The Green Databook revealed that Sanji's original name was going to be 'Naruto'. However, as the ninja manga Naruto was about to begin serialization in Shonen Jump, Oda changed the name to prevent confusion.[21]
Anime and Manga Differences
Sanji's Youth
A scene of young Sanji beginning to smoke during his early days at the Baratie—and deflecting Zeff's criticisms by claiming that smoking made him a "man"—was excluded from the anime, possibly out of concerns about glamorizing tobacco use.[22]
The manner in which Zeff lost his leg was also altered. While the anime showed him cutting off his leg in order to escape an anchor's chain and get Sanji safely to shore, the original story in the manga implied that he had eaten his own leg in order to survive while he and Sanji were stranded, as he had given Sanji all of their food rations.
Davy Back Fight
In the anime, the rules of the Davy Back Fight were changed so all of the Straw Hats could directly participate in the Donut Race. Together with Luffy, Sanji crewed a clumsy raft titled the Ma Ikkada,[23] which aided the Taru Tiger (crewed by Nami, Robin, and Usopp) and progressed as far as the coral area before sinking.[24]
Straw Hat Separation Serial
Like all of the Straw Hats (except Luffy), his time alone after being teleported away by Kuma was extended in the anime.
It showed that he was treated by what appeared to be a beautiful woman named Tibany. Sanji then followed her, only to discover that "she" was an okama. Unfortunately for him, due to a miscommunication between the two of them, Sanji is interpreted as an okama and is soon seen running away. The anime version shows Caroline (the substitute Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom) turning Sanji into an okama. Later, upon receiving the news about Ace's death and the Summit War of Marineford, the shock of it turns him back to his usual self.
Also in the anime, Sanji instantly falls in love with Ivankov's female form, despite knowing "she" would not be interested in men. He attempts to ask about Luffy through gestures of romance. He snaps out of it when Ivankov turns back into a man, angering Sanji and crushing his hopes of meeting a real woman.
Their fight is shown, with Sanji attacking Ivankov with Diable Jambe. Ivankov pretends to be defeated by this but then effortlessly overpowers Sanji, surprising his Okama followers. Iva then unleashes a barrage of "44-Aesthetic Technique! Hair Removal Fist", "Death Wink", "Hell Wink", and "Galaxy Wink", leaving Sanji on the ground bloodied and beaten to an inch of his life. Ivankov then hands Sanji a newspaper since the news of Luffy has already been made public.
Return to Sabaody Archipelago
In the manga, after being told by the Okamas that they hope to see him again, Sanji rebukes them by flashing his middle finger. The anime (while retaining all his dialogue) depicts this gesture as a less-offensive hand sweep.[25]
Sanji's lighter, first seen in detail during the Punk Hazard Arc,[26] was later defictionalized by French luxury-goods manufacturer Dupont (supposedly with Oda's own design specifications). It is entirely golden in color, and sculpted to resemble a woman cradling her legs.
Sanji appears in every year of One Piece Premier Show. He also has a restaurant, Sanji's Pirates Restaurant, based on him in Universal Studios Japan, and he appears to greet guests every year.
Sanji cooking in the Baratie kitchen was retold by stage actors in the brass entertainment show One Piece Oto Utage.
A bronze statue of Sanji was dedicated in Mashiki, Kumamoto as part of the Kumamoto Revival Project.
Sanji appears in the 138th episode of the 19th season of the popular YouTube series, "DEATH BATTLE!" where he fought Rock Lee from the Naruto franchise and won.
Sanji in Premier Show 2012.
A statue of Sanji in the Nagoya One Piece Mugiwara Store.
Sanji makes a cameo appearance in Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei. During the character Meru's introduction, Harumi is seen reading a yaoi manga featuring Sanji and Zoro. Also, in her room, there are action figures of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Sogeking. Also, in the same series, during Nozomu's escape from an evil organization, his silhouette is visible along with the silhouettes of Nami, Luffy, Usopp and Zoro plus two unidentified pirates; one that could be Robin and one that looks like a human version of Chopper's Heavy Point wearing a sash and a bandanna.
In the MMO fighting game Rumble Fighter, a user suggested a Sanji based fighting style for the game using sprites from a Wonderswan One Piece game in order to give the developers a general idea. The developers liked it, and decided to create this fighting style, although naming it "Red Leg" instead of the actual name, "Black Leg".
In the anime Working! there is a character named Jun Satou who closely resembles Sanji, due to them both sharing the same appearance, both working as chefs and both seen to regularly smoke.
The first chapter featuring Sanji preparing a meal during his days working at Baratie. Other Baratie staff members also appear, and at the end of the chapter, the Straw Hat Pirates are approaching the restaurant. This chapter takes place between chapters 42 and 43, evidenced by the Straw Hats nearing the Baratie.
