This post contains spoilers for One Piece.
Summary
In recent weeks, Toei Animation has come under serious fire from fans for its treatment of Sanji. The studio’s decision to add new and unnecessary scenes involving the Straw Hats put a sour taste in everyone’s mouths. The tension soon reached toxic levels as someOne Piecefans began targeting staff members on X (formerly Twitter).
Things took a turn forthe worse when Megumi Ishitani, the legendary director,was also attacked by certain fans. There has been no statement from the studio, but it’s plausible to assume that there won’t be one. Unsurprisingly, Sanji isn’t the only famous character who has suffered from Toei’s decision.
Eustass Kid Was Mistreated By Toei Animation
Before Sanji, Toei Animation was guilty of mishandling Eustass Kid’s fight with Shanks. The build-up and everything else in the episode were top-class. Fans had no complaints about the animation quality, but they disliked the extension of the fight scenes.
In the manga, the fight ended rather abruptly with Shanks taking down Kid in one swift strike. Toei Animation decided to add a bit more flavor to the fight by putting Kid in a trance. To show the attack’s power, the studio decided to show that Kid was dreaming of winning the fight against Shanks. The sheer deliriumwas a device to show Shanks' superiority. Of course, no such thing happened in the manga. As previously stated, it was rather straightforward with Kid getting knocked out.
One can understand why Toei Animation opted to add the sequence, but it is also easy to comprehend why many fans hated it. They believed that it was too excessive, and it was disrespectful towards Eustass Kid. The scene might not have gathered the same level of traction as Sanji, but it was still heavily discussed within the One Piece community.With Eustass Kid’s defeat, itis improbable that Toei Animation will get to work on another scene involving the Supernova.
The Sanji Controversy Could Get A Lot Worse In The Coming Weeks
The second half of the Egghead arc will be packed with action. All the Straw Hat Pirates are going to be involved in the story, including Sanji. Naturally, fans will be worried if Toei Animation is going to head in the same direction. Before Episode 1124, the studio had ruined another moment involving Sanji,which occurred in Episode 1105.
In the episode, one of the Seraphim launched a laser toward Edison, and the studio made it seem that the satellite had been struck by the attack. A few seconds later, Sanji appeared with Edison in hand. This was done to raise the tension, but once again, it came at Sanji’s expense and affected one of his coolest moments.
In the manga, Sanji was so fast that Lilith didn’t know what had transpired. She was in awe of Sanji’s speed and how he managed to save Edison. Toei’s decision to alter this moment ruined Sanji’s speed feat. Following this incident, Toei toned down on the changes, but that was until Episode 1124.
Toei Animation Went All Out In Episode 1124
For the initiated, the studio made the following changes in the episodes:
And Nami-san saved me too. —Sanji
While it’s obvious that Toei Animation does not have a prejudice towards a specific character, it is hard to look the other way when all thechanges affect Sanji’s reputation. People who only watch the anime will never know about these changes unless they read the manga or unless others point them out. Hopefully, Toei Animation gets its act together and stops making too many changes that negatively impact a character’s reputation.
