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supernovaken · 3 years

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Why I don’t like Vivi - One Piece Discussion | Supernova Ken

Where to begin with this one. I’ll start by saying I don't necessarily dislike Vivi, forgive the clickbait title. But I do find her character - very annoying.

As in, an unhealthy amount of frustration is directed at this very fictional character and there are a few reasons why, but it really all boils down to her representing a character trait that we see in many real life examples (as far as celebrity lives count as real life anyway). Vivi is hella entitled and I can't stand her.

Let me circle back to the things that make Vivi a great pseudo-Straw-Hat. Pseudo because her inherent character traits are also what make her quite unsuitable to sail with the rest of the crew.

What I Liked,

She knows how to take charge in important situations. One thing we need to remember about our fearless leader Monkey D. Luffy is in the beginning his role as Captain was definitely a position he had to mature into before the Usopp and Robin moments at Water 7 kick started his growth from charismatic ‘head of the line’ member of a ragtag bunch to a bonafide reliable chief on the dangerous high seas.

Many times with Luffy we’ve seen him fall short as someone able to be responsible for others, not his fault as he had an upbringing focused on strength and independence while all the loving characters around him like Ace, Sabo and Garp all had themselves a lot more put together than a young Luffy so he only ever had people to look up to rather than a crew to rely on him. In these gaps he’s always been ok with stronger characters taking over the leadership role de facto like Zoro’s directions against Oz in thriller Bark and Nami’s everyday orders on the ship.

Vivi displayed this trait almost adequately (emphasis on almost) when she conveyed the importance of a leader recognising the needs of their crew/followers and putting aside their own pride or personal viewpoints for the sake of those needs. In Drum Kingdom she scolds Luffy for acting impulsively against the townsfolk even though he knew Nami needed their help seeking emergency medical care.

Wonderful kingly trait there no doubt, but here’s my gripe with it. In displaying her kingly wisdom she undermines and belittles the Captain in what was meant to come across as a humbling moment for Luffy. Maybe i’m old fashioned or these many years since the Drum arc have warped the details a little for me but the citizens shot at their ship unprovoked, traumatised or not by the constant pirate assaults their actions just invite more danger to the village if these weren’t our protagonist they were shooting at while also putting the rest of the straw hats at risk, Vivi herself took a bullet in the process, not so noble when you consider if that were an island full of pirates or marines shooting at the crew, a quick curb stomping response would have been highly acceptable.

I’m not advocating beating up civilians so best not to get into the politics of how they should defend themselves, and Luffy was in the wrong for jumping the gun; Vivi however should not have chastised him by calling him a failure as a Captain, it’s natural for any Captain to defend their crew if attacked unduly - her judgement was unnecessary. The best way to show Luffy he’s in the wrong here isn’t to outdo him but to appeal to his emotional side, understanding and respecting the fears of the villagers while assertively acknowledging the needs of his crew.

A second thing i liked about Vivi was her relationship with Koza and how it shaped her morality and love for her people, But even with that she also showed how out of touch she was those same citizens of the Alabasta Kingdom, she wasn’t able to understand their day to day problems and the pain they felt in needing to rebel against the King in the first place. Koza was the perfect character for this as he represented the country's heart in spite of its monarchy. Although Crocodile and the Baroque Works were to blame for the life threatening drought in the regions, Vivi didn’t understand why it was so easy for him to sway the people's belief in the King or the turmoil involved in Kozas' decision to fight. Yes this was part of her character arc which Luffy helped her realise by literally knocking some sense into her, but the whole ordeal was telling of someone who thinks its easy to be a citizen as long as the King is kind and that entitled attitude really grinds my gears. Fortunately her naivety in terms of the strain on the Kingdom was addressed and growth shown when she decided to stay behind and help her country develop into something better for its people.

To sum up, Vivi does have some great qualities with her leadership skills standing above the average person and her strong moral compass that’s based on a foundation of love and empathy for the everyday man. But her naivety, arrogance, disrespectful entitled attitude on top of just being a pain in the ass throughout her arc was enough to have me rooting against her joining the crew as a permanent member. Not sure if i could deal with a longer exposure to a character who, for me, seemed very out of touch with the harsher realities of the world.

#one piece supernova #onepiece #vivi nefertari #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #trafalgar law #cat burglar nami #alabasta

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supernovaken · 3 years

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Is Law Trash - One Piece Discussion | Supernova Ken

Strange way to start a discussion right, make everyone hate you for attacking a beloved One Piece character. Trust me I plan to do it again

But for now, please let me explain the issues I have with one Trafalgar D. Water Law.

From his introduction into the story Law has always been considered Mr. Cool, the sauve yet complicated Surgeon of Death, and his surprise save at the end of the Paramount War at Marineford left us fans both super in love (in a normal fan way i promise) and super intrigued with everything about the mysterious Supernova. (see what i did there - lol not great)

Post timeskip Oda feeds our curiosity surrounding Law while simultaneously hitting us with more head banging questions. Why did he actually save Luffy? Which Emperor is he after?, What’s his beef with Mingo? cue mega emotional, ultra teary backstory in the same league as Nami and Robin - how the heck that is even possible for a non Straw-Hat is beyond amazing.

But with all the likeable story beats and universe breaking powers (i’ll get to that), something about this guy just made me think, Nah

Law isn’t the spectacular character the fan base has come to love. He’s actually trash… and here’s why.

