Hey, just wanted to say sorry about something. got added to a Discord server that had a hate page, and you were one of the people being talked about on it. There were a few other writers and artists from the one piece fandom there too. ended up leaving pretty quickly because it made me uncomfortable, and I didn't want to be part of that kind of thing. I feel bad that was even in the server at all, so wanted to apologize. I hope you can forgive me.
:/ where was my invite? I wanna see what the fans were saying.
Netflix's successful One Piece adaptation has so much to praise. The fully realized and practical sets. The costumes that look as if they were printed right from the pages of the manga. The improved pacing of season two allowing for the story to be told while still giving the characters time to bond. The incredible score and the original song for the giants. And holy cow the action scenes!!! Zoro vs. 100 assassins was easily the highlight of the entire season. However, there is one big glaring problem that has been preventing me from fully enjoying the series.
Sanji.
Sanji is one of my favorite One Piece characters. Beaten only by his captain, Luffy. (And tied with Law.)
He is my special little guy. One of the most complex and well written characters in all of manga. Which is why it hurts so much to see his character be tossed out the window in the live action adaptation.
No Suits. No Smoking. No Eyebrow
Look, I understand that not every detail in the adaptation can or should be lifted right from the source. Translating a manga character into an actor means it will never be a 1 to 1 copy. Nor do I want him to be. But there are some thing about Sanji's appearance that were purposefully taken into account when Oda was designing the chef.
The suits and smoking do appear in the live action, on small occasions. And of course, he can and should wear more than one outfit in the adaptation. He isn't a cartoon anymore! But I do think the change misses out on why Sanji is always wearing a suit and smoking his cigarettes. The suits and cigarettes are what Sanji thinks being a man looks like. In the manga when we first meet him, he is still a 19 year old boy.
He still acts very immaturely, but the double breasted suit, the constant smoking, and the three chin hairs show the reader that he wants to be seen as a grown man. It is how he presents himself, even if his actions may suggest otherwise.
I can look past this change. The eyebrow, however, is a much larger issue.
The swirly eyebrow is THE physical detail that Sanji is defined by. Even moreso than his flippy yellow hair. Without it, already a part of his identity is erased. No more curly-brow insults coming from Zoro. No more marketing using it to represent him. And, most importantly, a huge plot point from later in the series will no longer make any sense.
I won't spoil it for anyone who is not caught up, or is only watching the live action. But the swirlybrow has a bigger role to play in the story than just how Sanji looks. It is a key detail in his identity and the past he is trying to escape.
And if the argument was that they were changing it to make his appearance more realistic, I wonder why that would be important in a story that has fishmen, a guy with a clown nose, and whatever the hell is going on with Mr. 3.
The missing curly eyebrow was the first sign that this live action Sanji would be fundamentally different than Oda's Sanji.
The Gag
The most divisive thing about Sanji is his pervert gag. Which is exactly why the showrunners cut it from the live action. I cannot entirely fault them for it. There wouldn't be an elegant way to have Sanji on all fours with a nosebleed begging to be Nami's purse dog. It is not the kind of thing that translates well outside of anime. Hell, it doesn't even always work in anime. (Looking at you, Fishman Island Sanji)
But they swung so hard in the other direction that Sanji doesn't even come off as a pathetic little loverboy anymore. In fact, he barely blinks in a ladies direction. When he does, he's almost more of a... playboy. And it really proves to me that someone in the writers room did not fully understand why Sanji acts how he does with ladies. It isn't a purely sexual desire.
It comes from how Sanji expresses all of his feelings. All of Sanji's emotions in the animanga are exaggerated. Not only with the loverboy/pervert gag, but in every single aspect of his character. He has big feelings.
When he has a crush, he is lustful. When he is angry, he is fired up. When he is sad, he sobs. And when he is happy, he is playful and youthful. Sanji expresses everything in a large way. Except for his pain, because he chooses to suffer alone, which we will get to.
OPLA Sanji is not that expressive. When he is crying at Nami's bedside, he sheds a single Manly tear. He gets one scene of playing with Luffy and Usopp. And another where a woman ties him up and he's into it. There are hints to the real Sanji. His positive traits are still there. The kindness is really played up in the second season. But the bigger, more negative traits are erased.
