Just to be clear, it should go without saying that my pointing out of what the story says or explores isn't meant to match to my personal feelings or outlook, nor endorse what's being said (I trust the individual to decide how they feel on the outlook I happen to read from and present, if they care to take anything like that in the first place). For some reason it didn't come to mind to clarify before, but Sanji's 'not hit girls' thing is contentious, thus this quick write up. What the story says and does isn't going to magically affect how real people act in harmful ways, and 'don't hit [group of people]' is far from the worst takeaway I could imagine, if something were to be taken away. As such, in the video I simply look at the story as is and what it says without pivoting to my personal ideals or this line of discussion in general and detract from the aim of the video, which was to get across what I believe the story is trying to get across. If the story comes back to Sanji and Zeff not hitting women then I'll be reevaluating what I've said and what I've seen the story say, but until then this video will hold. Where I come from personally is being raised 'not to touch women'. My stance having thought about it is 'don't hit people unless you need to defend yourself', so obviously I don't outright agree. If anyone who can reasonably hurt you tries to hurt you, in turn I think it's reasonable to try to keep yourself from being hurt. And yes there are systematic issues to consider (like that in a typical domestic incident, any mark on a woman will look far worse than any mark on a man in the eyes of authority). It's a very faceted issue and I'm trying to keep things brief, but no one solution is going to fit for every situation. Sometimes it might be better not to fight back, sometimes it might be better to fight, and yes, social and biological factors are going to play a role in that. But what I think is overlooked when saying "Sanji/men SHOULD hit women" (an argument I have seen) is the difference between equality and equity. Obviously we should strive for equality for where we can (voting rights being a good historical example), but equality for the sake of itself can marginalize in its own way. Saying that men can or should be just as allowed to hit women (who in the average case, are going to be physically weaker due to biological factors outside of anyone's control), is something that I would argue to be more problematic and worrisome than the rather benign 'don't hit women', even though being raised under that mindset still doesn't make it something I particularly agree with. "Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them." Again, being broad, while I don't agree with the blanket example One Piece presents through Zeff and Sanji, going hard in the opposite direction is something I honestly find worse. Anyone in a position of power should be aware of that power and what they can do with it if it's not being used correctly. A refusal to acknowledge the inherent biological differences in favor of promoting violence is a rhetoric that should be viewed very critically, moreso than one that promotes not harming people.
I think theres a lack of nuance here. I agree and can't deny that the domestic abuse of women is an abuse of physical, biological power, but it is wholly ignore (not saying anyone is in this comments section) to deny the social influence that women have. Sure, without a doubt, men hold "positions of power and authority," but with it comes a title of responsibility. Responsibility that you would have to be crazy to accept and strive for, and people, especially women, can take advantage of a man's wealth. It is highly reflected in the court systems in the U.S. Take Sparta for example: through a system of inheritance, women held unparalleled power in the background. Paying off politicians cant get any better, or worse, than that. Just a point. Great video regardless
Especially in a fantasy setting, either you don't fight anyone, or you do. You can't and shouldn't be inbetween. If X is threatening you, your family or your friends, does it matter what X is? Also I've personally never heard of the "men S H O U L D hit women" argument, that's just ridiculous. What I've heard and agree with is, no one should have a get-out-of-jail-free card because of something as inconsequential as gender. Like you kinda said, those cards should be for people with less 'power'. If a female MMA champion starts beating the shit out of a random skinny guy, should we as a society ignore that because "waman"? No, she was clearly in power there, and he wasn't weak for requiring help (another common thing, men in abusive relationships get laughed at). Obviously the same works for the opposite, and across the same genders. All in all, stay clear of any violence if you can, but don't get yourself hurt because of trashy misconceptions. On the same note, if you're clearly outmatching that annoying drunk outside the bar, whether you or him are men or women, probably don't just unleash on them. Recognize where you stand.
But I never understand that kind of thinking; it's not the Anituber's fault, since he doesn't know how much you know about the series ? There has to be a limit to the amount of knowledge you can have about a certain series; plus not all "yet unknown" knowledge is going give the Anituber "uncoverer" as much credit, if at all... right ? Is that last thing subjective ?
I also saw Sanji’s refusal to poison Big Mom as his defining moment as a chef. To Sanji, as chef serves food to hungry people. Plain and simple. Whatever the relationship the people have outside of that relationship is irrelevant. This is literally the first major thing we see him do as a character when he chooses to serve Gin and the Krieg Pirates. So of course he would never poison Big Mom’s cake. She is hungry and he is a chef. That’s it.
When he mentioned about Zoro's hypocrisy, some people might take this negatively and view this as an attack towards Zoro's character. I personally think that is more of a plus for Zoro since it adds more layer towards his character. A lot of Zoro's growth stems mainly from the fact that he has to become stronger. Which is great and all, but this flaw just makes him feel more grounded and interesting as character. He always like to pretend that he treated all woman equally and act like woman can be as strong as man, yet ended up always held himself back against a woman. This flaw actually helps in giving him more room for development as a character. And personally, I like to see where it will develops.
I'm so glad someone finally remarks that Zoro is just like Sanji when it comes to fighting women and is pretty hypocritical about it. I recognize that Sanji's code can go too far but Zoro isn't much better, even though he has a reason. And the stairs thing started as a meme but it might really be a subconscious issue.
Sanji's stakes is just too high. Its gonna be both his balls & his father figure's neck, while zoro's reason is only hypocritical because he never beat quina even once
@@Whitebeardtheking9 The reason Enies Lobby wasn't a wake up call as you say is because at the end of the day Sanji was saved by Nami. It echoes back to what he would tell Usopp, "you do what you can do, and I'll do what I can do." Sanji made the decision that no matter what, even if he would die, and even if he might not have 100% realized this: even if he would fail the mission, he would not hit a women. And looking to Whole Cake Island for this reason why, it kind of makes sense.
@@henrypeters5291 Not to hit a woman is a huge part of Zeff teaching. He admitted that he wouldn't want a female chef on Barattie because he wouldn't be able to hit her if she makes a mistake. Sanji's respect for Zeff and the many kicks from him are resulted in this scenario
Can I just say, I would totally be for one of Zoro's weaknesses to be staircases. "I, Hawkeye Mihawk is ready for this clash. Come meet me atop this tower!!!" "N-No. You come down here."
Luffy's timeskip: trains with one of the strongest men alive for two years Zoro: trains with the best swordsman Franky: becomes a next gen console Sanji: trans rights yo
@Riso also to be fair, Oda is not a trans person, and the trans people in One Piece are generally not written favorably and often as caricatures, especially the residents of Momoiro Island.
@@heyarnold7256 sure. The fact that there are caricatures in One Piece is not in itself a bad thing, and that's on me if my comment came across that way. But I (and many other people) take issue with the fact that the residents of Momoiro Island are a harmful stereotype. They're trans women, and yet they are drawn overly masculine, and beyond that, they're predatory - going after Sanji, and trying to make him one of them. That last one is a longstanding belief of people who discriminate against gay and transgender people. The joke surrounding them is intended to be "they say they are women, but *really*, they're men", which is the kind of idea that gets real life trans women murdered. (I'm not trying to imply One Piece is responsible for murder, I'm just pointing out that there are clear parallels one can draw between the way these women are portrayed and the real beliefs those who oppose their existence have.) Basically, sure, there are other caricatures, but they aren't usually a caricature of a real-life marginalized group.
