As a cook, Sanji is a vital part of the Straw Hat crew in One Piece. However, some fans feel that the character is treated unfairly in the anime. They believe that the studio intentionally portrays him worse than in the manga by Eiichiro Oda. Now, an animator from the series speaks out about the discussion.
What’s the problem with Sanji? In early April 2025, the anime returned to One Piece with the Egghead arc after a break. This should have been a cause for celebration among fans, but followers of the character Sanji were far from thrilled.
They criticized changes that the anime made compared to the manga, which they feel unflatteringly depict the beloved cook. For instance, he admires a minor character – something the creator of One Piece has always consciously avoided in the manga. Sanji is simply omitted from a group image.
Some fans were convinced: The animation studio Toei has something against Sanji. The colleagues from GamePro prepared the discussion for you on April 8. In an interview with the YouTuber Brago D. Ace, animator Vincent Chansard was asked the crucial question: Does Toei hate Sanji?
Animator says: There is no agenda against Sanji
This is what the animator says: Chansard explains that the topic has already been discussed within the team. He assures, however, that there is no secret conspiracy against Sanji. From his own perspective, there were no such issues during the previous arc, Wano Country.
The major names in animation worked on the fight between Sanji and Queen. This opinion seems to be shared by fans as well. The quality of this fight was highlighted in a Reddit thread in early April to show that Toei is not treating the cook poorly after all.
However, Chansard also mentions that there is indeed an “imbalance” when looking at the names of the animators working on the respective scenes of Sanji and the swordsman Zoro. He cannot explain where this unequal treatment of the characters comes from.
“I know very well that the people who decide who is responsible for a scene are not pursuing an agenda,” the animator said. However, it might have something to do with the fact that Zoro’s scenes tend to be a bit longer and include important story moments.
Chansard suspects that this is why the responsible parties tend to assign such scenes to particularly skilled animators. However, he emphasizes that this is merely his personal theory as a fan, and he does not speak as an animator of One Piece in this case. As a fan, he is also curious about how Sanji’s portrayal will develop.
You can watch the interview excerpt on X.
With the Whole Cake Island arc, Sanji had a major moment in the anime that delved deeper into his past. However, for MeinMMO author Esmeralda, something crucial is missing from the story arc after the time skip: The most important moment of Sanji shows why One Piece was better in the past