We never see him picking fights with the boys on the crew or kicking Luffy when he's stealing from the kitchen. He does not have the anger and passion Sanji has. He is left as a smiling blonde man. Just a one note character.
By buffing out Sanji's flaws (his anger and perversion) he becomes a flatter character.
Passion for Food
This is more of a minor note in season two and much more present in season one, but Sanji's relationship with food in the live action is different than the original story. It never sat right with me that in Netflix's series Sanji's first scene is fighting with Zeff about wanting to serve some high class fancy meal. Because his first scene in the manga plays out much differently.
Here he is (violently) fighting a customer because he was wasting food. THIS is a perfect character introduction. Dare I say my favorite introduction of all time. Since we learn everything we need to know about Sanji in his first chapter (but that is a different essay!!!)
He goes from cool and charming one moment to starting a fight over what may seem to be a minor issue. From what we know with his history with food, and more accurately lack there of, he takes feeding others seriously. He does not care about making the fanciest meal of all time. He simply just wants to make sure everyone is fed. There are even a handful of scenes in the manga where he feeds enemies.
An Open Book
There was a moment in the first season that never sat right with me. In the Baratie episode, Sanji sits down with Luffy (a kid he had just met at the time) and tells him in detail how he nearly starved to death and that his dream is to find the All Blue. In the manga, it takes Sanji until the end of the Baratie arc to open up to Luffy about his dream. It is only after he sees Luffy bullheadedly fighting for his foolish dream, becoming King of the Pirates, that Sanji accepts that he can pursue his own foolish dream, finding the All Blue.
Of course the live action didn't have several chapters to tell the story, it is no surprise the All Blue speech comes earlier. But the backstory? Him just telling some pirates that he barely knew the pain he went through? It isn't something Sanji would do.
Once again, I will be avoiding late series spoilers, but later in the manga we learn a lot more about Sanji's past when it comes back to bite him. And even in the face of danger, he would rather keep the secrets of his past to himself than to burden his crew and ask for help.
Season two of the live action has two moments that go against this. First, and this one is quick, when the assassin ladies have him and Usopp tied up, he asks Zoro to help them out. It is such a small line, but at this point in the story Sanji would never ask for help with anything.
And the second, and more damning moment, is Sanji telling Nami about his mother. He would never, ever mention his family to the crew. Why? Because he would feel as though he is burdening Nami with his pain. The scene is sweet. And the emotions Sanji has toward his mother feel in character. But the act of talking about it, was extremely out of character for him.
Sanji is a man who keeps his pain to himself. He smiles to his crew even when his world is crashing down. Which leads me to:
Self Sacrificing
Since we are talking about Sanji taking pain on with a smile, let's finish this off with what defines some of his most important moments in the series.
Sanji does not value his own life that highly. And so, over and over again in the animanga, he will put his own life on the line in order to protect his crew. Drum Island has one of the first moments of this. In the manga, when he and Luffy are hiking up the mountain to save Nami, at one point there is an avalanche. He throws himself in the way to take the avalanche head on in order to keep Nami (and Luffy) safe. And in doing so, breaks his spine.
In the live action, he just sort of... falls.
One of Sanji's best scenes of that arc and the live action chose to write out his sacrifice, replacing it with something that makes him have to be saved instead. Maybe it was written this way to condense the story. But if that it the case, it makes me ask, why is it always Sanji's moments that are sacrificed to fit Netflix's 8 episode season?
Zoro still got 30 minutes of badass 1 vs 100 action. Usopp still got to be the Hero of Little Garden. Nami and Vivi had time to bond. And Luffy saved the day after each story.
Sanji continues to get the short end of the stick. The Mr. Prince scene was turned into a mostly off screen comedic fight. His concern for Nami was all tell instead of show. And his big moment of attempting to save Nami and Luffy was cut.
I am not in the heads of the showrunners so I can't say for certain that they hate Sanji, but it is clear to me that do not understand the appeal of him. Maybe in season 3, they will prove me wrong when he get to see more Mr. Prince action.
For now though, I find it hard to really love One Piece live action knowing my special guy was turned into something he's not.
Not to be a shill but I would like to eat a dinner other than ramen noodles every other day. But at least you would get a sick OC fanfiction out of it.
