OP864: When you realize
The Jaji crying scene was supposed to parallel Sanji’s flashback of crying as he asked Jaji for help while being bullied by his ‘brothers’. Look at how the tables have turned. Now it’s Jaji bawling his eyes out as the bullies, the BM pirates, are about to kill him, while his sons are as apathetic as he was back then.
But Sanji makes a choice which once again shows the stark difference between him and the Vinsmoke patriarch; despite all he’s done to Sanji, he doesn’t ignore Jaji’s cries for help. He wants to save the Vinsmokes, but not to get any sort of affirmation from Jaji. He chose his true father a long time ago. Even in this, he will not emulate Jaji. Instead, he looks to a man who decided to ‘help’ a young boy who tried to kill him. It’s more than just a savior complex. By saving the Vinsmokes, he is both honoring his mother’s memory and growing up into the kind of adult that would make Zeff proud.
