sanji shrine

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). You see this with his cooking- the skill he probably he sees his usefulness in the most, he puts others first before himself, such as feeding people for free. However, I noticed a turning point in the Wano arc where he called out to Robin for help against Black Maria- a powerful moment where he chooses himself. And when he chooses himself, he acknowledges the love given to him by his found family and trusts them, showing character development from earlier seasons. Inspired by his character, I've been pushing myself to ask for help more often while actively pursuing my dreams, no matter how difficult.

Sanji's character also beautifully represents the power behind emotions, and he defies societal norms on how men should be, such as being aloof and serious. Some fans find his outward displays of chivalry and swooning about love annoying, but I think this comes from a place of strangeness, since many people think men should not act like that. As for female fans who feel irked by his "simping," I think this also comes from a place of thinking his behavior as transactional or wanting something back. I thought so too in the beginning, and I've seen my fair share of "nice guy" characters and people in real life. However, the story emphasizes time and time again how Sanji helps others regardless of gender based on his own values (credit to Zeff for molding them) and empathy, and he never wants anything in return. Even with the abuse he faced under his biological family, he saves them and never chooses revenge. You need a massive amount of emotional intelligence to do THAT.

Speaking of Germa, his family saw him as "weak" for his softer personality opposed to his siblings stripped of their emotions through genetic modification. For lots of male fans, the experience of needing to suppress your emotions to be taken seriously feels all too real. Even though I am a woman, I also grew up to be the most emotional out of my family, and I found myself being taunted for being too soft. I am reminded of Sanji when I think about how hard I tried to follow heteronormative ideals in high school. Growing up, he wore suits, smokes cigarettes, and displays aggression toward other men just to feel more masculine. In high school, I wanted to be more assertive but not too much that threatens others, wearing feminine clothes but not too girly, and tried hard not to be a burden with my emotions. The patriarchy really drives people of different identities to conform in weird ways. Thankfully, I eventually grew into my femininity as something for myself and saw power with my emotional self (the latter thanks to therapy and reading One Piece). For Sanji, he learns that the Straw Hats love him no matter what. You can see that with how Luffy questions why all the "weak" traits Judge listed happen to be the traits that make Sanji lovable. I hope he reaches out for help more often like he did in Wano; those moments reinforce a improvement on how he sees his self-worth. Sometimes, I do wish Oda did a better job with Sanji's stint on Kamabakka Island as I can see that being an outlet in which he tackles those insecurities of being "less of a man." Femininity should not be a source of shame! Still, Sanji is a well-written character and my favorite one of all.