#ch403

Okay, so the fight between Kalifa and Sanji starts with Sanji closing his eyes, almost as if he can’t stand too look at her, and his first action is to defend rather than attack. Then the first time Sanji does try to hit Kalifa he ends up getting hit right in the balls, aka his masculinity

If you really pay attention to Kalifa here it’s clear that she’s surprised by his strength and speed. Like, there’s some pretty genuine fear in that bottom right panel. It also becomes increasingly clear that Sanji’s pulling his kicks. Kalifa knows it, Sanji knows it, and it ends up costing him the fight.

The one thing that I think gets overlooked with this fight is that Sanji is genuinely trying. He knows Robin’s life is in danger, he knows Kalifa is an enemy, but his hangups about fighting women are so deeply ingrained he can’t overcome them, and Nami ends up saving having to save his ass from a fighter that, going strictly by power levels, is far below Sanji in terms of skill.

idk if this completely conveys my feelings now, I feel like it’s not enough and isn’t explained to its fullest, but, yeah. It’s on a whim, maybe I’ll clean it and make the message more direct?

Ugh I feel so complicate

With One Piece’s heavy emphasis on Romanticism as a philosophy it’s very important (and at times difficult) to determine the difference between a genuine character flaw and something that is Admirable But Stupid(tm).

Take for instance Zoro’s first fight with Mihawk during the Baratie arc. His insistence that wounds on a back are a swordsman shame could be seen as stupid--something Sanji himself points out, funnily enough--if your goal is simply to survive a fight with the World’s Greatest Swordsman.

But Zoro’s goal isn’t to survive, it’s to surpass Mihawk while following his own code of honor. If he dies he dies, but it’s going to be on Zoro’s terms, not Mihawk’s. Such sacrifice could be seen as stupid and senseless, but following the Romantic themes of the series it’s also kind of admirable, and thus Zoro’s duel with Mihawk is portrayed *in series* as a positive event.

Nami being impressed by Sanji’s chivalry also acts as an in-universe signifier that his refusal to hit women also fits into the category of Admirable But Stupid(tm), fitting within Sanji’s particular Romantic ideal. But where Zoro’s fight with Mihawk is portrayed wholly in a positive light, Sanji’s fight with Kalifa is marred by Sanji giving into a senseless death instead of simply running away when he realized he was outmatched.

And that honestly fits in with Sanji’s character throughout the series. Zoro’s potential death against Mihawk was ultimately in service of Zoro’s dream to become the World’s Greatest. One Piece consistently says that risking your life in pursuit of your ambition is a risk you have to take, and usually falls in the category of Admirable But Stupid(tm).