@keekoishere:
Really, really good post. Glad to have you posting and hoping to see that Sanji avatar more often around here.
im curious about the bolded, care to elaborate?
Well, I'll try my best. I keep a close eye on Sanji's character, so I've always noticed things that felt off about him. I might have sounded too confident in the bolded line there. I just want to mention that this is all very speculative. I would go back and find specific moments, but then this would turn into meta for sure, so I'll just mention them briefly.
I guess the biggest clue for me is how self-sacrificial Sanji has always been. I know everyone in the crew would do anything for each other. I know Luffy and Zoro in particular take on this protective role alongside Sanji. But something about the way Sanji has thrown himself in danger for the sake of others has always felt slightly more unhinged, and makes a lot of sense if you consider that he doesn't value his life very much. And I haven't counted, but I get the impression he's probably done it the most out of anyone? Not always in a controlled way like Luffy or Zoro's saves - very often out of desperation. I'm talking about moments like his interference with Doffy, Vergo, Enel, the two saves he attempted for Zoro against Kuma on TB, the Pacifista on Sabaody when it threatened Usopp, Zoro and Brook's lives (that whole part in particular got him really frazzled because he had failed), throwing Luffy and Nami out of the path of the avalanche on Drum Island. I haven't reread the series in a while so correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember many of his major fights revolving around his opponents underestimating his ability to protect and Sanji usually getting all fired up when they do, like it's a sore spot for him. He just seemed so determined to prove them wrong, to show them that he can protect his friends. His early fight with Kuroobi is a big example of this.
This is kind of an interesting thing I want to mention. A while back someone expressed to me that one of the major differences between Zoro and Sanji is that Zoro is fighting to be the best while Sanji always seems to be fighting to be good enough. Ever since I've always been inclined to see it this way, it makes a whole lot of sense. Even their starkly different dreams demonstrate this. Finding All Blue has nothing to do with power, of standing on top of the world, it's simply about being strong enough to keep believing in it until he finds it.
Branching off of that, many aspects of Sanji's character kind of give off this vibe of him wanting to be good enough, to live up to people's expectations like he feels as though he's on the verge of failure. His rivalry with Zoro has, in my opinion, stemmed from this or at least part of it. The entire Baratie arc was a goldmine for these strange little moments. It dealt with Sanji "releasing" that debt from Zeff that kept a stranglehold on his life and dreams, after all. Luffy had to shake this fact into him: "You don't pay someone back by dying". Someone who doesn't value their life would have to be told this. I used to argue that he never released these issues completely after that arc because I could still see bits and pieces of it (mostly in the way he throws his life around like it's worth nothing), which led me to believe something big was going to be revealed for Sanji, and that his character would be dealt with further. I had hoped, anyway, and have been rewarded, because he's really gotten the short end of the stick post timeskip.
It's the small, really speculative things too. Such as the fact that we don't often see him eating with the crew, only serving them. He works very hard to keep them well-fed, yet we rarely see him eat with them. Not to say he's not eating, but I'd wager it's not as much as his friends, especially because he likely eats after cleaning up, where Luffy wouldn't have left much. It's the kind of thing where if the crew was stranded at sea with a limited food supply, I could totally see Sanji taking it upon himself to limit his intake more than the others. I think he'd feel it's his duty as a cook, which of course is just not right. Sanji is an overall caretaker, a nurturer, a protector for the crew, and naturally people in these positions can forget to take care of themselves and in some cases, actually put themselves in a nurturing position to overcompensate for something, subconsciously. It suits Sanji to a T, now more than ever, that he would want to be of value to others like this. Hell, his most genuine happy moments are probably when he's feeding people, when he's being useful to them at their most primal level. I know that's like beyond speculation, but it clicks for me, perhaps due to the impression I get about him devaluing his life.
I know I'm not breaking this down as well as I'd like to. I really have to go back and reread the manga to do that, I feel like I'm missing key points. But these are just some things I've picked up and thought deeply about along the way.
@HeartOfDarkness:
This guy really gets it.
@Dranza:
Someone give this guy an award amazing post friend and welcome officially to AP.
Hey thanks! I'm actually a girl. :ninja: