being a sanji fan is an intense experience because it takes you like 200 episodes to finally understand why sanji's eyes turned lifeless for a flickering moment at those words

It's during Punk Hazard arc. The marines ask Sanji to tell them about his crewmate, Zoro. And Sanji actually compliments Zoro (!!) since the latter isn't around. Which speaks volumes about their relationship. Sanji has a good opinion of Zoro but due to their rivalry he would never admit it on Zoro's face ( same can be said about Zoro's opinion of Sanji).

Sanji knows that despite Zoro's mean look, he's actually kind. Oda-sensei often says or writes that despite Zoro's hard appearance he's actually kind and rather shy. Imo, it's important that Sanji knows Zoro so well that he described him to his core.

With camie's life on the line and the threat of navy admirals, their options were limited. Nami then decide the best course of action is to BUY camie back. Getting her out of there is their top priority

This also debunked the argument that "if sanji wasn't just being a simp why didn't he ask nami to buy everyone?" Bc when they got there SHE WAS THE ONE BEING ON THE STAGE. and the next thing they knew they were too busy beating people up so none of it mattered anymore lol

"but nami and chopper hit him so he clearly wanted to buy her for impure reason" nami did the same when sanji told her he refused to kick a woman even if it might cost him his life. she and chopper were aware of this weakness of him and reminded him to focus on getting camie out

Insinuating that sanji, a crew luffy holds in high regard, someone who has fought alongside luffy to help liberate people, was interested in getting a slave for his own entertainment and subjecting women to cruelty feels like an intentionally bad faith interpretation of his char

"Sanji wants to buy a sex slave" he was scolded bc they were only there to "buy" camie but ofc he couldn't help but ask if they could help another woman.. this is a matter of reading comprehension

(blanket spoiler for whole cake island + wano just for the last part of the lyrics analysis)

first off this is sanji compartmentalizing all his trauma with his family + abuse and him coping with all this by being the Romantic Love Cook™ all the time and being the sweet, charming, smiling sweetie pie he usually is; also the entire sea/piracy/sailor metaphor going through the song is simply perfect, for obvious reasons. and also his dream of the all blue

now this is whole cake island; the way sanji decides to face his family and his problems alone, without his nakama, and he leaves them all to protect them, "this is your own battle to win", even if it kills him to be separated from them and he has to fight off luffy to make him stay away

the chorus!! i know the song probably intends "captain" to mean yourself/the same person singing the rest of the song, because there's the lyric "this is your ship and you're the captain", but when i heard it my mind immediately went to sanji and luffy obviously and ohhhh the sanlu feelings. the emotions. sanji feeling scared for himself, for his nakama, and he bottles up everything—but if he could just talk to luffy about it, have him by his side to fight just like nami and robin did for their own issues, he wouldnt feel like he was drowning so much. and he knows luffy would come help him in a heartbeat too, which makes it harder to push him away

this. well. YOU KNOW WHICH SCENE THIS IS. the crying in the rain scene....... sanji crying in the rain is probably one of my favourite scenes of him but also one of the saddest of the entire anime, to me. destroys me just thinking about it. and sanji crying.... thats when everything cracks, when everything he's been keeping together just falls apart

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I know ch1031 in the manga happens (and I will combust when I see it animated) but like, still. Luffy and Zoro are up on the roof fighting two yonkou. Meanwhile Sanji is battling with himself over whether or not he’s going to escape Black Maria. He easily could, it’s just he can’t decide if he’s going to fight a woman or not. And I’m so frustrated with it. Yeah I get he’s illustrating that it’s hard to win and stick to your principles at the same time sometimes, but it’s a dumb fucking principle!

•••

I know he values the crew and Luffy above all else, so why isn’t he acting like it? He was ready and willing to throw his life away for them 200 (200? wow this is a longass arc) episodes ago. Your crew and your CAPTAIN need you. Why are you spinning your wheels on this? It shouldn’t matter if she’s a woman because she is an enemy first and foremost. Defeat her. Thank you next.

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The juxtaposition of Sanji’s plot line with Luffy and Zoro’s is just pitiful, too. Like you want me to view this as just as serious of a plot point as fighting two yonkou? Hell, even Chopper is over here fighting Queen. It just feels unfair. It feels unfair as a woman to have to watch this, to know it is THAT UNSURMOUNTABLE. Within the narrative, for him, it’s equally as unsurmountable as fighting Kaido, or Queen, or even actually physically fighting Black Maria herself, as it is to be able to view and fight a woman as an equal.

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AND this is not to discount Black Maria, I have no doubt she is just as—if not, more— capable and strong as Page One who Sanji fought before using the raid suit. But she isn’t fighting him! She’s just taunting him and trying to get him to ditch the chivalry. WHICH HE SHOULD DO! The whole conflict hinges on Sanji viewing women as inherently different, and Black Maria taking advantage of that. I know it’s like basic basics of one piece + feminism and oda and canon Sanji are not great and we are all on the same page here I just. blehahahjdjfhdjs it’s especially bothering me today. It doesn’t matter that I think another reason he’s like this outside of the canon reasons is bc of Gender Things. It doesn’t matter if he does eventually fight her. Because this is already a storyline. I’m just especially tired of it today. Do better.

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Despite the fact that Vegapunk was the one who told Sanji to let him die, the poor boy still felt guilty of his death.

Just like he felt guilty of Pedro's death:

Now with the latest developments on Elbaf, and the conversation of Sanji having conqueror's haki:

I'd like to see Sanji develop a different mentality, one that he doesn't constantly blame himself for everything bad happening around him

I know it's hard not to get sad when someone around you dies, and especially if that said someone sacrificed their life for you. I think it's perfectly fine for Sanji to get sad on these occasions.

But instead of developing guilt because he survived, I'd like to see him use all these unfortunate and sad events in order to get stubborn and more powerful. Something like" There are people who sacrificed their lives to let me get where I'm standing, so I'm not letting their sacrifice got to waste. I'll beat you".

Because look which two are in the front. Luffy and Zoro, the other two members of the monster trio. You know, the girls could have been in the front and no one would bat an eye since Sanji is known as a "Ladies' man", as someone who always aims to serve women.

First time it happened on his introduction on Baratie:

Sanji was willing to sacrifice himself if that meant that the Kieg Pirates wouldn't take Baratie. He felt he owned Zeff a huge debt because of the way the latter rescued him when he was a kid and offered him a home. Thankfully, Luffy was there to tell Sanji that dying isn't the way to repay your debt to the person who raised you.

During Drum Island, Sanji sacrificed himself to get Luffy and Nami to a safe place. He was hit by the full front of an avialence and a rock.

During Skypiea, he sacrificed himself by taking Enel's attack that was aimed at Nami and Usopp:

On Thriller Bark, when Zoro wanted to sacrifice himself in Luffy's place, Sanji interfered and offered his life instead. The difference between the two men sacrificing themselves was that Zoro was valuing his life and his ambition and thus why he offered it in Luffy's place. Meanwhile, Sanji was thinking that his life and dreams were lesser than Zoro and Luffy's and that's why he decided he was the one who would die there. Luckily for him, Zoro knocked him down so we don't have another case of Sanji sacrificing himself.

On Whole Cake Island, Sanji was fully prepared to die to save his friends:

These words belong to a person who doesn't value enough his life:

Even during Wano, Sanji made a deal with a crew member he deeply respects and believes that could carry that task, to kill him in case he loses his humanity.