@@genesisfrog Well they are in fact men who are dressing in Drag. Them looking extra masculine is no different than literally every other exaggerated character in One Piece. Either way, Oda's not drawing them to "represent" anybody. So it shouldn't be taken personally.
hmmm. i never noticed the fact that the only vinsmoke family memebers who were nice to sanji were the female ones, that is a great way to make sanji start his "never hit a woman" belief that later got reinforced with zeff
@@corsijtsma3546 i got one better: zoro fights big mom. think about it, the two most capable fighters currently fighting for wano are luffy and zoro and while kaidō is the main goal, big mom needs to be taken into account and big mom does use a sword sooo...
In regards to Big Mom, Sanji only refused to poison the cake because it would hurt his honor as a chef. At no point was it mentioned that Big Mom was a woman. He would never use food as a weapon against someone and he clearly showed throughout Whole Cake Island that he was okay with anyone even a man hurting Big Mom as long as it was not him. Just thought I should mention. For Zoro, you made very good points, and I definitely need to look into that staircase thing but at the end of the day, Zoro vs Monet is different than Sanji vs Caulifla, mostly because of the gap in power, in which Zoro could hold off his opponent without endangering himself whereas Sanji couldn't. My point in raising this is that like you said, Zoro has never been pushed to the point where he needs to actually cut a women. In fact, he actually created an opening for Tashigi to defeat Monet and even gave her credit for the victory. While still a weakness like you said and even hypocritical in the context of Punk Hazard, I do agree with Zoro's statement that it's not that he can't cut women but that he chooses not to. In which case, I would say that isn't weaker than Tashigi or any other women, because while this is a weakness, they are still not strong enough to push him to overcome this weakness. In any case, great video. (And I should look into that staircase thing).
I honestly didn't even think about Sanji not kicking any of the okama... Makes sense I would like to point out Zoro also has a general dislike of harming "civilians" and those less skilled than him in battle that may overlap a least a little with his inability to hurt a woman. It will be neat to see him finally overcome his refusal to hurt a woman when he is faced with a female opponent worth challenging. He definitely is not very honest with his feelings in that regard The main trio does show an interesting diversity in attitudes when it comes to hurting women and those weaker than them. Sanji refuses to do it, Zoro says he will obliterate anyone who challenges him but chooses to go easy, Luffy doesn't care but also controls his strength appropriately
Same. Well, I wasn't aware of the simplest part regarding Kuina. But Oda revealed that Zoro's misdirections were due to him following the clouds, so I was always thinking about that Enies lobby scene.
@@peynnep6483 Oda the Omnicient sees all, knows all, and used his knowledge to write Once Piece. Araki the Forgetful knows jack, sees shit, and still doesn't quite know what King Crimson does.
WAIT! If this is true then doesn't it kind of Suggest that Tashigi will be the key to Zoro overcoming his trauma with Kuina? When you think about it thats the only reason she could have been introduced into the story. To have Zoro literally face his trauma by coming face to face with someone who has Kuina's face? It's interesting that everytime they interact Zoro's treatment of Women is what gets brought up. Like she exists for that purpose. It's possible she may also be the one to help him become the World's Greatest Swordsman too.....depends on how all this plays out but she may be more pivotal to Zoro's story than I though.
Maybe after Zoro becomes the world's greatest swordsman by defeating Mihawk Tashigi will challenge him for the title and that's when he'll have no choice but to cut her down or forfeit his title or it might happen that he actually loses the title causing him to come back for a rematch where he'll go all out against her, reclaim his title and truly become the world's greatest swordsman. It would also be nice to see Tashigi bring along a high ranked sword like the Shodai Kitetsu to add onto her own blade.
I feel like the point about tashigi isn't valid because while he tried to bring Kuina down while they were kids, SHE DIED and tashigi looks like her so there's a much bigger story than the woman thing on why he won't strike tashigi down
This could be true if not for the fact that there are multiple examples (as shown in the video) where Zoro was incapable to fight properly a woman. Kuina was his first true opponent and she was a girl, Zoro stated that it didn´t matter but it did matter, otherwise the story wouldn´t point that out so intensively. Tashigi reminds Zoro of his old friend, but as you stated there is a bigger picture, you could simply not strip out the woman factor when is a recurrent presence in the story of Zoro.
It got them to same place though. Because zoro walked away and let monet live, or at least striking her down, Monet was able to get away and almost blow up the whole damn facility. If it wasn’t for the Cesar stabbing her heart when he thought it was smoker’s they all would’ve died. That random one in a million chance is what saved them all from being killed. Could’ve easily been avoided if zoro just struck her down.
@@god_ingmar5103 lol if tashigi didnt butt in with her weak haki when he was ready to hit her if monet did go aim for him then it wouldve been avoided lol. Everyone just assumes about zoro from tashigi’s perspective.
@@gyungyunminmin because tashigi was proven right, she said zoro would not cut her down and he did not even though he literally was given the perfect chance to he chose to intimidate her instead, if zoro would have cut her down, why didn't he?
@@aronnemcsik to quote craftsdwarf himself, "as intelligence comes in many forms, so does a lack thereof" In a sense, he isn't really all that smart because he feels like if he doesn't need to understand it he won't take the time to do so. His carefree attitude is his stupidity. And it happens to also happens to play into his biggest strength
I've watched the anime, read the manga twice, have lurked around video essays, forums, and the One Piece wiki countless time, but still *never* noticed Zoro avoids stairs. That's so fucking wild to me.
What annoys me in One Piece is that Oda effectively leveled out the playing field where It shouldn't be an issue for men and women to duke it out without worry like in other fictions. Yet Sanji's ideals and Zorro's hypocrisy are not the only things putting women away from harm. Too often it feels like the narrative does everything to keep the women spotless and pretty, like Alvida being beaten physically at first until she got a fruit making her essentially invulnerable and pretty, or Rebecca having great observation haki to dodge attacks, as if to justify her "armor".
As a man who loves strong women that can take a beating and give it double back, One Piece nowadays is leaving me disappointed beyond belief. I'm seriously afraid of going into the Wano war because i think Oda could utilize certain characters in a way that makes me hate this series and quit it all together.
Amigo Morton Yeah the underuse of women in one piece is the biggest problem for me personally. One of my fav characters is Robin and it seems like she hardly gets to do anything now adays. :(
I do not think the playing field is equaled out, both men and women are superhuman, but men still have a advantage. Kalifa is the only CP9 woman and physically the weakest, admirals, yonko and their commanders, shichibukai, powerful women exist but they are consistently and significantly in the minority.
@@maxmustermann9058 That's the issue, more women could stand in the forfront thanks to the devil fruits and haki, making physicall strength irrelevant or comparable.
This came at the perfect time holy shit. I just finished watching your podcast series with mathwiz.This might be my favourite video of yours thus far. Cant wait to see how Oda handles Zoro's sexism in the future
Ken Ashcorp I mean it’s not like a big thing that still goes on but just like the video mentioned the fight where Sanji couldn’t strike at Kalifa. I remember people just getting really mad at Sanji, even some people that do reactions get mad at him. But that characterization of Sanji just make me like him more.
This is excellent I very much agree with your take on both their characters. I never even noticed Zoro's aversion to stairs, that was an expert observation.
Another observation about the Sanji vs Absalom fight. While Sanji does weaken Absalom, in the end, he never manages to finish him off, because his motives for fighting him are not totally pure. He wanted revenge on Absalom because he had the fruit he wanted. It's Nami, who fights Absalom for the sake of Lola later on, who ultimately lands the final blow.
Sanji as a chef never wanted to harm with his cooking, hence why he never fights with his arm. That was the main reason he didn't want to poison the cake for big mom. no matter who, Sanji will feed anyone indiscriminately.
