I dedicate this page to our dear love-cook Sanji! He is my comfort character, and I often doodle and create journal spreads on him. I wanted to do the same for Mr. Prince on my website. You can play with Nyanji and friends if you go to "buddies" on my sidebar.

SPOILER WARNING
When I begun the One Piece manga, I did not expect myself to finish the story because I rarely read shounen. Instead, I found myself sinking deep into a story about liberation, rebellion, and found family, elements in which I love to see in stories! Usually, the fictional media I consume often play around with tragic tropes, and I thought of such doom as more real to life. I think that may affected my worldview for too many years. One Piece, on the other hand, brings a refreshing sort of hope that I missed out on. Seeing Luffy pursue his dreams against all opposition and taking down oppressive forces no matter how dangerous gives you so much motivation. Even as simple his mindset may be, he also encourages others to follow their dreams, no matter how crazy they seem. I feel that too as a reader!
As for Sanji, I understood his frustration toward Zoro losing to Mihawk in the Baratie Arc and why he yells at him to throw away his ambition. Sanji feels he owes Zeff for saving his life and thus, refuses to leave the Baratie. This means giving up on childish dreams, like finding the All Blue, something he found solace thinking about. This moment from the Baratie Arc made me think about how I almost gave up on studying medicine because of financial anxiety and my need to support my family. Those days I berated myself for being too ambitious, seeing such a mentality as a weakness of sorts. I hated being selfish, and I always felt like I owed the people around me something. Later, therapy made me realize how much my self-worth hinged on my ability to be useful to others rather than myself. I saw parallels with Sanji's character, from his refusal to leave the Baratie to the countless times he sacrifices himself for Straw Hats (ex. that moment in Skypeia where he saves Nami and Ussop or the entire Whole Cake arc).