One Piece fans on Twitter have once more decided to address Sanji’s character flaws as they relate to Sanji’s treatment of women. Surprisingly, this isn’t a result of One Piece Chapter 1031’s development where Sanji seemingly hit a woman. This was later resolved in One Piece Chapter 1034, where it’s confirmed Sanji didn’t hit the woman.
Regardless, One Piece Twitter seems to be taking great offense to Sanji’s ogling of women throughout the series. This has happened many times before, yet the discussion begins anew every time.
Follow along as we cover all the major One Piece Twitter contributions to this divisive topic.
Fans cite Sanji’s childhood dream and more for cancel-worthy character flaws
A community divided
One Piece’s Sanji is yet again in trouble with the Twitter community, as fans cite his childhood dream and other events as reasons to cancel the character.
This seems to have all started with a prominent community member’s recent livestream, which showcased a round table discussion between various well-known community members. Twitter user @seastonesage in particular cited Sanji’s childhood dream of wanting to spy on n*ked girls as extremely problematic.
Sage then went on to describe how Brook at least always asks for permission and consent, whereas Sanji will approach women without permission. Sage was quoted as saying Sanji’s “lecherous jokes about essentially harassing women” as being the main problem. Sage followed this up with the Brook juxtaposition.
This has led many fans to point out that criticizing Sanji and praising Brook seems somewhat inconsistent in terms of character treatment. In addition, fans are citing cultural differences and comparing Sanji to other anime. Sage responded to this by essentially saying that argument is irrelevant, and cultural differences shouldn’t prevent character critique.
An interesting point many fans have brought up is the lack of discussion of Nami and Momonosuke and Robin and Momonosuke’s interactions. Momonosuke displays similar perverse intent as a child, yet the Twitter community doesn’t reprimand him for it. In addition, Nami and Robin enable this behavior consistently, yet the two women have escaped criticism as well.
In summation
It seems the entire One Piece community is getting sucked into this debate, with nearly every corner of the One Piece hashtag occupied by it. Nevertheless, the series will march forward with One Piece Chapter 1035 and beyond.
Regardless of your opinion, clearly, everyone involved in this debate is doing so out of love for the series. If people didn’t care about One Piece or Sanji, they wouldn’t critique or defend him and the series’ characterization of him thus far.
While discussions about fictional characters can draw divisive lines (especially around these topics), it’s important to remember sexual assault in real life is unacceptable, period. If you or a friend feel like a victim, be sure to reach out to the relevant authoritative figures and the following international support systems.
National US Sexual Assault Hotline (available 24/7/365): 1-800-656-4673
https://ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html (collection of various international sexual assault support systems)