@Robby:
But if the entire crew had gone to ZOu? Make no mistake, there would have been a perversion joke in there instead, he'd be hitting on the animal women or one of the yonkou officers would be a woman, or he'd have fought Jack and lost just to hype him up for Luffy's eventual fight with him. That's been his role for way too long. He's turned into the Yamcha of the group.
I feel like that's a huge exaggeration. Before DoFlamingo (where his entrance actually saved Brook and the rest, despite the loss), the only time where Sanji served that role was in Skypiea, where everyone was defeated by Enel. In Punk Hazard (where Kinemon would be left behind and die if not for Sanji and his efforts), the fight vs Vergo was interrupted, but if he wasn't there Tashigi and the rest of G-5 were goners, too. Not to mention he made Viola an ally before he left Dressrosa.
He needs a major victory in a 1vs1, but i think Oda has been holding him off on purpose since he had this Sanji arc planned.
Seriously, if Sanji was a Yamcha, where exactly the rest of the Curlyhats stand at this point?! Are they Lunchies? And what about Robin who doesn't get a fight or do anything relevant in ages?
I actually have a big problem with the way the whole crew has been treated after the timeskip, but i digress.
@Greg:
But he hasn't left with the crew this time. This reeks of his old solo missions which, admittedly, we're getting tired at the time. Oda waited just long enough for us to be chomping at the bit for that side of Sanji.
I can agree with that. I remember an Oda interview, sometime post-Enies Lobby i believe, where he said he wanted a character like Sanji to have not only a large female fanbase, but a huge male one as well, so he didn't want him to become "too perfect" - or something along these lines.
And at one point he was very close to that, as he's not only one of the three powerhouses of the crew, but he was also often a strategist, much smarter than Luffy and Zoro, not to mention being a master cook on the top of being a fighter. Maybe that's why Oda had been "dumbing him down" ever since.