I think the example of Zoro saving Robin is a bit dubious at best, one of his crewmates was in danger, so I'd like to think that he would have done the same thing if it had been Usopp or Chopper who'd been hurt. You raise some really good points though, I really hope that Oda decides to challenge Zoro more going forward and have him to come to terms with his trauma over Kunia's death. After all, It's impossible to be the world's greatest swordsman when you aren't even willing to have a fair duel against like 50% of the population.
1:46, 3:01 I was hesitant to watch this video because I thought I already understood their dynamic... but I'm only 3 minutes into it and I already learned a few other things I didn't think about. Great analysis as always !
Damn someone recommended this video when taling about the sexism of Zoro and Sanji in some Twitter thread. This video is just !!! it gave me a whole new perspective on their characters and actions. I haven't seen the chapters of Sanji in the Momoiro Island so I didn't thought about the fact of him being unable to hit them, even if they harassed him so uncontrollably. Also same as the other comments, truly shocked about the fact of Zoro's fear of stair :( Nice video! Keep the great work :D
And That's why i want Zoro to fight Smoothie at Wano and not necessarily against King or Kyoshiro right away. And if it really happens, i gonna rooting for her. She never had a good Chance to prove how strong she is.
I mean root for who you want but straw hats are fighting two yonko and Zoro is one of their strongest assets they can't really afford to loose to a commander let alone not even their strongest one.
@@ivanbackfromthecardshop8093 Didn't Zoro said during the Zou-Arc that we can not fight two Yonko's at once? Honestly, something Evil inside me wants this to be holded true and end the Raid on Onigashima in a nightmarish disaster. The Stawhat-Allianz is prepared to fight one Yonko, not two.
i have one better. while luffy is confronting kaidō, zoro has to fight big mom herself. getting his ass beaten black and blue by an elderly woman who is way past her prime, should be enough to set him straight.
@@windhelmguard5295 I'm not sure if big mom is pass her prime she has shown no signs of being weaker and are only refference point was when she was on the rox crew where she is weaker than she is now
This is what I love about One Piece's portrayal of Sanji, it being an extreme shows both a good and bad side to this idea. Yes, Sanji not hitting women like Pudding is rewarded as his kindness is repaid in turn (not exactly something I advocate to expect on people, but I am only giving an example of good karma here), but his refusal to attack Kalifa was wrong, showcasing that his extremes are not something to aspire to. I can go on about how Sanji's story reminds me so much of the subversion of Toxic Masculinity but I'll stop here.
I always wanted to explore this topic of how both Sanji and Zoro express sexism. Sanji's method is never that of ill will. He does it out of either respect, fondness, or just his code. While Zoro does, to some extent, think women are weaker. Whenever I brought up the Robin example, people shrug it off as an out of character moment. And when I bring the Monet example, even though it was one of my favorite moments, they say "she's just not on his level" excuse, which you did debunk it as a bad excuse. There is obviously something there in Zoro's character that is a flaw, but his fans just seem to ignore it. He needs to fix this mindset and I really hope Wano does something about it. As soon as I saw Kiku, I really wanted some kind of conversation there between the two.
Salem Al-Arrak no. If he denied is man hood and “changed” for some complaints he’d be an awful character. Zoro as explained doesn’t look as women as weak for that reason, it’s to not dishonor the femininity.
I think the stair thing is a bit of a reach, but it lends itself to the Kuina narrative way better than i expected. I love the breakdown of these two. Awesome video and thanks for it!
Honestly wish these 2 characters would put away their pride in service of building of their character. It's reasons why Vegeta's arc in the Buu saga was great because he had to put aside the pride he holds so important because it was what caused everyone he loved trouble.
I would like to argue that Zoro doesn't fight Tshiki because of the resemblance with childhood friend Queens and left the Valkyrie to Tshiki to fool her into thinking he can't fight women to not confront his past and thus Tshiki
I feel like it's not talked about or even remembered often but if its someone else's life Sanji is willing to still attack a woman. He attacked big mom along with luffy and he was ready to shoot Robin when she first appeared on the ship so that he could protect vivi. Ive seen some people think Sanji would let a crewmate die before hitting a woman.
The Big Mom thing is mentioned in the video as, in Oda's words, a block with a kick(which is funny to me), however the Robin thing is iirc different from what you say. All Sanji was trying to do there was intimidate her, which while different in action, is similar in effect to him trying to intimidate Kalifa. Whether or not he would harm a woman to save a crewmate has not yet been proven or disproven, and might never be.
@@equalsfortyfour7256 eh I mean it's a possible excuse but if I remember correctly ussop was also holding gun to her head it seems kinda unnecessary to double team her if had no intention of actually attacking her. And as for big mom he still attacked in self defense. Maybe he thought it wouldn't do any real damage but still. I don't think he would actually do anything too damaging but if nami or another women was being attacked I find it really hard to believe he would just let it happen he would at least hit them to get them away and then take their attacks for them.
Sanji totally would let a crew member die before hitting a woman. Who's life do you think was at stake during the Enes Lobby arc? Robin was going to get executed! And he refused to do much as defend himself against Kalifa's attacks. Yeah, he would've lost the respect of Zeff, but he would have lost Robin completely. It just makes his flirtations towards Robin later on all the more terrible.
@@D-Havoc he defended him self and attacked her he just wouldn't actually kick her and tried to threaten her instead. Nami just stepped after he got hit by the soap attack. It's not like he was just sitting their not trying to get the key from her anyways
Super interesting analysis,if your Zoro theory turns out to be true than that would mean that I don't have to keep feeling angry abt the Monet fight (or any Tashigi moments)
I don't know about the stairs bit. I am pretty sure Zoro went up stairs plenty of times without issue. I seem to recall that Zoro went up some stairs on Thriller Bark.
This just gave me a really interesting idea, I’m 99% sure this WONT happen (and even if it did it would require a LOT more set up than we currently have right now) but what if Tashigi beats Zoro to defeating Mihawk? Now that the warlords are disbanded the marines are currently going after him. That would mean Zoro would either have to finally go all out on a woman, or consider his dream fulfilled since it was all for Kuina anyway and a woman becoming the strongest swordsman would honestly be an even MORE fitting way to respect her dream
A small correction: He didn't protect Big Mom because of the whole Women Stick (TM), but because he didn't want his reputation/honor as a cook to be besmirched. He wanted to see her happy face when tasting the cake, but it still has nothing to do with her being a woman. I read this as just another way as to how Oda doesn't acknowledge an "ugly" woman as a woman at all, but that's a subject for another day...
This and how women are treated are my biggest gripes with the series. No matter how """chivalrous""" people call Sanji, he will never be in my eyes. He doesn't want to protect shit, he just has a blind belief. He made tea with Khalifa while Robin and the crew were this close to death, because boobs. Same with Zoro vs Monet, he got stalled for ages for no reason whatsoever while Smiley could've killed the crew (He didn't know that it wasn't actually all that dangerous). The various "sHe WaS jUst A WomAn" comments also have no reason to exist, as BM is a thing in this universe. Oh, but I guess she is no reeeal woman, she is just old and ugly hag after all!
Well Sanji obviously tried to protect everyone. When Robin first boarded Merry, Sanji aimed the gun at her because he thought she would harm Vivi. In WCI arc, he stopped Big Mom when she was about to kill Reiju. In Khalifa's case, he was just defending himself while trying to get the key without having to fight her. Not that he didn't care about Robin. He just can't beat women, but he will risk his life to protect everyone.
The video explained it. It's about strength of character and Sanji shouldn't have to sacrifice his beliefs everytime he has to fight a woman. Then they mean nothing. That's why he has friends to cover him like Nami.
