One Piece: Why did Sanji leave the crew? Explained

One Piece has had several different events and storylines throughout the years, which is one of the many reasons why the manga has been going on for so long. This has allowed author Eiichiro Oda to plant different seeds for plot points and give the audience the payoff a few hundred chapters down the line, making the manga feel a lot more dynamic.

Perhaps one of the best examples of this approach in One Piece is with Sanji, during the events of the Whole Cake Arc. There were some hints throughout the series that there was more to Sanji's character than meets the eye. These were fully revealed in this arc, which went as far as having him leave the Straw Hats crew in one of the most memorable moments of the series.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the One Piece series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.

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Explaining why Sanji left the crew during the events of the Whole Cake Arc in One Piece

During the events of the Zou Arc in One Piece, the Straw Hats had separated into two groups, with Sanji, Nami, and others being in the aforementioned Zou Island, and Luffy, Zoro, and the rest dealing with Doflamingo and his men in Dressrosa.

During the events of this arc, it was revealed that Sanji had a family and that they were royalty from the South Blue looking to build connections with the Big Mom Pirates.

Sanji was informed of this situation and his family, whom he had lost contact with, was forcing him to get married to Pudding from the Charlotte family to build a stronger relationship between both sides. The Straw Hats' cook was naturally against this decision but he was blackmailed by the fact that he had to accept or his crew would be defeated by the Big Mom Pirates.

At the time, there was no way that the Straw Hats would have been able to defeat the Yonko crew, which is why Sanji accepted the deal and even went as far as pretending that he left them out of his own volition because Luffy would never accept him leaving.

This led to a lot of poignant moments, such as Luffy and Sanji fighting and the former begging him to stay, which is considered one of the highlights of the Whole Cake Arc.

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Sanji's character arc in the Whole Cake Arc

Sanji during the Whole Cake Arc (Image via Toei Animation)

The events of the Whole Cake Arc were probably the right move regarding Sanji's character after he got several secondary roles in the previous One Piece storylines. There has been a running criticism of Eiichiro Oda's writing, with some fans believing that several of the Straw Hats have had a very minor role when compared to their pre-time skip versions.

Whole Cake not only put Sanji in the forefront of the arc but also gave more depth and complexity to his character, especially considering his new backstory. The element of his family being extremely abusive toward him also gave more context to his personality and even his devotion to women, which was a direct result of ladies being the few who treated him well as a kid.

This arc also made Sanji's connection with the Straw Hats a lot stronger, especially his friendship with Luffy. The captain of this crew went to extreme lengths so Sanji could come back, making their bond all the more palpable.

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Final thoughts

The Whole Cake Arc in One Piece was the moment when Sanji left the crew because he was blackmailed by his family and the Big Mom Pirates. Those two groups wanted to join forces through marriage and were using Sanji for the same, threatening to destroy the Straw Hats if he didn't agree to the idea.