I think the hindsight of the spoilers available now about Sanji is wrapping up the perception of people how open he is centered his “openess” in OPLA and stories so much on Zeff and his mom that like… it misdirects you to the glaring holes till you think about it.
Like the other ask is so right him telling his meeting Zeff backstory to inspire Luffy and centering not himself but Zeff’s piracy and heroism makes him almost an extra in the story. He tells so many other details and about Zeff’s brand with red leg he glosses over the… you know… child labor. I’m gonna be real I started with OPLA and was touched by his background but I too didn’t stop and think about why he was working on a ship with no parents in sight. And this is a fantasy world so those filled with orphans that need to live somehow and all… I The Viewer made assumptions, but those same assumptions made me genuinely read Luffy as an orphan too and shocked when Garp was his grandfather. He doesn’t linger what the fuck a kid was doing working on a ship in the first place. Or even the shipwreck itself and if any other parent/guardian on there died he tells it so casually. Same with his mom there is no question of another parent or family which… Usopp was in a similar situation so it’s not that vague but Usopps clearly didn’t have a private nurse. There is a post on tumblr I’m still not sure if that person searched spoilers/watched/read the original or not that based on OPLA on it’s reasonable to put together Sanji too was put in debt servitude to pay off his moms medical bills. And that’s just fascinating to me as he’s open but centered the people he loves to a point he almost becomes passive (except his service/skill like cooking) in them.
Same with that I love how there are some things that are specific enough that it does imply something… not royal but fishy about how he’s raised again that’s subtle enough to not question but if you stop and think… People find the quote “oregano is for savages” forced but and I’m reaching but the word choice of savages isn’t neutral. I think his background with as imperialistic royality with genetical manipulation absolutely would use the world savages for anyone other than them to justify their own superiority. Same as before Choppers backstory begins he says “pumped us with drugs” which is like a hostile way to word it and knows what evolutionary biology is which implies some form of education above just literacy and cooking class. Long story short i basically agree his openness in OPLA is overrated as it’s never about himself that much
I feel like that's why Robin is such an important member of the crew LOL. She'd be the one wondering why Sanji was on that ship working as a cook at age 8 and where tf his parents were. She would have flat-out asked him if Zeff is his dad too. Robin is always figuring things out. Sanji's vague stories would have been something she noticed, but it also helps that she is older and more mature. She knows what it's like hiding who you are so she's never been fooled by Sanji. (can you tell I love this duo)
Now that you bring it up it's interesting to think how little the crew knows about Luffy. They know Garp's his grandpa now but they know nothing about his parents and neither do the viewers. Luffy and Sanji kind of have that in common with how they talk about themselves. Like Sanji does it to hide but Luffy just doesn't dwell on the past. He's not focused enough on it to care about going into details. It reminds me of the convo they had about the All Blue where Sanji told him all he ever does is think about his past, and Luffy was like, "LOL why? Come be a pirate with me." People gloss over that scene, but it was just a really good way to show who they are as characters. Sanji constantly holds himself back and dwells on the past and Luffy is always brushing things off and moving forward.
Sanji is very careful with things in a way that doesn't make sense if he was solely raised by pirates his whole life. I just don't think anyone around him is curious enough to notice. Nami I think figured out there's more to him than he's letting on, thanks to their convo about his mom. She kept glancing at him for the rest of the episode, and I dont think writers highlighted it for romantic reasons.