The second chapter featuring the Straw Hats rescuing an injured man stranded at sea. They take him aboard and Nami treat his wound as he explained he is a cook and he set sail to fetch a rare fish for his daughter weeding, but due to the injury and the fish delicate biology, he is unable to prepare it. Sanji then step up and after a few failed attempts, mange to make the dish using Zoro'sWado Ichimonji. This chapter takes place between chapters 95 and 96, evidenced by Nami's clothing.
Translation and Dub Issues
In the original Japanese manga, the Japanese anime, the uncut Funimation dub, and the VIZ English manga, Sanji is a chain smoker. In the 4Kids anime, Sanji instead sucks on lollipops (because of the audience the dub was aimed at).[27] For the aired, edited Funimation version, the cigarette was completely edited out and any scenes that show him lighting cigarettes or other such actions were redrawn. The same was done in the Singaporean English dub by Odex.
The lollipop from the 4Kids version.
The cigarette from the original.
In the Funimation subs, his epithet of "Black Leg" (黒脚,Kuroashi) is translated as "Black Foot". This is because Ashi can translate as either "Leg" or "Foot". The Funimation dub, however, uses the former name (though the latter is used in some episodes).
In the English-language manga, Sanji often uses "Crap" as an adjective while speaking (when calling Crocodile, he refers to the restaurant as "Restaurant Le Crap" ("Crap Café" in the uncut Funimation dub). This is an attempt to convey both his extremely coarse speaking style in Japanese, as well as his use of "kuso" (roughly "feces") as an expletive; fans often translate it as "shit" because of his manner of speech. For example, he often calls Zeff "Kuso-Jiji" (roughly "shitty-geezer"). In other fan translations, it is rendered as "old fart" or "old man".
In the English anime produced by 4Kids, he simply calls Zeff "old-geezer" or "old fart" (in fansubs, he is also referred to by this name), and "crap-geezer" in the English manga. Also, in the 4Kids English dub, Sanji has an extremely nasally Brooklyn accent, while in the Funimation version, he has a neutral American accent.
In the French dub, Sanji is renamed "Sandy". It was also the case in the French manga until the 67th tome and the start of "original" editions.
Trivia
Sanji's personal jolly roger.
Sanji's personal jolly roger (pre-timeskip) as detailed in the One Piece Magazine.
Sanji's post time skip jolly roger.
Sanji's personal jolly roger (post-timeskip) as detailed in the One Piece Magazine.
Sanji has his own jolly roger, as does the rest of the crew. It has Sanji's right curly eyebrow, fork and knife for cross-bones, and a chef's hat placed on the top of his head.
His post-timeskip jolly roger is similar, except his chef hat is slanted to the right which hides his right eye, the skull has a goatee and cigarette, and the crossbones fork has four prongs instead of three.
Sanji's face with both eyes showing and no left eyebrow curl in Episode 27 of the anime.
Baby Den Den Mushi displays Sanji's eyebrows prior to the timeskip.
Sanji's left eye was considered one of the "mysteries" of One Piece. As of Chapter 598, the mystery has been solved. After the two year separation, Sanji's hair style changed revealing his left eye and covering his right.
In chapter 173, Sanji talking through Robin's Den Den Mushi hinted at his eyebrows' appearance.
In Episode 27, a shot of his left eye and eyebrow is shown, with the curl missing.
Since he was born in North Blue, he is the first Straw Hat not to originate from East Blue.[7]
This also makes Sanji the only foreign member of the initial East Blue crew formation.
In keeping with the Vinsmoke Family's naming convention, ''San'' (三) means "three" in Japanese. This is a reference to Sanji's position as the family's third-born son, despite being the fourth-born child.
As a child, Sanji was imprisoned and forced to wear an iron mask.[28] This resembles the story of the Man in the Iron Mask, allegedly a member of French royalty who was imprisoned in a similar manner.
Duval shares this resemblance, although he wore a mask from choice to hide his face (ironically, because it looked like Sanji's).
The reason for Sanji's massive nosebleeds is from the joke that Japanese people have high blood pressure. Therefore, they get nosebleeds when they are sexually aroused. This joke is a very common cliche in manga and anime.
Sanji is tied with Zoro for having the most English dub voice actors out of all the Straw Hats (4 as an adult, 3 as a child in Sanji's case).
Despite being apart of the Monster Trio, Sanji has only held a position in the top 3 highest bounty within the Straw Hats as 3rd highest from his bounty increase after Whole Cake Island Arc to the Raid on Onigashima
Luffy at 1,500,000,000; Jinbe at 430,000,000; and Sanji at 330,000,000.