On the interpretation of Sanji, I think it hinges on how serious his claim that Invisibility is also his dream. Peeking at women in the bath without their consent is super out of character for his chivalry. I would have loved to forget Absalom all together and consider his character to be in tact but now his new Raid suit brought it back up again. Spot on with Zoro though. He SERIOUSLY needs to fight a super strong female swordswoman that can push him to his limits. Since, Tashigi can't reasonably fulfill that role, it has to be someone else.
i don't agree. i think their rivalry started on little garden when they were competing with who got the biggest catch. this also parallels dorry and broggy who had a similar competition long ago. and despite forgetting why they battle they still do it.
Luffy who is the main character of the series has no problems with women, no problems fighting, underestimating them or acting condescending towards them. Zoro's patronizing attitude towards women is treated as a weakness. Sanji being a simp/white knight is both a virtue and a weakness. Characters point out how dumb it is but can't help but admire it. Franky's battle with Señor Pink does have a tone of parodying machismo but doesn't really condemn the characters for being that way. Whitebeard refuses to have any female fighters in his crew, yet no one ever calls him out on that and he's meant to be seen as a cool figure. Pretty much the same with Zeff. Tsuru is told to stay out of the battle with Whitebeard by a Marine Officer and she gets indignant and that they are not in any position to order her around. Though it may be more due to her age since Hina, Tashigi and a female giant fought. Also I find the Kuina becoming weaker due to her sex aspect weird considering Haki (Ambition) exist and it determines your strength and Big Mom existing fly in the face of that. Then again it may have been an early series issue or we may not know everything about Kuina and Zoro's master. That being said, overall, I do think One Piece does seem to promote the patronizing attitudes of Whitebeard/Zeff as respectable and worth emulating especially since they aren't called out. However I don't think it necessarily reflects on Oda, don't know the man and wha he's thinking (or not thinking) when he writes.
Thats not really patronizing though. Because in real life men are generally stronger than women. It's a biological reality. It's weird to see people try and paint that as "discrimination" or "patronizing".
God I hope Zoro gets to explore this in the manga someday. Everyone else has got some kind of character development. An they're in WANO NOW! THE LAND OF FUCKING SWORDSMEN!!! please Oda give our boy some love
he is actually kind to everyone not only women, he is harsh with men because he grew up in a harsh environnement with only males... but he is kind and would do everything to save them
@@zeddii7126 i know and its a joke, but even before we learned about his backstory it pissed me off so many times, espcially right at the start in arlong park lmao
I really liked this video. I hadn't considered the whole angle with Zoro before. However I can't say I'm the strongest believer in this interpretation (i would be the type to think the stair thing is a gag and no more) but it almost feels like it could be the case. As for Sanji, I know many that have had a low opinion of him since the Califa fight. As a fan myself, it's often frustrating to have this seesaw of him being cool but then being disappointing.
That stairs shit blew my mind. But I still think falling down some steps is a weak way to go in a universe where people can be crushed by 10000 kilograms and live
Okay, at first the stairs thing looked ludicrous to me but then... Shit, I realized that it makes sense. Zoro's lack of sense of direction as always been played for laugh, but it's true that on several instances, he clearly avoided stairs.
Just to be clear, it should go without saying that my pointing out of what the story says or explores isn't meant to match to my personal feelings or outlook, nor endorse what's being said (I trust the individual to decide how they feel on the outlook I happen to read from and present, if they care to take anything like that in the first place). For some reason it didn't come to mind to clarify before, but Sanji's 'not hit girls' thing is contentious, thus this quick write up. What the story says and does isn't going to magically affect how real people act in harmful ways, and 'don't hit [group of people]' is far from the worst takeaway I could imagine, if something were to be taken away. As such, in the video I simply look at the story as is and what it says without pivoting to my personal ideals or this line of discussion in general and detract from the aim of the video, which was to get across what I believe the story is trying to get across. If the story comes back to Sanji and Zeff not hitting women then I'll be reevaluating what I've said and what I've seen the story say, but until then this video will hold.
Where I come from personally is being raised 'not to touch women'. My stance having thought about it is 'don't hit people unless you need to defend yourself', so obviously I don't outright agree. If anyone who can reasonably hurt you tries to hurt you, in turn I think it's reasonable to try to keep yourself from being hurt. And yes there are systematic issues to consider (like that in a typical domestic incident, any mark on a woman will look far worse than any mark on a man in the eyes of authority). It's a very faceted issue and I'm trying to keep things brief, but no one solution is going to fit for every situation. Sometimes it might be better not to fight back, sometimes it might be better to fight, and yes, social and biological factors are going to play a role in that. But what I think is overlooked when saying "Sanji/men SHOULD hit women" (an argument I have seen) is the difference between equality and equity.
Obviously we should strive for equality for where we can (voting rights being a good historical example), but equality for the sake of itself can marginalize in its own way. Saying that men can or should be just as allowed to hit women (who in the average case, are going to be physically weaker due to biological factors outside of anyone's control), is something that I would argue to be more problematic and worrisome than the rather benign 'don't hit women', even though being raised under that mindset still doesn't make it something I particularly agree with.
"Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them." Again, being broad, while I don't agree with the blanket example One Piece presents through Zeff and Sanji, going hard in the opposite direction is something I honestly find worse. Anyone in a position of power should be aware of that power and what they can do with it if it's not being used correctly. A refusal to acknowledge the inherent biological differences in favor of promoting violence is a rhetoric that should be viewed very critically, moreso than one that promotes not harming people.
Or embrace the zero aggression principle, something actually consistent.
A woman steps over the line best believe ima Diable Jambe her ass.
I think theres a lack of nuance here. I agree and can't deny that the domestic abuse of women is an abuse of physical, biological power, but it is wholly ignore (not saying anyone is in this comments section) to deny the social influence that women have. Sure, without a doubt, men hold "positions of power and authority," but with it comes a title of responsibility. Responsibility that you would have to be crazy to accept and strive for, and people, especially women, can take advantage of a man's wealth. It is highly reflected in the court systems in the U.S. Take Sparta for example: through a system of inheritance, women held unparalleled power in the background. Paying off politicians cant get any better, or worse, than that.
Just a point. Great video regardless
Especially in a fantasy setting, either you don't fight anyone, or you do. You can't and shouldn't be inbetween. If X is threatening you, your family or your friends, does it matter what X is?
Also I've personally never heard of the "men S H O U L D hit women" argument, that's just ridiculous. What I've heard and agree with is, no one should have a get-out-of-jail-free card because of something as inconsequential as gender. Like you kinda said, those cards should be for people with less 'power'. If a female MMA champion starts beating the shit out of a random skinny guy, should we as a society ignore that because "waman"? No, she was clearly in power there, and he wasn't weak for requiring help (another common thing, men in abusive relationships get laughed at). Obviously the same works for the opposite, and across the same genders.
All in all, stay clear of any violence if you can, but don't get yourself hurt because of trashy misconceptions. On the same note, if you're clearly outmatching that annoying drunk outside the bar, whether you or him are men or women, probably don't just unleash on them.
Recognize where you stand.
very sad when u have to explain this to people so they dont flip out over something thats not even real.
Meanwhile Luffy:
*straight up lunges at Vivi and socks her in the face*
Luffy, a man of true gender equality
luffy doesn't even understand what gender is LOL
@@amigomorton7654 ahh yes. The belief in the freedom to deck anybody, anywhere, anytime. Equal rights if you will... and lefts.