Reuniting at Punk Hazard, Law begins the next phase of his long-game by recruiting Luffy into his alliance. The first phase seemingly being his actions at the Rocky port where he decided he’d trade in the hearts of 100 pirates in order to gain the title of Shichibukai.

Becoming a Shichibukai is a genius idea in the world of One Piece, the ability to move freely (Blackbeard style) in the New World along with all the other perks and power status played well in Laws plan to blindside Doflamingo by infiltrating Caesars lab on Punk Hazard and disable the SAD machine integral to Kaido and Mingo’s ability to produce the man-made Devil Fruits known as Smiles. Smart yes, gutsy - heck to the no.

Yes he had an intricate plan to weaken Doflamingo's trade and bargaining power, but he had many reservations about challenging the centrepiece of his trauma, something we know Luffy and Kid would never hesitate to do. I’m not saying being as reckless as those two is ever advisable, but to stand shoulder to shoulder with pirate king candidates I don’t feel that this level of wariness qualifies the impression we have of Law. Even Usopp and Nami outdo Law in their resolve when it comes to challenging more powerful opponents, I guess the Straw Hats do have the unwavering belief in their Captain that pushes them to stand their ground (Barring Usopp's mishap with Sugar and Trebol).

The scurrying around he does on Dressrosa also does nothing to show he deserves the acknowledgement as a worst generation pirate here to bring in the new era as it’s just an offshoot of his lack of resolve. Being smart is a good way to trigger world changing events, but when things really don’t go his way, as was the case throughout the arc, his inability to adjust proved his unworthiness. The moment Doflamingo deceived the world with his faked resignation from the warlords, Law took L after L trying to outthink his target to no avail which made for a terribly uninspired showing from a so called rival to Luffy. Even with Kids multiple (and exaggerated) losses to the Emperors he encountered, we as the audience could never say that his heart wasn’t in it. But with Law, as ironic as this will sound considering the themes of his plotline, he just didn’t have the heart necessary to follow through. That's where Luffy came in and that’s where he fails as Luffy’s equal.

Wano is slowly rebuilding Law as the formidable challenger we viewed him to be at Sabaody, but the damage will require a long road of fixes and an impossible, incredible feat at the end of it. Not only does he lack that all important backbone, he also has no heart to follow through with anything (way harsh i know).

#onepiece #trafalgar law #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #one piece supernova #eustasscaptainkid #eustass kid #worst generation

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supernovaken · 3 years

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Why I love Blackbeard - One Piece Discussion | Supernova Ken

Marshall D. Teach has to be one of the most well written characters in the history of Shonen. At the very least, within the One Piece story itself I find him to be one of Oda’s most compelling individuals; and the fact that we know mostly nothing about him adds even more to the thrill and suspense that we are sure to get when his character arc and background is finally presented.

We all see him as the perfect antithesis to Luffy but have we really appreciated what that fully means. With the details Oda has given us so far I'd like to argue that Blackbeard's journey is the better story of ambition and reckless luck when compared to the journey of our protagonists’.

It’s common for fans to think that Teach is a master tactician, lying idle on Whitebeard's ship with plans to betray him and eventually work his way up to getting the Gura Gura no Mi for himself, an everything was triggered with Thatch’s discovery of the Yami Yami no Mi. But i feel this gives too much credit to his forward thinking ability; whenever the question of the smartest one piece character is brought up i’m not sure Oda has ever hinted at Blackbeard being anywhere near that list. To be Luffy’s antithesis, he needs to be just like Luffy while at the same time being his complete opposite, and this is where his drive and decision making come into play.

Saying all his actions were part of some master plan is like saying Luffy’s actions were also. Luffy defeated Arlong to gain notoriety and a 30M Berri bounty, planned to be acknowledged by bounty hunters at Whisky Peak to show his toughness to Vivi and Igaram, this would put him in striking position of the head of Baroque Works who Luffy knew was Oka Shichibukai Sir Crocodile and give him the Devil Child Nico Robin, reader of the Polyglyphs. Master Plan to become King of the Pirates phase one complete.

Sounds ridiculous right, that’s my argument when it comes to Teach. Hear me out as I map out Teach’s mindset and how he really got to his position as an Emperor of the sea through his unshakable will (of D.) and mastery of opportunistic decision making.

Blackbeard only wanted the Yami Yami no Mi initially. If he had found it first he would’ve just eaten it and possibly left WBs crew amicably. (I do question if he would have the idea to kill WB on his own to get the Gura Gura). There would have been no reason to kill Thatch and be chased across the Grand Line as a traitor so I’d say he joined the WB pirates in the same way as the rest of the crew, with a deep love and respect for his Pops. This didn’t change at all in the 20+ years he spent on the ship, but his fierce ambition pushed him to do something drastic when he saw an opportunity was about to be lost to him forever.

It might even be that Thatch already ate the Devil Fruit and killing him was the only way to get it back as we’ve learnt more recently in the series Blackbeard understands this secret. This would explain the vague line Oda gave us of ‘the one who found the fruit could eat it’, even if that’s a ship rule there’s nothing stopping him from stealing it and running away like he ends up doing, so Thatch’s death must’ve been a requirement.

He didn’t plan to become a warlord but saw an opening when Crocodile lost his position and figured the freedom to move when you have that title would be helpful (i.e. no plan to attack impel down and free prisoners at this point). There were no openings before Luffy defeated Crocodile and if he had really wanted the position as part of some master plan, he would have propositioned the government by showing what he could do the same way Law did with the Rocky Port incident.

To become a warlord he originally wanted to capture Luffy as he was the rookie that brought Crocodile down and this was a first for the World Government, so they’d happily give the position to him if he can get rid of the Luffy problem.

When he missed Luffy at Jaya he still planned to pursue him to get the position but Ace caught up to him at this point, he even invited Ace to join his crew so didn’t plan to capture him at first until he realised there was no other way but to battle him. Rather than kill him he used it as his buy in to become a Warlord. Up onto this point, all his actions have been heavily circumstance based, and Teach is just a master at exploiting the circumstances put in front of him.

Without Ace’s planned execution I doubt Blackbeard would have attempted to raid Impel Down as even before he arrived he knew of the danger Magellan presented; he saw an opportunity in the Marines preparing to battle WB at Marineford so the prison would have less support available. Now his position as a Warlord will help him get to the door without question so the idea to break a few inmates out hit him.

Even showing up at Marineford was him improvising. He couldn’t have known how the war was going til he got there and even if he did, Ace and Whitebeard were on the verge of getting away. He probably only planned as far ahead as attacking the losing side rather than gaining the Gura Gura. If WB got away he would have attacked the Marines potentially or given up altogether and ran the other way. Even after taking WBs fruit he had no idea how to escape, was ready to battle the WB pirates and the Marines there and then which I don’t think that crew would’ve been able to handle at that stage; luckily Shanks stopped the war.

I would say from that we know enough to say he’s never been planning anything. Him joining WBs crew as an orphan was just as innocent as Marco joining. This is what makes him so compelling, if Luffy were in the same position we know everything would go very differently. Blackbeard the ultimate One Piece character.

https://youtu.be/QHgd9bnKRNo

#blackbeard #onepiece #marshall d. teach #shichibukai #warlords #yonko

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supernovaken · 3 years

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Why Kid is Luffy’s Only Rival

Been thinking about this one for a while now. Eustass ‘Captain’ Kid, one of the main players of the worst generation and top dog of the ‘Victoria Punk’ pirate ship. Calling Kid the top dog seems extremely redundant but when your nickname is ‘Captain’ what the heck is a blog to do.

His introduction to the story is as a brash, easily triggered and quick tempered super rookie designed as a direct rival to our very own Straw-Hat Luffy. Kid and the other Supernova Captains were slipped into the story as equals to our rubbery protagonist with their entry and journey through the first half of the Grand Line being described as the catalyst to ushering in the next generations of Pirates.

Reading the manga however, that high admiration for Kid has been somewhat shit on quelled. Nothing against Kid but there is no one, absolutely no one that can compare to The Future King of the Pirates.

So what is it about Kid that’s so good, what separates him from the other (less spectacular) supernova. And I really am including Law in that list of unimpressive pirates - I mean sad backstories are everything in One Piece but Trafalgar Law is just as ineffective in the world as the other members of the supernova. His feats and accolades are great to read about but in the grand scheme of things he’s very meh. A post time skip inclusion to the Straw Hats dynamic with all the underwhelming presence of Princess Vivi.

But this is a Kid fan post so the less said about Law the better, maybe i’ll give him his very own post next.

Let’s talk about Eustass ‘Captain’ Kid

We seem to know both a lot and nothing at all about this reckless member of the worst generation. His brash and battle scarred appearance, his vicious personality as a pirate contrast with his unshakable love for his crew comparable to Roger himself. (They both get very triggered if someone were to speak badly about their crews).

Beyond his pending backstory (which will no doubt be sad as all heck, invoking all of the feels), one of the more compelling unknowns around Kid is his introductory bounty when we met him at the Sabaody Archipelago. The contentious figure of 315,000,000 Berri had us questioning how he managed to outdo the protagonist we had been following since the East Blue.

The quick and easy answer - he caused a huge number of civilian casualties along the way

BORING!! #SnoozeAlert.

The long answer - and some might say more fun. Figuring out where this number for his bounty came from, what kind of feats and activities could he possibly have done on his journey to the Grand Lines half way point. Comparing Luffy’s journey and coming up with theories on what Kid could have done similarly is our best bet and should make understanding why Kid is the indisputable mirror and number one rival to our favourite Monkey boy pirate. (Discounting Blackbeard of course)

So how do we do that lol...

Not the easiest job to take on considering we have no idea how bounties are decided in the One Piece world, we can only speculate based on the small details we do know and track back against the Straw Hats who we have seen in action, receiving their very own dead or alive posters. I’ll be going through mostly everything we know up to the story’s half-way point pre-timeskip, unless something relevant crops up from the New World, but from my take it gets a lot more difficult to make assumptions after that point.

Where to begin? The beginning of course…

It's amazing how often Oda has to remind us bounty values are not a reflection of a pirates strength but a reflection of their threat level at the time of issue. And this distinction becomes extremely important in trying to figure out what Kid did. What threatening actions could he have done, when would he have done it and who precisely is he a threat to.

“On the Blue Sea below, there are a class of people called "pirates"... they are criminals who sail the seas in search of plunder. These people fly a black flag with a skull atop their ship's mast. ”— Gan Fall

The moment a person raises that black flag marked with a skull and crossbones as their symbol, they are immediately declaring themselves to be enemies of the state. Outlaws that choose to ignore the rules of the land, instead living out at sea and taking from the land what they want. Pirates!!

By becoming a pirate you are officially waging war on the government - The World Government (WG) and by extension its sea based military unit - The Marines. Clearly this is the ‘who’ when the question of threatening behaviour is raised. As simple as it sounds, it really does tell us quite a bit when inferring the actions and reasoning behind Kids bounty.

Kid has done something that has directly threatened the WG

But what about that old, boring line on ‘causing civilian casualties’... How much weight does that truly hold in determining your threat level.

I’d like to argue that in the world of One Piece, this sort of action, in actuality, holds little to no meaning. From Buggy destroying Orange Town, Krieg bombarding a Baratie filled with civilian customers and Arlongs ten year stint of villainy in Kokoyashi, the East Blue Saga is littered with examples of high civilian casualties yet we see no consequence come of it in the form of newly raised bounty figures. The obvious conclusion would be that attacking civilians is not enough to get a bounty figure raised and if raised it won’t be by much, this does also pose new questions. Is it enough to get a new bounty issued? And does the lack of Marine presence affect the disclosure of a pirate's actions? In the first two cases the Marines weren’t even around, hard to believe those actions wouldn’t have been reported to them though, and in the last case the only Marine directly involved was unsympathetically corrupt to the bone.

Now I can’t ignore the involvement of a certain Monkey D Luffy in these incidents. His defeat of the pirates meant that although they were still on the run from the Marines (barring Arlong), they were now a non factor as a more noteworthy individual has somehow come out of nowhere and defeated 3 of the most prominent East Blue Captains and crews (4 but Kuro was dead to them). This collective feat is what earned Luffy the top East Blue bounty of 30M Berri.

Expanding a little on the importance of Marine presence. At each point Luffy’s bounty is increased it has been the direct result of him acting against a representative of the Government - publicly.

First bounty of 30M Berri issued after the defeat of Arlong. It was the action against Marine Captain Nezumi of the 16th Branch in the East Blue which prompted him to personally request a bounty for the Captain of the pirate crew that defeated and humiliated him. Luffy’s feats before this may have been used as justification for the value, but no wanted poster would exist without this Marine present.

Second bounty of 100M Berri issued after the defeat of Ōka Shichibukai Sir Crocodile. Public awareness of Crocodile's defeat was inevitable due to his instigation of a coup against the established monarchy of a member nation of the World Government - The Nefertari Family. Although in the media Luffy’s involvement was suppressed, the WG couldn’t ignore the unprecedented issue they now had at his hands with a Warlords defeat and arrest. So Luffy’s threat level automatically went up, more than tripling.

Third bounty of 300M Berri issued after the infiltration, destruction and escape of the WG judiciary island Enies Lobby. Directly opposing the WG and causing multiple casualties amongst the marines and world government officials (not as significant as civilians?), declaring war on the WG by burning the flag that represents the entity, defeating one of their greatest assets, Rob Lucci and the CP9 as well as being the scapegoat for the annihilation of the island under the unstoppable force of the Buster Call and escaping with the Devils Child Nico Robin in the midst of it.

We mustn’t forget that afterwards Luffy defeated Ōka Shichibukai Geko Moria on the isolated island-ship of Thriller Bark. The only WG presence was through Kuma’s arrival allowing for a full suppression of the incident, Moria keeping his position with Kuma given orders to take the head of the Straw-Hat Captain. He then infiltrated two more Government facilities, causing the greatest unprecedented breakout in history with multiple pirates in tow at Impel Down, and greatly impacting the Paramount War fought at Marine HQ while facilitating the release and potential escape of Portgas D Ace and the Whitebeard Pirates. The culmination of this led to his final pre-timeskip bounty increase to 400M Berri.

At this point there are three things that stand out when it comes to Luffy’s high value bounty increases:

A direct and public action must be taken against the Marines and WG

The large scale of some the incidents have proven too difficult to fully suppress

Strangely casualties amongst government officials hold less weight than civilian casualties.

So how does this apply to Kid. How can we use this to decipher the actions and merits behind his introductory bounty.

Well, I believe that to reach the bounty level of 315M Berri Kid must have accomplished feats near to equal that of Monkey D Luffy. How can that be when all of Luffy’s feats are first in their nature, unprecedented events. My argument though is that if we apply the nearest reasonable equivalent, could we get more of an understanding of Kids exploits.

What can be equivalent to the defeat of one, if not two, Ōka Shichibukai. What compares to the breach of a Marine and Government inhabited island. Direct, public, sizable, irrepressible and includes civilians....

The long awaited, highly drawn out conclusion - A Marine Base

Specifically a large Marine Base located in the GrandLine Paradise and under the command of a Vice Admiral, littered with the presence of marine officials and their civilian families.

Vice Admirals no doubt must be seen as equals in strength, intimidation (via rank) and authority level amongst the everyday civilians as each of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The admiration Crocodile received from the people of Alabasta in thanks to his title cannot be compared to the much less acknowledged presence of, Captain at the time, Smoker when he was on the island. The reactive fear most pirates display at the sheer mention of a Warlord being in the area emulates that of a Vice Admiral beyond any reaction a lower ranked official may create.

