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One Piece 3-in-1 Omnibus #28
One Piece. Omnibus, Vol. 28
Join Monkey D. Luffy and his swashbuckling crew in their search for the ultimate treasure, the One Piece.
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again—a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…
Luffy and the recently reunited Straw Hat Crew find themselves in a cream-filled fight for survival on Whole Cake Island. Their ship’s cook, Sanji, must confront his complicated past in a delicious and treacherous land of sweets, where an arranged marriage awaits him. Can Sanji have his cake and eat it too?
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again—a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…
Luffy and the recently reunited Straw Hat Crew find themselves in a cream-filled fight for survival on Whole Cake Island. Their ship’s cook, Sanji, must confront his complicated past in a delicious and treacherous land of sweets, where an arranged marriage awaits him. Can Sanji have his cake and eat it too?
608 pages, Paperback
Published June 4, 2019
3 people are currently reading
279 people want to read
About the author
Eiichiro Oda
2,004 books4,843 followersEiichiro Oda (尾田栄一郎, Oda Eiichirō) is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of the manga and anime One Piece.
As a child, Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama's works and aspired to become a manga artist. He recalls that his interest in pirates was probably sparked by the popular TV animation series titled Vicky the Viking. He submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's classic wrestling manga Kinnikuman. Pandaman was not only used in a chapter of the manga but would later return as a recurring cameo character in Oda's own works.
Please also see:
尾田荣一郎 (Chinese, simplified)
尾田榮一郎 (Chinese, traditional)
As a child, Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama's works and aspired to become a manga artist. He recalls that his interest in pirates was probably sparked by the popular TV animation series titled Vicky the Viking. He submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's classic wrestling manga Kinnikuman. Pandaman was not only used in a chapter of the manga but would later return as a recurring cameo character in Oda's own works.
Please also see:
尾田荣一郎 (Chinese, simplified)
尾田榮一郎 (Chinese, traditional)
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June 4, 2024
“Caring about men because of what they do for us is not the same as loving males for simply being…In patriarchal culture males are not allowed to be who they are and to glory in their unique identity. Their value is always determined by what they do.”
- Bell hooks, ‘The Will to Change’
I ran across this quote while reading this set of volumes, and it just feels SO appropriate for the self-worth issues that Sanji deals with, and the childhood trauma he is being forced to revisit in this arc. And, of course, it is very much in contrast with how Luffy and the other Straw Hats think of him…but will he be able to accept that they both appreciate his skills and love him for more than what he can do, when the fear of being seen as worthless is so ingrained?
BTW, I've put the things I thinks should REALLY be a surprise in spoiler tags, but this is an analysis. If you want no further details beforehand - go read it yourself and come back!
Sanji’s father – appropriately named JUDGE – is an archetypal patriarch. His home is literally his castle (a castle on the back of a giant sea-going snail) and everything has to be the way he wants it. And what he wants is for his children, especially his sons, to embody his values of cold-hearted strength and domination. Before they were even born . But Sanji could never meet that standard. No matter how much military training he was put through he still lagged behind his siblings, and he has just ALL the emotions, all the time! Probably more damning, in Judge’s eyes, are the things Sanji does like or is good at! While he has his own in-canon reasons for considering these part of the “failure”, real world men like Judge would probably outright call a boy like Sanji too girly. Little Sanji is really only close to his sickly mother, and his passion for cooking began as a way to express his love and care for her. Even after her passing he, Cinderella-like, continues cooking for rats. He cries easily, not just when he’s hurt but when he sees his brothers hurting some other innocent thing. He loves fairytales about mermaids and gallant princes who rescue princesses. And we know that, as an adult, he has a keen sense of fashion and cleanliness - to the point of being considered a bit prissy for a pirate - and is in love with the idea of love. Because of all that, Judge first considers him a useless son who might as well be dead…and then relegates him to the usefulness such a patriarchal monarch might give a daughter: as a bargaining chip to be married off for political gain. Conversely, his sister Reiju – despite being a girl and named after fucking ZERO! (rei =0, like san = 3) – is able to maintain her position as crown princess because she does have those prized physical abilities…so long as she hides her compassionate side (particularly her care for Sanji) when Judge is looking.