"I yearn for true gender equality"~ Satou Kazuma
Luffy is a motherfucking PIRATE LMFAO, also considering what he did to Crocodile that was literally a love tap
great point about the stairs. CraftDawarf i was not aware of that.
Same that was such an insane connection!
It's one of those things I never noticed but when it's mentioned I couldn't unsee it
Indeed
So My boy zoro is still kinda traumatized by stairs lol even though i still have my doubts kuina died because of that. That's just weird
@@emjay1249 Saying that someone fell down the stairs is another way of saying that someone commited suicide, at least in Japan.
You know you're watching a GOAT Anituber when you learn more about a story you thought you could never learn more about.
@Subarashii Ningen he sees the genius in every anime/manga
But I never understand that kind of thinking; it's not the Anituber's fault, since he doesn't know how much you know about the series ? There has to be a limit to the amount of knowledge you can have about a certain series; plus not all "yet unknown" knowledge is going give the Anituber "uncoverer" as much credit, if at all... right ? Is that last thing subjective ?
I also saw Sanji’s refusal to poison Big Mom as his defining moment as a chef. To Sanji, as chef serves food to hungry people. Plain and simple. Whatever the relationship the people have outside of that relationship is irrelevant. This is literally the first major thing we see him do as a character when he chooses to serve Gin and the Krieg Pirates. So of course he would never poison Big Mom’s cake. She is hungry and he is a chef. That’s it.
Zoro is scared of stairs... Now that's an eye opener.
Sadly that won't make his eye open. *badumtsss*
But his training room is on the top of the ship so he has to climb the stairs.
@@FRElHEIT He climbs up.
@@silverscreen842 yeah you're right i think there is a ladder
But ive seen him use stairs before
When he mentioned about Zoro's hypocrisy, some people might take this negatively and view this as an attack towards Zoro's character. I personally think that is more of a plus for Zoro since it adds more layer towards his character. A lot of Zoro's growth stems mainly from the fact that he has to become stronger. Which is great and all, but this flaw just makes him feel more grounded and interesting as character. He always like to pretend that he treated all woman equally and act like woman can be as strong as man, yet ended up always held himself back against a woman. This flaw actually helps in giving him more room for development as a character. And personally, I like to see where it will develops.
I'm so glad someone finally remarks that Zoro is just like Sanji when it comes to fighting women and is pretty hypocritical about it. I recognize that Sanji's code can go too far but Zoro isn't much better, even though he has a reason.
And the stairs thing started as a meme but it might really be a subconscious issue.
Sanji's stakes is just too high. Its gonna be both his balls & his father figure's neck, while zoro's reason is only hypocritical because he never beat quina even once
@@ManansaPatra I'm so confused!
@@Whitebeardtheking9 The reason Enies Lobby wasn't a wake up call as you say is because at the end of the day Sanji was saved by Nami. It echoes back to what he would tell Usopp, "you do what you can do, and I'll do what I can do." Sanji made the decision that no matter what, even if he would die, and even if he might not have 100% realized this: even if he would fail the mission, he would not hit a women. And looking to Whole Cake Island for this reason why, it kind of makes sense.
@@henrypeters5291 Not to hit a woman is a huge part of Zeff teaching. He admitted that he wouldn't want a female chef on Barattie because he wouldn't be able to hit her if she makes a mistake. Sanji's respect for Zeff and the many kicks from him are resulted in this scenario
@@aronnemcsik I get that what I was saying was that Sanji isn't going to change his character and hit a woman
Can I just say, I would totally be for one of Zoro's weaknesses to be staircases.
"I, Hawkeye Mihawk is ready for this clash. Come meet me atop this tower!!!"
"N-No. You come down here."
Having a DF power surrounding staircases could also make for an interesting fight with enough creativity
Imagine if Tashigi gains the powers of the Stairs-Stairs fruit and decides to challenge Zoro
Luffy's timeskip: trains with one of the strongest men alive for two years
Zoro: trains with the best swordsman
Franky: becomes a next gen console
Sanji: trans rights yo
I mean he doesn't seem to be a fan of the Okamas, even the ones that saved his life by giving him blood.
@Riso also to be fair, Oda is not a trans person, and the trans people in One Piece are generally not written favorably and often as caricatures, especially the residents of Momoiro Island.
@@genesisfrog To be fair, Everyone in One Piece is a caricature. So moot point.
@@heyarnold7256 sure. The fact that there are caricatures in One Piece is not in itself a bad thing, and that's on me if my comment came across that way. But I (and many other people) take issue with the fact that the residents of Momoiro Island are a harmful stereotype. They're trans women, and yet they are drawn overly masculine, and beyond that, they're predatory - going after Sanji, and trying to make him one of them. That last one is a longstanding belief of people who discriminate against gay and transgender people. The joke surrounding them is intended to be "they say they are women, but *really*, they're men", which is the kind of idea that gets real life trans women murdered. (I'm not trying to imply One Piece is responsible for murder, I'm just pointing out that there are clear parallels one can draw between the way these women are portrayed and the real beliefs those who oppose their existence have.)
Basically, sure, there are other caricatures, but they aren't usually a caricature of a real-life marginalized group.
@@genesisfrog Well they are in fact men who are dressing in Drag. Them looking extra masculine is no different than literally every other exaggerated character in One Piece. Either way, Oda's not drawing them to "represent" anybody. So it shouldn't be taken personally.
Holy shit. You actually incorporated the stairs gag into the narrative.
Masterful.
hmmm. i never noticed the fact that the only vinsmoke family memebers who were nice to sanji were the female ones, that is a great way to make sanji start his "never hit a woman" belief that later got reinforced with zeff
No He used to see women equal in the WCI little flashback
yesss, i really want zoro to fight smoothie
Me too...
GO SMOOTHIE!
I just want Zoro to fight an actual worth opponent. The last person to push Zoro to his limits was Kaku.
@@caifancabr0n699 Maybe King this season?
@@corsijtsma3546 i got one better: zoro fights big mom.
think about it, the two most capable fighters currently fighting for wano are luffy and zoro and while kaidō is the main goal, big mom needs to be taken into account and big mom does use a sword sooo...
That's the fight i'm waiting since Luffy vs Katakuri.
Huh I never noticed the coincidence with Zoro and stairs.
Katsu Imagitian nah bro atleast stairs know where they're going
@Red Eagle now I want to know how many of those stairs are in the manga.
In regards to Big Mom, Sanji only refused to poison the cake because it would hurt his honor as a chef. At no point was it mentioned that Big Mom was a woman. He would never use food as a weapon against someone and he clearly showed throughout Whole Cake Island that he was okay with anyone even a man hurting Big Mom as long as it was not him. Just thought I should mention.
For Zoro, you made very good points, and I definitely need to look into that staircase thing but at the end of the day, Zoro vs Monet is different than Sanji vs Caulifla, mostly because of the gap in power, in which Zoro could hold off his opponent without endangering himself whereas Sanji couldn't. My point in raising this is that like you said, Zoro has never been pushed to the point where he needs to actually cut a women. In fact, he actually created an opening for Tashigi to defeat Monet and even gave her credit for the victory. While still a weakness like you said and even hypocritical in the context of Punk Hazard, I do agree with Zoro's statement that it's not that he can't cut women but that he chooses not to. In which case, I would say that isn't weaker than Tashigi or any other women, because while this is a weakness, they are still not strong enough to push him to overcome this weakness.
In any case, great video. (And I should look into that staircase thing).