*Potential Spoiler if not caught up with Episode 957 of the Anime*

Upon the abolishment of the Warlord system we are shown multiple warships on approach to each of the Shichibukai, assumedly all led by at least one Vice Admiral ranked Marine officer based on the presence of Vice Admiral Stainless addressing Buggy The Clown. It’s clear from this scene along with the ones depicting Boa Hancock and Dracule Mihawk, that the Marines acknowledge how formidable the Warlords are and how much of their own military might is required to apprehend each. Although we don’t yet know the outcome we can infer the comparability between the Ōka Shichibukai and the Vice Admirals of the Marines.

Kid definitely proved his capability and threat level by, at the very least, bringing down one of the GrandLine Marine Bases on his chosen route towards Sabaody Archipelago. And I can tell you for free that he is the only member of the Supernova (outside of Luffy) that is capable of doing this. Oda has shown us that not one of the other Supernovas compare in a level of reckless behaviour to Luffy with each of them finding a way to survive and slowly build up their presence in the New World. Law directly requested to become a Shichibukai to aid freer movement, Capone submitted(even though temporarily) to becoming a subordinate of the Big Mom Pirates, the others we know attempting to form alliances for a more promising chance to survive against the Emperors. Only Luffy and Kid have shown enough will to directly oppose all powers that threatened them no matter how overwhelming the odds seemed.

So that's it, a very long winded theory haphazardly put together as to how Eustass Kid achieved a comparable and slightly higher bounty of 315M Berri to our Luffy’s 300M at the time, and strongest reasoning for why Kid is Luffy’s only rival.

Who knows, may one day attempt to put some fanfiction together around this theory, potentially using G4 since we know the least about it and it must exist in the canon storyline.

#eustasscaptainkid #eustass kid #trafalgar law #one piece #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #supernova #shichibukai #crocodile #sir crocodile #doflamingo family #boa hancock #buggy the clown #gecko moria #bartholomew kuma #dracule mihawk #world government #one piece marines #smoker

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supernovaken · 3 years

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Why I don’t like Sanji - One Piece Discussion

Sanji used to be one of my favourite characters up there with the other two-thirds of the monster trio, mostly because of his calm attitude, debonair persona and strategic thinking. A lot of people enjoy the swagger he brings to the Straw-Hat crew’s dynamic, and the way his personality compares and contrasts with everyone's favourite swordsman Roronoa Zoro.

Don’t get me wrong, this post isn’t a Sanji bash, and it certainly isn’t the Sanji vs Zoro toxic rant that we have in the fan base, so if that’s what you came here looking for it may be best to click away now. Hopefully I still get the click bait credit hahahaha [laughs in evil].

All I'm trying to do here is delve into Sanji as a character; from his introduction into the storyline through to his current state of characterisation, along with how my impression of Sanji has changed over the course of the so far 1000 One Piece chapters GOda has blessed the world with.

I work on the rule that once a chapter is animated it is no longer considered spoiler territory and my main focus will be on the Whole Cake Island Arc and the character nuances presented leading up to that. I’ll be avoiding discussing anything happening in Wano mainly due to the fact that I haven’t seen much in terms of new characterisation for Sanji - so before anyone jumps down the comments with the argument that it all makes sense during Wano, i’d say just give that one a miss.

Anyone who isn’t caught up with the anime, here’s your fair warning…

Let me tell you Why I Don’t Like Sanji

Throughout the story Sanji has always been the more aloof, somewhat guarded character in the crew - at least on a surface level. His introduction was as the charming pirate restaurant chef that had a way with words and a ferocity when it came to his food. The Baratie Arc is where we were introduced to the rough and tumble fighting chef and most importantly where we were shown his passion; for women, family, life and of course food. Skip forward an odd 800 chapters and although we are shown moments that may have seemed slightly off putting for the character (don’t even get me started)... where I really lost touch with Sanji was during the Whole Cake Island Arc (WCI).

Caveat

Now I've had a few back and forths over this online so I want to make a few things clear from the offset. The issues that I will be delving into are all from a character and characterization point of view.

I have no issues with the plot of WCI but I did feel that Sanji wasn’t being himself (or at least the version of Sanji as a character that I along with many other fans had gotten to know up til this point).

I’ll be breaking down my understanding of the plot as best I can going off all the information we have on it and I'll be evidencing what I say with Manga panels to reduce the amount of dispute I'm likely to get from this.

Saying that, I will ask that as you run through this you allow a little room for perspective. I will be commenting on Sanji and the decisions he made at the point in time that he was making them, this means that we’ll need to come from a perspective of understanding all the information that was available to Sanji at the time, not just what the audience knew or what other characters were planning or doing. In order to comment on Sanji's behaviour we have to go off what he knows in the moments he takes action.

Whole Cake Island

Before I go into Sanji's character throughout the story here's a quick synopsis of everything that happens in the WCI

After arriving at Zou and dealing with a few Beast Pirate stragglers, Sanji was essentially taken hostage; physically through the Power of Bege’s Castle-Castle Fruit, then later with the use of the exploding cuffs, and taken hostage emotionally through the threat made on Zeffs life and the immediate threat Bege posed on the members of the Straw-Hat crew that were there at the time.

