Ok so I’m reading whole cake rn and I fucking. HATE it so much ugh. But it HAS given me a whole new perspective on Sanji. Like, sure, I’ve had spoilers of his backstory, but nothing close to the whole thing, and even though I’m only partway through, I’ve got some Thoughts.
The thing with the clear-clear fruit really threw me off back in thriller bark, because I really hadn’t thought Sanji was actually a pervert, just so obsessed with being gallant towards all women it lands on the wrong side of misogyny. The latter is really quite logical, almost, considering where he was, at that time, known to have grown up. The kitchen of a popular restaurant with only male employees? Being overly attentive to women would have been encouraged, both because, duh, toxic masculinity, and because a young boy acting like that is likely to be seen as sweet rather than creepy and would perhaps bring in more tips, so this behaviour would have been allowed and even affirmed (there is a post somewhere that goes into this in more depth, can’t find it though). But actual perversion? I really don’t see where that would have come from, as Zeff was always depicted as a proponent of being respectful towards women, and protecting them. Perversion doesn’t really fit into that description, does it? I did believe Sanji wanted the clear-clear fruit, because we’ve seen multiple times that he only started fighting in earnest once he had a personal motive for it, whether that be because his friends were wronged or he himself. So why did he want the fruit? He mentioned having wanted it since he was very young, since before Zeff and the Baratie, and no matter how Oda depicts boys at such a young age, I can’t fathom Sanji wanting to see beautiful naked ladies at age 6. Until knowing more about Sanji’s background, I couldn’t think of a proper theory, but now it’s getting clearer. He was always being picked on by his siblings or forced to train and compete, while what he really wanted to do was cook. He was a normal, gentle boy, in contrast with the other Vinsmoke children, and he obviously didn’t want to get beaten up by his siblings every day because he was “weak”. And what do children who are abused and belittled often wish for? To be invisible. I think he always retained that desire somewhere in the back of his mind, all throughout his life, no matter the reasons he might have hidden the truth behind: he wanted to escape from his horrible relatives (I refuse to call them a family) and never have to return to them again. As for the pervert mask he put on, I think the desire to be invisible always remained, despite him trying his hardest to put his traumatic memories in a locked box somewhere deep in his mind, and to keep from having to face those memories every time that want came bubbling to the surface, Sanji threw himself into this new him, this womanizer, perverted, internally and (perhaps unknowingly) misogynistic persona. Like I mentioned before, him actually being a pervert seems dreadfully unrealistic, even more now that his complete backstory is out in the open, because where would it have come from? Even in his younger years, I see no plausible cause for perversion. The people of Germa are mostly men, even, so no women to perve on, and no one interacted with Sanji anyway, so no source of unsavoury thoughts in sight.
TL;DR Sanji didn’t want the clear-clear fruit because he’s a pervert, but because he wanted to escape from Judge and his siblings.
I just finished whole cake (would’ve finished yesterday if it weren’t for the maintenance on weebcentral but who cares (noooooo I didn’t throw a fit at all what’re you talking about)) and the little extra Sanji stuff there was only confirmed what I wrote here, mostly regarding his “mask”. There’s this panel after Sanji finds out about Pudding where he actually pushes himself to put on his mask again, saying he’s the love-cook. Like, girl, there’s no one in the room with you???? You’re only trying to convince yourself?? He knows he’s more than just the love-cook (tm) but he’s not ready to face that. He’s thrown himself into that personality for so long, he doesn’t know how to come to terms with being accepted even when other parts of himself shine through, parts he’s kept hidden for so long. Not very convenient to have a captain who sees right through your bullshit facade huh.
And another thing I’ve noticed, at some point Sanji starts saying that he cares/is worried about the whole crew, and then amends that to just Nami. This again ties into that whole womanizer business, because the love-cook can’t honestly care for anyone other than (beautiful) women. That would be weird, right? This is one of the moments I absolutely loved Sanji during whole cake, because he finally slips up. He’s finally distressed enough to show his concern about his whole crew, not just the woman he’s supposedly “in love with” (which is a whole other story, really, but I’ll just say he’s deluded himself into thinking his love for Nami is romantic and keep it at that). He drops his mask, at long last, if even for a second, and that’s enough to make me believe what I wrote earlier, to make me believe he’s more than just a perverse, misogynistic asshole who has his cool moments. I really hope I’ll see more of the true Sanji in the last 300-ish chapters!
(Also, I have to bring this up for a moment bc Holy Shit Luffy’s fight with Katakuri was on another level dude, it’s gotta be my favourite fight until now!)
