#wci

The mothers being front & center again. Sanji seeing their desperation to save their children.

Their willingness to throw their life away with no hesitation or regret.

Sanji arrives at the scene in just the nick of time.

He will be reminded of Sora & her sacrifice for him. Of the wish his mother had for his life.

Sanji will make Sora proud by being the type of man who protects people with his power. He will prove that he was worth sacrificing her life for.

And he'll do it while remaining kind & good. While rejecting the Germa modifications he fears so much. Resisting the stripping of his humanity.

Because Sanji doesn't need to give up those things to be strong. To be useful. He doesn't need to lose himself.

He's already got all the power inside him.

It's no secret that lately the anime adaptation of One Piece has been receiving more criticism than usual and with said criticism being more severe than "animation ugly". This has been particularly ramping up since Toei changed up the creative team starting in Wano.

This was not the first time Toei has done this, but I'm pretty sure this is the most significant overhaul in modern One Piece history. Remember, in real time these arcs take YEARS.

If you watch the anime you could probably tell the immediate difference in which the adaption was handled between WCI & Wano forward. The vibes definitely changed & not for the better according to some (it's me. I'm some.).

While some of the budget for the animation in WCI was severely lacking and I also take a bit of issue with the pacing + some unnecessary filler moments, I do overall really like WCI in the anime. Not perfect, but true to the core of the story and a proper representation of what Oda attempts to convey in the Manga. Anime adaptations should be striving to elevate the manga, NOT completely change it. Adaptation vs re-imagining.

Let's go over one moment as a visual example of what I'm talking about:

One of my favorite scenes in the anime during WCI, is how they framed Sanji's very first look at Pudding.

In the manga, there's no particular close up on Pudding. We just cut straight to her picture:

However, In the anime Toei does something a bit different:

In the scene, we get close up focus of three physical attritibes Sanji immediately locks in on:

1) Her breasts (becuase of course he does smh)

2) Her Lips (Pudding is one of the few characters in One Piece with prominent full lips lol)

3) Her EYES 👁

The eyes being the last thing he focuses on & then immediately Sanji's own eyeballs pop out of his sockets like an old cartoon 😂

Why did this stand out to me?

Because later on in the arc, her eyes are not only revealed as one of Pudding's biggest insecurities

But Sanji's attraction to them end up being the very proof of his pure heart & kind nature

as well as being the catalyst for Pudding becoming an ally for the rest of the Strawhats' time there.

One advantage an anime has over the manga is that the manga is almost always ahead of the anime.

This means that animation teams are well aware of future plot points. Managaka have even been known to "spoil" future events that have yet to taken place so that they can react accordingly.

Meaning, animation teams have more room & freedom to tie everything together. They are able to add in filler scenes or reframe manga panels to make the pay off hit harder. To plant seed earlier. To strengthen that narrative thread.

A good anime adaptation understands that its strength doesn't necessarily lie in the big flashy spectacles, but rather the small seemingly insignificant moments. They understand that THIS is what the fans want. What they pay attention to. What will hold up to scrutiny & stand the test of time. Something deeper than the instant gratification of special effects.

Something that definitely largely feels lost within the anime Wano forward.

At least, it does to me & a pretty passionate portion of the fanbase.

The midterm results for the One Piece Global Poll are IN:

Pudding ranked 59!!! 🥳💖

Congratulations & thank you to everyone who voted for her! I'm actually so unbelievably happy right now. She beat out fan favorites like Ulti, Gaban, & even Kaido! She made it on the same page as ROGER! 🤯

THAT'S HUGE!!

My initial goal when pushing for this campaign [x] was just to get her on the top 100 & better than last global poll (where she ranked 45!). I wanted to show the fandom, Oda, & even myself that despite all the hate thrown her way, Pudding is a beloved character! Even if some of those haters are particularly vicious 😒

But now I want more.

Wouldn't it be great if we could get some new, offical looks for our girl? She has such an adorable sense of fashion as it is. I wanna see it!

So please, don't give up yet! We're halfway there! It's 100% duable!!

VOTE FOR PUDDING!!! 🍮👁💖

Sanji would want you to!

Link to poll ➡️ [x] Remember: you can vote ONCE PER DAY! Keep coming back!!