Sanji has been known to smoke two brands of cigarettes, King Ground and Death.[29][30][26]
There is a plot hole in the series when Sanji is unaware of a Devil Fruit user's inability to swim in the Baratie Arc, but he states that he became aware of this when he was a kid during the Thriller Bark Arc.
Sanji has a habit of saying "Mellorine" (an alternative to ice cream made from fats other than the butterfat normally used in ice cream) when looking, talking, or commenting about a beautiful woman. This carries over to the Funimation English dub. His personalized honorific for Nami "Nami-swan" (developed from san) also carries over.
He, Luffy, and Usopp all claim to have never been sick, and thus do not know what it feels like.[31]
"Sanji" (三時,san-ji?) can mean "three o'clock" or "three o'clock snack". This points to a wider theme in Sanji's character, revolving around the number 3:
In the popularity polls, Sanji has consistently been voted the third most popular character in One Piece since the second poll (except for the first, fifth and seventh polls, in which he was ranked fourth).
Sanji is the only Straw Hat shown so far to have biological siblings; Nojiko is Nami's adopted sister, while Ace and Sabo are Luffy's sworn brothers. Ironically, while Nami and Luffy adore their siblings, Sanji and his brothers actively despise each other.
In the Pirate Warriors series of video games, Sanji cannot attack female characters. This applies to both when the player is controlling him and facing female enemies, as well as when the player encounters him as an enemy while controlling a female character. When selecting a stage where female characters appear as enemies, if Sanji is selected by the player, a warning box will appear that points out Sanji's weakness to female characters and the player will be given the option to change to another character or ignore it and play the stage as Sanji. Generally there are two methods for dealing with female characters while playing as Sanji in the Pirate Warriors series: one is to avoid fighting them if possible (this may not be possible if a female opponent's defeat is required), while the other is to use support characters to deal with female opponents.
In Pirate Warriors 2, even if Sanji is affected by a Mad Dial, he will still retain his principle and will not kick any woman.
In One Piece: Burning Blood, Sanji has a special attack "I won't kick a woman, even if it means my death!" that causes all his attacks (including his special and ultimate moves) to comically change into hearts and causes his health meter's portrait and the face on character model to change to his "heart eyes" face, when fighting female characters (as well as Bentham who is considered a female character in his DLC "Nami Mode" form). Unlike the Pirate Warriors series, Sanji can still attack female characters and "hearts" he produces can cause minor damage to female opponents. However Sanji is still weak against female characters.
In Chapter 831, a mirror clone of Sanji is seen with a lollipop instead of a cigarette, which matched with his appearance in the 4Kids dub.
Sanji is the first Straw Hat to personally share his backstory with others: with Luffy, his fellow Baratie cooks, and a number of Krieg Pirates (discounting Luffy's anime-only sharing of his backstory with Zoro).
Sanji is the third Straw Hat to almost unwillingly leave the crew for the greater good of everyone (after Nami and Robin).
The Whole Cake Island group reached Wano Country on Tama's birthday of March 3rd, meaning logically Sanji should have celebrated a birthday the day before; however, the Vivre Card databook entry for "O-Soba Mask," which debuted a few days later in-story, still lists Sanji's age at 21.
Sanji's current bounty of 1,032,000,000 references the fact that 3-2 can be derived from his name (San-ji).
SBS-Based Trivia
Sanji's birthday is in March 2, a specific day in Japan known as 'Hinamatsuri' (雛祭り?).[16]
A fan asked Oda if what would Sanji's politics be, if he becomes the president, and Oda answered Sanji would pass laws that would give extreme preferential treatment to women and discriminate against men. This would result in the men forming a rebellion against him and he losing his position.[38]
Sanji is the only one of the five Vinsmoke siblings to inherit his parents' blonde hair color because the genetic modifications of the other four changed their hair colors in the process.[39]
↑One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 87Chapter 870 (p. 11-12) and Episode 840, Sanji renounces his allegiance to his homeland and disavows his birth name.
↑ 6.06.1One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 92Chapter 926 (p. 9) and Episode 919, Sanji is in charge of running a Soba Noodle Shop Cart as his cover while infiltrating Wano Country.
↑One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 8Chapter 68 (p. 12) and Episode 30, As Sanji prepares to leave the Baratie, he reminisces about his earliest days under Zeff. While his other memories are faithfully adapted by the anime, the smoking scenes are excluded entirely.
↑One Piece Anime — Episode 209, Luffy and Sanji unveil the anime-only Ma Ikkada.
↑One Piece Anime — Episode 210, The Ma Ikkada is sunk.
↑One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 61Chapter 598 and Episode 517, Sanji's "farewell" to his Okama mentors is toned down from manga to anime.