The plan was to use Sanji in a political wedding to unite the Charlotte Family/Big Mom Pirates with the Vinsmoke Family. Being a political wedding there were motivations on boths sides to attain the power offered by the other; and thanks to an underlying conspiracy plot led by Big Mom, the plan was to kill Sanji along with the Vinsmoke family and take their technology.

Fortunately the plan was ruined by non-other than our very own Straw-Hat Luffy and his pals (after an initial skirmish with Sanji's Black leg), and Sanji returned to the crew as they escaped a rampaging Big Mom.

My issues with Sanji that crept up over the course of the arc:-

Sanji left the crew (albeit to protect Zeff but more on this later)

Sanji attacked his Captain

The timing for when Sanji returned to the crew (AFTER he discovered pudding was gonna betray him)

For that third point I'd like to put heavy emphasis on ‘timing’. I don’t have any issue with the fact that he returned, I love Sanji as a member of the Straw-Hat Pirates and it’s clear the dynamic is not the same without him. I also don’t have an issue with how he returned to the crew as the way he broke down in front of Luffy was one of the most heart-string pulling, tear-jerking scenes of WCI (although I will be getting into his apology/ lack of one in that scene). But the timing of his decision to return to the crew really irritated me as a long time fan of the character, all I could ask was, after everything that’s happened, why now?

Leaving the Crew

Pre timeskip the story addresses a lot of themes surrounding the topic of what it meant to be a Straw-Hat pirate. All the way back in East blue where the story of the Straw-Hat crew was born we were given storylines around the value of friendship (NAKAMA!!), the important roles each member had, their individual struggles against adversity up to the point Luffy came to save their spirits and ignite their dreams. And we had all that both for Sanji and with Sanji as he experienced the emotional battles every member of the crew faced when they came into contact with their soon to be Captain, (including Usopp's turmoil at Water 7).

He knew what it meant for each member to join Luffy and he knew what it meant to leave the crew. He experienced first hand with Nami, Luffy didn’t believe Nami would steal from them and kill Usopp even though she had only been with him for a short time. And he waited for her response to challenge Arlong.

When Usopp clashed with Luffy at Water 7, Sanji was there knowing what it meant for a crewmate to clash with his captain and the weight of leaving the crew. He lashed out at Luffy when he was about to say something reckless,

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji lashes out at Luffy's reckless speaking, Chapter 331 page 15]

and after showing he understood Usopp's feelings of inadequacy within the crew he made it clear that everyone has something they can do best when supporting Luffy and the crew. Even still he later agreed with Zoro's reasoning in the epic speech given to Luffy about the importance of respecting your Captain as these are not Pirate games they are playing.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji agrees with Zoro, Chapter 438 page 5]

When Robin left the crew Sanji saw how Luffy responded and without hesitating he was there to challenge an entity as great as the World Government (WG) just to bring her back. He wasn’t even patient enough to wait for the crew on the Sea Train because as Luffy said to Zoro, would any of them have been able to sit back and wait.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji impatient to challenge the World Government, Chapter 367 page 12]

These moments, for me, shaped a character trait in Sanji showing how much he values his crewmates but also shows how relentless both he and Luffy are when it comes to getting someone back. So I couldn’t reconcile this character that we’ve been shown across the story with the one in Zou who thinks it's ok to leave the crew on a false promise to return and think no one in the crew would challenge that decision. A lot of people say that he was planning to come back but even in the moment it was clear to the crew that Sanji was lying.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji’s lie, Chapter 813 page 17]

Nico Robin

I want to compare Sanji’s plan to leave and save the crew against Robin's plan during the Water 7 arc. My aim is to show how similar their reasoning is but why the decision only makes sense from Robin's perspective as a character at the time of her decision and not for Sanji during WCI.

When Robin left the crew it really was to protect a group of people she only just became acquainted with so understandably would not want them facing a power as huge as the World Government or alternatively resenting her for staying with the crew as she’s experienced in the past. Her sacrifice was to protect a crew of 6 people from the full power of the World Government. She had seen their power destroy her home ISLAND in the past so it is very understandable to assume the crew wouldn’t have a chance in hell of surviving an attack.

Robin didn’t know the capability of the Straw-Hats and their willingness to challenge a huge organisation like the World Government. What she did know was the power of the WG and that a normal crew would not survive the immediate threat of a Buster Call along with the power of the CP9 at Water 7.

Robin's wish was for them to be able to leave Water 7 safely which is why Lucci spared them during their battle in Icebergs mansion. Some fans question if the WG would have actioned a Buster Call on Water 7 because without it there was still an option to escape, plus the CP9 were on the island undercover. Why would the government destroy it? Why wouldn’t Robin just run from Water 7 and let the Straw-Hats escape?.

Enies Lobby is a much more important location to the WG than Water 7 due to its position in the world as the Judiciary island. It’s a symbol of the World Governments power. CP-9 were in Ohara when a buster call was actioned which goes to show the lack of hesitation the government had during these attacks, even when its own personnel are on the Island. Also CP-9 as well as a number of government officials, and their families that lived on the island, were on Enies Lobby at the time and in both cases they still attacked without hesitation, they still attacked the island indiscriminately. They had no reason not to attack Water 7 if a buster call was issued, so I don’t see how calling one on Water 7 would have been impossible.