In order to protect himself, Sanji has developed two different masks of masculinity for use with “manly men” and women…both of which are a bit off-putting at times. But here, we can see why he doesn’t believe the person he really is to be enough. What’s really sad about this is that, not only can any outsider can see how relentlessly hard-working and talented Sanji is – he’s a 5-star chef who can keep up with Luffy’s appetite AND he can fight as well as Zoro (whose whole thing is being the best swordsman) AND he’s intelligent and organized AND he is good at stealth missions AND… - his crew love him for the emotional and caring baseline personality that can't help but shine through.
A moment I particularly enjoy is when the subset of the Straw Hats who are sailing to get Sanji back encounter Reiju and one of his brothers. Most of the crew see the brother and briefly mistake him for Sanji before realizing he’s a total asshole, “not kind and gentle at all!” (as Carrot puts it). Luffy was passed out after poisoning himself on some fish skin, and after Reiju cures him, he briefly mistakes HER for Sanji! Everyone else is confused by this – Reiju is clearly a woman – but it actually makes a lot of sense. Luffy does not care about outward appearances, including gender presentation (as we saw in his super chill interactions with gender-nonconforming characters and his slow recognition that everyone on Amazon Lily was a woman), but he is very skilled and very quick at judging someone’s heart…and Reiju just demonstrated that she is the most like Sanji in that respect by saving Luffy!
Sanji’s masks do partially obscure his true motivations, even to some of his crewmates (and some readers), however. Like Doflamingo did in the last arc, a lot of people take his simp persona too much at face value. Zoro – who’s not about to admit he’s a little too much in his feelings about the situation – says: “Listen…We know how he is. There’s a pretty good chance that he’s perving out and loving the idea of getting married.” Nami, Brook, and Chopper, who all witnessed how upset Sanji was when he saw the wedding invitation, are all insisting on going to rescue him…but the others seem like maybe they accept Zoro’s reasoning, and stay behind. Unfortunately, it is often assumed that a man would automatically want any hot lady who is into him! For another example, see the fans who are convinced Luffy is going to marry Boa Hancock, presumably because THEY wouldn’t turn down the most beautiful woman in the world…even though it is part of the plot that he isn’t attracted to her. The problem is naturally going to be even more pronounced for Sanji, who is actively trying to present himself as a ladies’ man (and definitely only that!).
In fact, while Sanji does notice that Pudding, his intended bride, is very pretty and even has a shared interest in cooking, he is adamant that he doesn’t want this wedding. In her recounting of their first meeting:
“Pudding: I was stunned at how wonderful he was…But then, at the very end, he said: ‘I want to marry you, but I can’t. I need to get back to my crew.’
Straw Hats: Sanji TURNED DOWN A GIRL?!!
Luffy (teary-eyed): Oh! I see! So he still wants to adventure with us…
Pudding: And that wasn’t a one-sided feeling! Sure enough, you have risked your lives…to come get him!...You’re the ones with true mutual love.”
But as the story progresses, Sanji finds himself more and more backed into a corner. He tries to stand up for his values, which is a briefly triumphant moment…before he and the servant girl he tried to protect get beaten to a pulp. In a particular act of cruelty, not only does Judge specifically targeting Sanji’s hands because he has chosen to reserve them to for creative acts of love, instead of violence. When he realizes that Luffy and Nami have come to rescue him (an effort he sees as putting everyone and everything he cares about at risk, including them) he panics and tries to drive them away. He is as vicious as he can be about it, because he knows how persistent Luffy is when it comes to saving his friends. And he evidently can’t believe that he is worthy of the same level of risk-taking as Robin was, when they declared war against the World Government for her.