"Worst than weakness of body the weakness of character" DAMN that's true and powerful quote
I honestly didn't even think about Sanji not kicking any of the okama... Makes sense
I would like to point out Zoro also has a general dislike of harming "civilians" and those less skilled than him in battle that may overlap a least a little with his inability to hurt a woman. It will be neat to see him finally overcome his refusal to hurt a woman when he is faced with a female opponent worth challenging. He definitely is not very honest with his feelings in that regard
The main trio does show an interesting diversity in attitudes when it comes to hurting women and those weaker than them. Sanji refuses to do it, Zoro says he will obliterate anyone who challenges him but chooses to go easy, Luffy doesn't care but also controls his strength appropriately
He didn’t save Big Mom cause she was a woman, he did it because he didn’t want the poison to ruin his perfectly good cake.
Solar right he wants that nobody has to be hungry
Also because of his immense respect towards food in general, he wouldn't poison any food because that would be sacrilege to him
It's a bit of both I'd say 90% chef 10% woman but Sanji wouldn't hurt big mom anyways
Thank You for mentioning Zoro and the stairs gag I've been thinking this for years and haven't seen anybody mention it.
Same. Well, I wasn't aware of the simplest part regarding Kuina. But Oda revealed that Zoro's misdirections were due to him following the clouds, so I was always thinking about that Enies lobby scene.
Lufffy and Bege: Let‘s kill Big Mom
Sanji: 😐
The stairs thing is so stupid that if this wasn't Oda the Omniscient we're talking about I would have thrown my phone out the window.
Oda or Araki
@@peynnep6483 Oda the Omnicient sees all, knows all, and used his knowledge to write Once Piece. Araki the Forgetful knows jack, sees shit, and still doesn't quite know what King Crimson does.
@@vicentetemes5793 No One Knows What King Crimson Does. Except Togashi But He Doesn't Count.
@@PlanetaryPluto I think you mean he can't count on his back.
A lot of people die from stairs
WAIT!
If this is true then doesn't it kind of Suggest that Tashigi will be the key to Zoro overcoming his trauma with Kuina? When you think about it thats the only reason she could have been introduced into the story. To have Zoro literally face his trauma by coming face to face with someone who has Kuina's face? It's interesting that everytime they interact Zoro's treatment of Women is what gets brought up. Like she exists for that purpose. It's possible she may also be the one to help him become the World's Greatest Swordsman too.....depends on how all this plays out but she may be more pivotal to Zoro's story than I though.
Honestly it would be interesting if Zoro's impotence will be solved by someone like her.
Maybe after Zoro becomes the world's greatest swordsman by defeating Mihawk Tashigi will challenge him for the title and that's when he'll have no choice but to cut her down or forfeit his title or it might happen that he actually loses the title causing him to come back for a rematch where he'll go all out against her, reclaim his title and truly become the world's greatest swordsman. It would also be nice to see Tashigi bring along a high ranked sword like the Shodai Kitetsu to add onto her own blade.
I feel like the point about tashigi isn't valid because while he tried to bring Kuina down while they were kids, SHE DIED and tashigi looks like her so there's a much bigger story than the woman thing on why he won't strike tashigi down
This could be true if not for the fact that there are multiple examples (as shown in the video) where Zoro was incapable to fight properly a woman. Kuina was his first true opponent and she was a girl, Zoro stated that it didn´t matter but it did matter, otherwise the story wouldn´t point that out so intensively. Tashigi reminds Zoro of his old friend, but as you stated there is a bigger picture, you could simply not strip out the woman factor when is a recurrent presence in the story of Zoro.
Zoro vs Smoothie is the fight i want to see the most.
“Zoro’s intimidation has been as unsuccessful as sanji’s” come on now, he had Monet shook
And Sanji had Califa shook. The only difference is that Monet didn't have a way of subduing Zoro like she did.
Also when he fought against Monet he was protecting Tashigi.
It got them to same place though. Because zoro walked away and let monet live, or at least striking her down, Monet was able to get away and almost blow up the whole damn facility. If it wasn’t for the Cesar stabbing her heart when he thought it was smoker’s they all would’ve died. That random one in a million chance is what saved them all from being killed. Could’ve easily been avoided if zoro just struck her down.
@@god_ingmar5103 lol if tashigi didnt butt in with her weak haki when he was ready to hit her if monet did go aim for him then it wouldve been avoided lol. Everyone just assumes about zoro from tashigi’s perspective.
@@gyungyunminmin because tashigi was proven right, she said zoro would not cut her down and he did not even though he literally was given the perfect chance to he chose to intimidate her instead, if zoro would have cut her down, why didn't he?
"Bellamy, tashigi and monet, he pitied them because they were women" bellamy is Luffy's mother confirmed
That was honesty amazing and didn't really think so much on Zoro and his similarities with Sanji. Really good video insightful and I learned a lot
Sanji isn't a simp he just a overall good dude
But people will use it all day just because. Or to prove their point is right.
@@lucaswibisono1316 sanji a real ass nigga he a good dude
I know that very well. In fact, Whole Cake Island arc just proves how good he actually is.
I prefer Luffy’s approach to women
@Dante Morain That's less rooted in Luffy's stupidity and more in his simplistic worldview.
He doesn‘t care if man or women he will kick ass if it means he can be the Pirate King
@Heru Jr. of Kemet Actually it's not his stupidity. It's simply that he looks at everyone as a person thus can (and will) be punched if neseserry.
@@aronnemcsik to quote craftsdwarf himself, "as intelligence comes in many forms, so does a lack thereof"
In a sense, he isn't really all that smart because he feels like if he doesn't need to understand it he won't take the time to do so.
His carefree attitude is his stupidity. And it happens to also happens to play into his biggest strength
@@Hoffanheim
Yeah, that's not his stupidity at all (no /s)
The stair theory is so interesting really good catch I think your right!
nigga thats a fucking non canon filler lol do ur research
I've watched the anime, read the manga twice, have lurked around video essays, forums, and the One Piece wiki countless time, but still *never* noticed Zoro avoids stairs. That's so fucking wild to me.
What annoys me in One Piece is that Oda effectively leveled out the playing field where It shouldn't be an issue for men and women to duke it out without worry like in other fictions. Yet Sanji's ideals and Zorro's hypocrisy are not the only things putting women away from harm. Too often it feels like the narrative does everything to keep the women spotless and pretty, like Alvida being beaten physically at first until she got a fruit making her essentially invulnerable and pretty, or Rebecca having great observation haki to dodge attacks, as if to justify her "armor".
As a man who loves strong women that can take a beating and give it double back, One Piece nowadays is leaving me disappointed beyond belief.
I'm seriously afraid of going into the Wano war because i think Oda could utilize certain characters in a way that makes me hate this series and quit it all together.
Amigo Morton Yeah the underuse of women in one piece is the biggest problem for me personally. One of my fav characters is Robin and it seems like she hardly gets to do anything now adays. :(
I do not think the playing field is equaled out, both men and women are superhuman, but men still have a advantage. Kalifa is the only CP9 woman and physically the weakest, admirals, yonko and their commanders, shichibukai, powerful women exist but they are consistently and significantly in the minority.
@@maxmustermann9058 That's the issue, more women could stand in the forfront thanks to the devil fruits and haki, making physicall strength irrelevant or comparable.
@@Narlaw1199 Maybe, but men have equal access to devil fruits and haki so they still have a significant competitive edge
This came at the perfect time holy shit. I just finished watching your podcast series with mathwiz.This might be my favourite video of yours thus far. Cant wait to see how Oda handles Zoro's sexism in the future
Haris Vassios HE HAS A PODCAST link
@@4pfdattu605 It doesnt work for me
it's not sexism it's a subconscious issue, saying it like that undermines how much zoro can't help it.