At that time Robin was already aware of that scary power and it had haunted her her entire life, so if it were called on Water 7 assuming the Straw-Hats didn’t chase her (she wouldn’t have accounted for this at the time) it makes sense for her to want to save them from it. Let’s not forget that they really only escaped the Buster Call thanks to a massive Deux Ex Machina. I can suspend disbelief long enough to say a worn down ship was able to traverse ‘Aqua Laguna storm level waves’ and reach another island with no crew or navigator thanks to the power of friendship but damn, lets just call it what it is, Shonen Magic.

CP-9 weren’t on Water 7 to get Robin, they were there on an undercover mission to get the Pluton blueprints from Iceberg, so I’m guessing rather than snatching her and potentially blowing their cover too soon, they met with her to explain the threat they could be to the Straw-Hats and pressure her into coming with them peacefully which was an added benefit of their mission. A well calculated move from Lucci. Also remember that they had recently just lost to Aokiji, who was the shadow behind the threat since a buster call can only be issued on his authority as an Admiral (he gave permission to Spandam after encountering the Straw-Hats). In the end they had to escalate the plan and force Iceburg to give them the blueprints rather than wait for him to hand it over to an apprentice, they assumed if they threatened his life he would hand it over sooner to Paulie, then in the middle of their attack deduced that he had already handed it to Franky years beforehand. (Off topic but basically they had a plan and Robin landing on Water 7 was just a perk they took advantage of).

The bond she got with Luffy and the crew came from having nowhere else to go after Luffy saved her from killing herself at Alabasta, then was reinforced when she realised her dreams weren’t dead in Skypiea with the revelation that the true history of the void century does exist and she only needs to follow the log to the end of the grand line to find it. Even though it was a small timeframe she was able to build that bond with them, but even still it was clear that not enough had happened for her to ever think the Straw-Hats were any match for the WG.

In-world no one would believe that, this is why the Straw-Hats are the only pirates to ever attack Enies Lobby. Even Yonko crews don’t attack the WG without reason or backup of more than a 6 person crew. Even though they survived in the end, at the time it was a deal to protect the crew at the cost of her life so it made sense.

We can see afterwards that she’s grown out of not believing in them as when they got to Zou, Neko and Duke said she’d be a target for being able to read the Poneglyphs - to which she replied it’ll be fine because she had her crew to protect her.

Her deal made all the sense in the world.

Sanji on the other hand benefitted from a much longer, much deeper experience with Luffy and the crew by the time it came to his ‘ultimate sacrifice’. He was there at Water 7 when the entire crew rejected Robin's reasoning (even Usopp) for leaving the crew. He chased her onto the Government filled Train with no guarantees, no background and no hesitation with the greatest takeaway from that arc being to believe in Luffy. That belief in the captain wasn't there when it came to facing off against a member of the Yonko and protecting his extended family - a huge character step back I think.

Sanji's downfall here was not believing in his crew even after experiencing the other side of things with Robin. Why wouldn’t Luffy come for him? He’s never experienced Big Moms power (not that he needed to) in the same way Robin was traumatised by the WG’s display of power in her childhood. He knows enough about his captain to know Luffy would still challenge Big Mom as Luffy had already said he was planning to challenge each member of the Yonko. He had already challenged Big Mom on Fishman Island and the plan to challenge Kaido was already in motion. I understand challenging both at the same time might make him think it’s a bit much, but I disagree with him not bringing the issue to his crew considering all they had been through. It shows the biggest problem of Sanji not believing in Luffy and the crew.

His Faith Wavered

Protecting Zeff

At the time Sanji made the decision to leave the crew he thought Zeff was in danger, a threat delivered by Big Mom. He also believes Big Mom herself would be an added threat too difficult for the Straw-Hats at this time.

I don’t want us to get bogged down in the details of Big Moms plan. I very much agree with the point that she truly didn’t care about Zeff at the Baratie, she only threatened Zeff to get Sanji to the wedding (A Big Mom Tea Party Invitation Standard) in order to lay the trap for Germa.

But character moments all come from the decisions they make based on the information they have at the time. At the time Sanji made the decision to leave the crew, the threat on Zeff was real enough to him so in Sanji’s mind if he ran from the wedding or challenged Bege and Big Mom she probably would have actioned the threat. To Sanji, his only option here was to go along with the wedding.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Vito informing Sanji about the threat on Zeff, Chapter 813 page 9]

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Baron Tamago of the Big Mom pirates giving Judge the leverage they have over Sanji, Chapter 839 page 12]

Battling Luffy

Sanji understood that by getting married he’d automatically force the Straw-Hats into being subordinates of the Big Mom crew. Initially he thought saying he’d handle it himself would be enough to stop Luffy from coming and by officially leaving the crew he’d absolve them from a fate as underlings similar to the portrayal of Bege at the time. (Going back to my initial point I think this reasoning doesn’t make sense as we all know Luffy's character). This is why after Luffy came after him he tried to make it clearer that he'd left the crew and Sanji did this by fighting Luffy and telling him to leave.

When he battled Luffy (who didn’t fight back) it wasn’t over a huge disagreement and insecurity in his own strength like Usopp's battle with Luffy. In fact if we compare this to Usopp's moment when both he and Luffy got heated and ended in a similar battle of pride/ clashing views I see no reason why Sanjis isn’t as bad.

