One Piece’s anime went on a six-month hiatus in October 2024, around the same time as the 25th anniversary. The studio decided to take the longest break in the series’ history, as it was not only catching up with the manga, but also the animators were going all out with top-tier animation in almost every episode since the Egghead Arc began. One Piece was airing a remastered version of the Fish-Man Island Arc. However, now that the anime has made its highly anticipated return, a majority of fans can’t help but feel disappointed over how Toei treats Sanji. One Piece is releasing two episodes back to back on April 5th and 6th.
One Piece Episode 1123 introduces the new and heartbreaking opening theme song, and fans can’t stop singing its praises. Everything about the episode is just as amazing as anyone would have expected. However, Sanji fans are once again left disappointed with the studio over two extremely controversial scenes. One Piece fans have been complaining about sideling Sanji and exaggerating his gags to pad out the runtime for the episodes. This time as well, fans have the same complaint, wondering whether the six-month wait was worth it or not.
One Piece Episode 1123 Changes a Couple of Sanji Scenes
The scene where the Straw Hats and their allies captured York was extremely popular when it was featured in Chapter 1086. As the above tweet mentions, Toei completely removed Sanji from the scene, leaving an awkward empty space in the middle. While this may not be a serious issue for many, the next scene where he has heart-eyes while looking at Bonney causes widespread outrage. Bonney has the power of the Age-Age Fruit, so she looks like an adult most of the time. Even so, canonically, she is 12 years old, which is why the manga never showed Sanji simping for her or even having his usual heart-eyes while looking at her.
Sanji’s gag has always been a topic of debate among the fandom, with many pointing out how he’s dated and unfunny. While the age reveal happens a lot later in the arc, Oda carefully never added anything inappropriate between the two. However, the non-canon scene clearly deviates from Oda’s initial vision. However, many support the animation studio, claiming Sanji having heart-eyes is well within his character.
Toei has been working on the anime for over 25 years, so fans have their fair share of praises and complaints. Except for the controversy surrounding Sanji, the rest of the episode has little to no room for debate. Additionally, the opening theme focuses on Bonney and Kuma more than the Straw Hats, giving us a glimpse of one of the saddest backstories in the series. The first part of the Egghead Incident Arc in the anime only gave a glimpse but the backstory will finally be fully adapted. The anime is also supposed to release a new ending theme, which will likely be included in Episode 1124 since this one didn’t have it.
H/T: @NuttyReturns
The post One Piece Fans Have One Complaint About Anime’s Return appeared first on ComicBook.com.