@@waluigi3515 Yes, sexism can be a subconscious issue
He won't handle it. It's framed as heroic chivalrism, not as the flaw that it is.
I was literally just thinking about this yesterday when I remembered some of the Kalifa “controversy” with Sanji
Ken Ashcorp I mean it’s not like a big thing that still goes on but just like the video mentioned the fight where Sanji couldn’t strike at Kalifa. I remember people just getting really mad at Sanji, even some people that do reactions get mad at him. But that characterization of Sanji just make me like him more.
How did I never notice the stair thing. Wow you always blow my mind. You make the best video essays.
Zoro is scared of stairs because his childhood friend fell down the stairs and died
Now i wanna see in the ending him saying exactly like mihawk "surpass me tashigi"
This is excellent I very much agree with your take on both their characters. I never even noticed Zoro's aversion to stairs, that was an expert observation.
That connection with the stairs, my mind is blown.
Other anime: We make agressive rivaly, 'cause it's funny (*cough* Fairy Tail *cough*)
One Piece: It's actually philosophical...
Another observation about the Sanji vs Absalom fight. While Sanji does weaken Absalom, in the end, he never manages to finish him off, because his motives for fighting him are not totally pure. He wanted revenge on Absalom because he had the fruit he wanted. It's Nami, who fights Absalom for the sake of Lola later on, who ultimately lands the final blow.
Sanji as a chef never wanted to harm with his cooking, hence why he never fights with his arm. That was the main reason he didn't want to poison the cake for big mom. no matter who, Sanji will feed anyone indiscriminately.
“It all started cuz of a girl” happens to much in the real world
I think the example of Zoro saving Robin is a bit dubious at best, one of his crewmates was in danger, so I'd like to think that he would have done the same thing if it had been Usopp or Chopper who'd been hurt.
You raise some really good points though, I really hope that Oda decides to challenge Zoro more going forward and have him to come to terms with his trauma over Kunia's death. After all, It's impossible to be the world's greatest swordsman when you aren't even willing to have a fair duel against like 50% of the population.
1:46, 3:01 I was hesitant to watch this video because I thought I already understood their dynamic... but I'm only 3 minutes into it and I already learned a few other things I didn't think about. Great analysis as always !
Damn someone recommended this video when taling about the sexism of Zoro and Sanji in some Twitter thread. This video is just !!! it gave me a whole new perspective on their characters and actions. I haven't seen the chapters of Sanji in the Momoiro Island so I didn't thought about the fact of him being unable to hit them, even if they harassed him so uncontrollably. Also same as the other comments, truly shocked about the fact of Zoro's fear of stair :(
Nice video! Keep the great work :D
Never thought of zoro like that...
Me too
And That's why i want Zoro to fight Smoothie at Wano and not necessarily against King or Kyoshiro right away.
And if it really happens, i gonna rooting for her. She never had a good Chance to prove how strong she is.
I mean root for who you want but straw hats are fighting two yonko and Zoro is one of their strongest assets they can't really afford to loose to a commander let alone not even their strongest one.
@@ivanbackfromthecardshop8093 Didn't Zoro said during the Zou-Arc that we can not fight two Yonko's at once?
Honestly, something Evil inside me wants this to be holded true and end the Raid on Onigashima in a nightmarish disaster.
The Stawhat-Allianz is prepared to fight one Yonko, not two.
i have one better.
while luffy is confronting kaidō, zoro has to fight big mom herself.
getting his ass beaten black and blue by an elderly woman who is way past her prime, should be enough to set him straight.
@@windhelmguard5295 I'm not sure if big mom is pass her prime she has shown no signs of being weaker and are only refference point was when she was on the rox crew where she is weaker than she is now
@@ivanbackfromthecardshop8093 she certainly looks like she is and that's what matters in this scenario.
This is what I love about One Piece's portrayal of Sanji, it being an extreme shows both a good and bad side to this idea. Yes, Sanji not hitting women like Pudding is rewarded as his kindness is repaid in turn (not exactly something I advocate to expect on people, but I am only giving an example of good karma here), but his refusal to attack Kalifa was wrong, showcasing that his extremes are not something to aspire to. I can go on about how Sanji's story reminds me so much of the subversion of Toxic Masculinity but I'll stop here.
I wouldn't be surprise if Sanji gets killed/crippled by a villainess
I always wanted to explore this topic of how both Sanji and Zoro express sexism. Sanji's method is never that of ill will. He does it out of either respect, fondness, or just his code. While Zoro does, to some extent, think women are weaker.
Whenever I brought up the Robin example, people shrug it off as an out of character moment. And when I bring the Monet example, even though it was one of my favorite moments, they say "she's just not on his level" excuse, which you did debunk it as a bad excuse. There is obviously something there in Zoro's character that is a flaw, but his fans just seem to ignore it. He needs to fix this mindset and I really hope Wano does something about it. As soon as I saw Kiku, I really wanted some kind of conversation there between the two.
Salem Al-Arrak no. If he denied is man hood and “changed” for some complaints he’d be an awful character. Zoro as explained doesn’t look as women as weak for that reason, it’s to not dishonor the femininity.
Sanji: I will not hurt a female
*kazuma had never heard such bullshit before*
"Bellamy, Tashigi and monet are weaker because they're women" I see no issue with this statement
Fantastic character study, easily one of my favorite videos you've ever done. Looking forward to everything you do in 2020!
That point about stairs, did anyone think of that moment in iCarly when Spencer goes "STAIRS, STAIRS, STAIRS"? No, just me. ok I'll go now.
This is such a good and fascinating video!
I think the stair thing is a bit of a reach, but it lends itself to the Kuina narrative way better than i expected. I love the breakdown of these two. Awesome video and thanks for it!
Yayyyy my boi craftsdwards uploaded. Ive been waiting
Honestly wish these 2 characters would put away their pride in service of building of their character.
It's reasons why Vegeta's arc in the Buu saga was great because he had to put aside the pride he holds so important because it was what caused everyone he loved trouble.
I would like to argue that Zoro doesn't fight Tshiki because of the resemblance with childhood friend Queens and left the Valkyrie to Tshiki to fool her into thinking he can't fight women to not confront his past and thus Tshiki
Hol moly. I never noticed the staircases. This alone is worth a sub
Love all your OP analysts man
I feel like it's not talked about or even remembered often but if its someone else's life Sanji is willing to still attack a woman. He attacked big mom along with luffy and he was ready to shoot Robin when she first appeared on the ship so that he could protect vivi. Ive seen some people think Sanji would let a crewmate die before hitting a woman.
The Big Mom thing is mentioned in the video as, in Oda's words, a block with a kick(which is funny to me), however the Robin thing is iirc different from what you say. All Sanji was trying to do there was intimidate her, which while different in action, is similar in effect to him trying to intimidate Kalifa.
Whether or not he would harm a woman to save a crewmate has not yet been proven or disproven, and might never be.
@@equalsfortyfour7256 eh I mean it's a possible excuse but if I remember correctly ussop was also holding gun to her head it seems kinda unnecessary to double team her if had no intention of actually attacking her. And as for big mom he still attacked in self defense. Maybe he thought it wouldn't do any real damage but still. I don't think he would actually do anything too damaging but if nami or another women was being attacked I find it really hard to believe he would just let it happen he would at least hit them to get them away and then take their attacks for them.
I don't think Sanji would let a crewmate die if Big Mom was about to atomize Usopp, he would try blocking the attack or take it and die.
Sanji totally would let a crew member die before hitting a woman. Who's life do you think was at stake during the Enes Lobby arc? Robin was going to get executed! And he refused to do much as defend himself against Kalifa's attacks. Yeah, he would've lost the respect of Zeff, but he would have lost Robin completely. It just makes his flirtations towards Robin later on all the more terrible.
