One Piece‘s Sanji has been brought to life by some of the best actors the world has to offer. He is voiced by Hiroaki Hirata in the anime adaptation, and Taz Skylar embodies him in the One Piece live-action by Netflix.
But once you compare their notions of the character, you will realize how great of a gap there is in their perception of Sanji. One person is completely done with Sanji, while the other is in awe of him.
Anime Original Sanji Scene in One Piece Provokes Debate
It all began with a scene in episode 1107 of One Piece, in which Sanji is seen flirting with Stussy. The episode adapted chapter 1075 of the manga but also included some anime original scenes. Sanji indeed flirted with Stussy in his trademark drooling style, but he never went as far as the anime depicted.
In fact, the manga only showed a single panel of Sanji, where he said:
To think the say would come that I’d be able to sail with Stussy-sama. Weren’t you at Big Mom’s party? Can you call me your dog?
But this single panel was made into a whole elaborate scene in which Sanji can’t help himself from flailing all around Stussy and even barking for her. While some fans think that this scene is degrading Sanji even more, others think that it’s plain adorable and feeds his goofy personality.
sanji barking like a dog saved my life pic.twitter.com/rar9OApXt5
— ✮ kitty (@sanjislut) June 2, 2024
At the same time, it has led people to fan the flames of the ‘Toei hates Sanji’ debate. Maybe the tipping point was Sanji being insistent despite Stussy’s limited response to him.
Taz Skylar Would Not Like Hiroaki Hirata’s Opinion of Sanji
In an edition of One Piece magazine, Hiroaki Hirata, the voice actor of Sanji in the One Piece anime commented:
There is nothing about Sanji that I admire. Because he is an idiot. Maybe not bad in the sense that he is a *refreshingly* stupid character to watch.
To clarify, Hirata does not hate Sanji, he just thinks that the character is extremely goofy. As the voice actor behind Sanji, if anyone knows the character well, it is Hirata.
Taz Skylar, on the other hand, thinks that he fits the mold of Sanji easily. When he first read the script provided to him, he thought:
Oh, this is cool. This fits into my mouth and I know how to do this. I get what this person wants and how he operates and I believe I can do a good job with these words; this cadence and the way that this person speaks.
In fact, the actor also confessed that just like Sanji, he too falls in love very easily and quite often. Perhaps this made Skylar bond with Sanji so well, and his performance has also received plenty of positive reviews.
Given Skylar’s devotion to Sanji, he might raise an eyebrow if he knew Hirata’s opinion of the character he loves. But at the same time, there is a chance that both the actors would love to sit down and talk about the intricacies of playing Sanji while having a good laugh.
You can read One Piece on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll. The One Piece live-action is available to stream on Netflix.
