's coming back...Because that guy's gonna drop dead*!!!”

It’s literally Zoro saying that he believes Sanji will win in his fight omg

😭😭😭

Awwww Sanji. We all knew his self worth is in the trash but it sucks everytime we get reminded of that. Gaban speaking life into him is amazing.

Sanji has the most panels after Luffy. He loves him. He’s part of the monster trio and Zoro’s equal and hopefully now people will accept that and move on. But yeah several months ago I went on a long rant explaining that they can’t

1.Introduce villains that can only be beat with one skill

2.Put Sanji in the line of fire

3.Not give him the skill

Like logically did Sanji haters think Oda threw him in the field to die?

It does not just “happen” like some other character. Sanji is gonna go through some stuff, probably emotionally painful stuff, to get there. It’s like what he experienced in Wano but probably better.

In other words, Oda is cooking!

He is been setting this up since WCI. Sanji got his answer on who he needs to be. He has to “become a ‘King” if he wants Luffy to become the King of the Pirates.

I finally found the spoilers and I feel so vindicated! LOL.It really is about damn time! I feel like he was supposed to get it in Wano but Oda changed his mind.