@@D-Havoc he defended him self and attacked her he just wouldn't actually kick her and tried to threaten her instead. Nami just stepped after he got hit by the soap attack. It's not like he was just sitting their not trying to get the key from her anyways
Super interesting analysis,if your Zoro theory turns out to be true than that would mean that I don't have to keep feeling angry abt the Monet fight (or any Tashigi moments)
Why were you angry about monet fight?
Sanji is kind to women because Zeff when sanji was young to him to never strike a woman and sanji would rather die than disappoint zeff
I don't know about the stairs bit. I am pretty sure Zoro went up stairs plenty of times without issue. I seem to recall that Zoro went up some stairs on Thriller Bark.
I love how the music go crazy when you mention the stairs issue
This just gave me a really interesting idea, I’m 99% sure this WONT happen (and even if it did it would require a LOT more set up than we currently have right now) but what if Tashigi beats Zoro to defeating Mihawk? Now that the warlords are disbanded the marines are currently going after him. That would mean Zoro would either have to finally go all out on a woman, or consider his dream fulfilled since it was all for Kuina anyway and a woman becoming the strongest swordsman would honestly be an even MORE fitting way to respect her dream
Tashigi cant suddenly beat mihawk. That would be boring
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 you serious 😑
Holy shit you're right about Zoro not wanting to defeat a woman to honor Kuina damn
A small correction: He didn't protect Big Mom because of the whole Women Stick (TM), but because he didn't want his reputation/honor as a cook to be besmirched. He wanted to see her happy face when tasting the cake, but it still has nothing to do with her being a woman. I read this as just another way as to how Oda doesn't acknowledge an "ugly" woman as a woman at all, but that's a subject for another day...
Holy crap. Never considered the stairs thing! Nice! Good video!
Don't mind us just monitoring
You are such an amazing video creator!
Now I wish for a whole Sanji video, isn't his birthday the 2nd of march? :D
Great video and great editing
Excellent video. I'm still waiting for you to go on the Wano Report.
this made me like sanji 26457744 times more
Amazing analysis and video
Dude i would love for zoro to go all out against smoothie and finally get over Kuina. could be an insanely powerfull moment if done correctly
This and how women are treated are my biggest gripes with the series. No matter how """chivalrous""" people call Sanji, he will never be in my eyes. He doesn't want to protect shit, he just has a blind belief. He made tea with Khalifa while Robin and the crew were this close to death, because boobs. Same with Zoro vs Monet, he got stalled for ages for no reason whatsoever while Smiley could've killed the crew (He didn't know that it wasn't actually all that dangerous). The various "sHe WaS jUst A WomAn" comments also have no reason to exist, as BM is a thing in this universe. Oh, but I guess she is no reeeal woman, she is just old and ugly hag after all!
Well Sanji obviously tried to protect everyone. When Robin first boarded Merry, Sanji aimed the gun at her because he thought she would harm Vivi. In WCI arc, he stopped Big Mom when she was about to kill Reiju. In Khalifa's case, he was just defending himself while trying to get the key without having to fight her. Not that he didn't care about Robin. He just can't beat women, but he will risk his life to protect everyone.
The video explained it. It's about strength of character and Sanji shouldn't have to sacrifice his beliefs everytime he has to fight a woman. Then they mean nothing. That's why he has friends to cover him like Nami.
On the interpretation of Sanji, I think it hinges on how serious his claim that Invisibility is also his dream. Peeking at women in the bath without their consent is super out of character for his chivalry. I would have loved to forget Absalom all together and consider his character to be in tact but now his new Raid suit brought it back up again.
Spot on with Zoro though. He SERIOUSLY needs to fight a super strong female swordswoman that can push him to his limits. Since, Tashigi can't reasonably fulfill that role, it has to be someone else.
I love your content man! I just wish you could put more content out cause your analysis is some of the best I’ve seen!
i don't agree. i think their rivalry started on little garden when they were competing with who got the biggest catch.
this also parallels dorry and broggy who had a similar competition long ago. and despite forgetting why they battle they still do it.
Luffy who is the main character of the series has no problems with women, no problems fighting, underestimating them or acting condescending towards them.
Zoro's patronizing attitude towards women is treated as a weakness.
Sanji being a simp/white knight is both a virtue and a weakness. Characters point out how dumb it is but can't help but admire it.
Franky's battle with Señor Pink does have a tone of parodying machismo but doesn't really condemn the characters for being that way.
Whitebeard refuses to have any female fighters in his crew, yet no one ever calls him out on that and he's meant to be seen as a cool figure. Pretty much the same with Zeff.
Tsuru is told to stay out of the battle with Whitebeard by a Marine Officer and she gets indignant and that they are not in any position to order her around. Though it may be more due to her age since Hina, Tashigi and a female giant fought.
Also I find the Kuina becoming weaker due to her sex aspect weird considering Haki (Ambition) exist and it determines your strength and Big Mom existing fly in the face of that. Then again it may have been an early series issue or we may not know everything about Kuina and Zoro's master.
That being said, overall, I do think One Piece does seem to promote the patronizing attitudes of Whitebeard/Zeff as respectable and worth emulating especially since they aren't called out. However I don't think it necessarily reflects on Oda, don't know the man and wha he's thinking (or not thinking) when he writes.
Thats not really patronizing though. Because in real life men are generally stronger than women. It's a biological reality. It's weird to see people try and paint that as "discrimination" or "patronizing".
This is a very charitable read, lol. These are the Zoro and Sanji that I like to imagine.
12:30 holy shit I never thought of that lmaoo
Something I noticed only here. Zoros bad direction, tend to have him deliberately avoiding stairs... which is technically what killed his friend....
BRO ARE YOU SAYING ZORO IS SCARED OF STAIRS?
What! Nami murdered ussop? I totally forgot
The Zoro and stairs thing is an eye opener, holy fucking shit.
God I hope Zoro gets to explore this in the manga someday. Everyone else has got some kind of character development. An they're in WANO NOW! THE LAND OF FUCKING SWORDSMEN!!! please Oda give our boy some love
sanji for #1 simp
he is actually kind to everyone not only women, he is harsh with men because he grew up in a harsh environnement with only males... but he is kind and would do everything to save them
So no he's not a simp
@@zeddii7126 i know and its a joke, but even before we learned about his backstory it pissed me off so many times, espcially right at the start in arlong park lmao
Damn Dawg the way you described Sanji.
I really liked this video. I hadn't considered the whole angle with Zoro before.
However I can't say I'm the strongest believer in this interpretation (i would be the type to think the stair thing is a gag and no more) but it almost feels like it could be the case.
As for Sanji, I know many that have had a low opinion of him since the Califa fight. As a fan myself, it's often frustrating to have this seesaw of him being cool but then being disappointing.
What an amazing Analysis!
Sanji is cool. Just turn down the perv lvl and give him his cool fights again
Great video can’t wait for more!
About the staircase thing... Zoro frequently does the same gag but in other situations
That stairs shit blew my mind. But I still think falling down some steps is a weak way to go in a universe where people can be crushed by 10000 kilograms and live
mahmoud999 There was a theory that Kunitz was part of the revolutionary army & that the stairs thing was all a hoax, but that’s disconfirmed now
Okay, at first the stairs thing looked ludicrous to me but then... Shit, I realized that it makes sense. Zoro's lack of sense of direction as always been played for laugh, but it's true that on several instances, he clearly avoided stairs.
This is your best vid man keep it up