The Luffy vs Sanji clash came about due to a lack of understanding which came about because Sanji had not been clear in explaining his position and why he made this choice to leave the crew, instead he kicked sand in the face of his crew and captain.

I believe he went too far here, although he deep down had good intentions, I see it as a clear showing disrespect. It was all an act with a brave face from Sanji's point of view and Luffy could tell straight away.

Comparatively, Usopp also put on a brave face with an understandable battle for him to establish his place as a pirate, but it was the challenge of Luffy’s authority in itself that was a showing of disrespect to the captain.

In essence it was a clash of pride where Sanji challenged his captain’s abilities, with the belief that his method of dealing with the issue was right and Luffy’s was wrong.

His Respect Wavered.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji vs Luffy, Chapter 843 page 19]

Returning to the Crew

Redemption is a huge part of character development and usually always comes from a lie the character has told to themselves they battle to make a reality. Any story worth its ink will give us characters with strong traits and equally strong flaws that they later resolve within themselves and grow from.

Sanji had a lot of character development during the WCI arc including accepting his past/background, dealing with the trauma caused by his father, his siblings and the death of his mother, and probably quite importantly, believing in himself, his crew and his captain. But there was one character moment that I feel was flawed enough to reduce the impact of his redemption moment and therefore reduce his standing as a character for me… His reconciliation with Luffy.

During the Arlong Park arc Nami lied about her feelings toward the crew and her village. Her redemption came in the form of saving Usopp from death at the hands of Arlong by stabbing through her hand and facilitating his escape, this showed how much she cared about the crew. And her lie towards the villagers was resolved when her backstory was established and showed her intentions to protect them, the redemption here came the moment she asked Luffy for help and also established her belief in her new Captain.

At Enies Lobby Robin lied about her desire to die so as to not live in a world where no one cares for her and see her as a burden. Her redemption came when she acknowledged she does have a place in the world and had finally found people who care about her. She immediately screamed from the top of her lungs that she wanted to live and in doing so established her new found belief in her crew and Captain.

The segmented parts of Water 7 displayed Usopp's lie about being too weak to be part of a crew of ‘monsters’ along with his fear of being discarded due to his lack of belief in his own abilities and the strength of his friendship/place in the crew. His redemption came when he acknowledged that everyone has something they can do that makes them strong even if it's not physically, and his unyielding resolve to save his crew mates when he tagged along for the mission to rescue Robin. Notice that Usopp's flaws never included losing faith in Luffy, his flaw was always pride and the redemption note for his pride was different to Nami and Robins. Usopp had to apologise, direct and on his knees before he could be fully redeemed as a character.

Sanji's storyline in WCI came with a double whammy. Not only did he show a lack of faith in his captain, he also allowed his pride get in the way of showing respect to his captain. A pirate no go area.

Before overhearing Pudding he was resolved to getting married and living his life with her, but when he found out it was a lie why did this change his resolve of protecting the crew and Zeff. I’d say all other factors *at this point* are exactly the same for Sanji and he had already accepted his death (or a version of it through his freedom and his cooking being taken away).

First, technically Zeff was still in danger as far as he knew. ReijI didn’t say Zeff was safe, she asked him to escape, let Germa die and figure it out [what to do about Zeff] afterwards, her reasoning was Big Mom had no interest in Zeff as long as she got Germa, but Sanji wanted to save both. So in Sanji's mind Zeff is still in danger, but now he has an added problem as he wants to save Germa.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Reiju explains the threat on Zeff still exist unless Big Mom gets Germa, Chapter 852 page 16]

Secondly the crew still can’t challenge Big Mom head on. If he had continued with his plan to go through with the wedding, whether they got married or he was killed, his plan still would have worked. Zeff and the Straw-Hats would be safe. The same way Robin would have died at Enies Lobby and Nami would have given her freedom to forever be part of Arlong's crew. At the cost of Sanji’s life his plan would have worked and made sense.

So should I now take this to mean that he really wasn’t resolved to dying for his ideals. (I’m not saying he should have, the entire point of Luffy’s character is a challenge to this statement, believe in Luffy and he’ll fix it)

But for some reason, the moment he discovers the wedding is a sham and Germa is doomed he decides out of desperation that now is the time to return to the crew and ask Luffy for help. It’s not only hypocritical but it’s shameful and damaged Sanji as a character for me.

During his reconciliation with Luffy I’m sure Sanji acknowledges these points when discussing why he can’t go back but he isn’t held accountable for it.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji 3 reasons Chapter 856 page 12]

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji 3 reasons Chapter 856 page 13]

Sanji’s redemption, like Nami and Robin, included a moment where he had to re-establish his belief in Luffy and the rest of the crew. But I argue that his cause for losing faith in Luffy was, in the first place, unwarranted and a step backwards for the character.

And unlike Usopps, his redemption did not include a moment of humility where he would need to swallow his pride and apologise to Luffy for putting his own ideals before his captains.

I know in the end everything worked out but at the time Sanji’s actions didn’t make sense for the character I had come to know throughout the story and there was not enough impact in his redeeming moment to allow me to see the character as he once was. Now he’s just that badass monster fighter on the crew and he’ll forever be removed from my list of favourite Straw-Hats. Black Leg Sanji.

#one piece #vinsmoke sanji #nico robin #monkey d luffy #pirate hunter zoro #big mom #charlotte linlin

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