It’s only in his desperate loneliness after that when he convinces himself he can love Pudding:
Given that the only people who were nice to Sanji in the youth he’s being forced to relive were his mother and sister, it is perhaps not surprising that Sanji trusts Big Mom’s promise and turns to the (seemingly) sweet and innocent Pudding as a source of support and comfort. However, we as the readers have information about Big Mom that he does not. For instance, Nami is shocked to discover that Big Mom considers Lola - who Nami befriended on Thriller Bark and who spoke well of her (then unnamed) mother as a famous pirate - someone who should die for her disobedience! Therefore, the chance that Pudding didn’t know the level to which Sanji was being threatened is very unlikely…and yet that’s what she’s claiming? Suspicious…
Luckily, Luffy has learned a lot since he ham-fistedly made Usopp’s insecurities worse in Water 7! When we see him shout: I wanted to sob as hard as Sanji was doing inside that carriage! After all, when LUFFY threatens a hunger strike, you know it's serious. He knows there’s something wrong with how Sanji is acting, and he’s not about to sit by and let him sacrifice himself. When Reiju helped Sanji escape 13 years ago, she told him: “Get on THAT SHIP right there, Sanji!...Understand? Don’t ever come back here! The sea’s a huge place. Someday, you’ll find people who are good to you!!” That’s EXACTLY what Saul told Robin when she was fleeing Ohara…and, fortunately, they were both right!
The aesthetics of this arc are really interesting. Big Mom’s domain looks like some kind of creepy Disney cartoon. This suits her form of seemingly-sweet matriarchy with a hidden darkness (she has 85 kids from 43 husbands, but only values them as extensions of herself). With all the food theming and fairytale vibes – things you’d expect Sanji to like - it’s striking how clearly miserable he is: telling the dancing food items to shut up, and not able to flaunt his princely cloak because he’s curling in on himself the whole time.
And then, of course, there’s Germa 66 and…well, the family dining room really speaks for itself, what with the giant eagle, the banners, and the skulls with lightning bolts! While Nazi-theming your villains can be lazy, in this case I think it suits Judge’s attempt to breed his own superior master race, and his attitudes toward any form of weakness or deviation.
“Niji: You’re an embarrament to the Vinsmoke name.
Sanji: I’m embarrassed just to be associated with it. An idiot who can’t respect the sanctity of food! A man who raises his hand against a woman! Royalty who treat their servants like inhuman objects! Everything you stand for runs counter to my ideals!!
Ichi: That is the ideology of the weak huddled masses, Sanji…Royalty operates by its own set of rules.”
Reiju asks where Sanji got his strong sense of chivalry from…and we get a very illuminating flashback. We’d just seen how Sanji was disowned by his birth father – something that upset him deeply, even though he’d already decided to run away, some part of him clearly hoping that his dad still loved him. Then we see a flashback of Zeff saying he doesn’t hire women cooks because he couldn’t kick them if they messed up. When Sanji questions this, Zeff is A) vehement about how a real man should never hurt a woman and B) says that if a kid he raised became “the type of person I despise” he would be a failure as a parent…and the stunned look on little Sanji’s face suggests that he just realized that Zeff considered himself his father! Of course he wouldn’t want to let Zeff down after THAT, so he latches onto this “style from the age of the dinosaurs” – as Sanji himself calls it – WAY harder than Zeff probably intended, to the point that he can’t fight a woman even if she is actively trying to kill him!
This is a really interesting choice, I think. Oda has written a shift in attitudes into the ‘One Piece’ world: The oldest generation of pirates like Zeff and Whitebeard have more traditional ideas about masculinity and typically didn’t have women on their crews, whereas as you look toward the middle and younger generations you see more female captains (including Alvida and Bonney) and more mixed crews (like the Straw Hats) - as well as gender-queer captains/leaders like Bon Clay and Iva. Zeff has brought along with him to his restaurant both that more sexist attitude and his notions of how to discipline a rowdy “crew”. While it is clear that he loves his “little eggplant”, and he did a lot of good by giving him a home, supporting his love of cooking, and teaching him how to defend himself and others…he wasn’t really prepared to parent a traumatized child and inadvertently compounded Sanji’s gender-related issues!
I kind of wish Robin had come along on this rescue mission! It would have made a lovely symmetry with Water 7/Ennies Lobby. However, it’s possible that her presence would have made things a little TOO easy! For one thing, she’s a badass former-assassin probably-current-revolutionary who can sprout extra limbs everywhere…which would have been super useful at several points. For another, if she could have gotten to Sanji, she would be in the best position of anyone to talk him into accepting help – which, while psychologically healthy, would make the story less tense! Also, Robin is the only one who knows how to read poneglyphs, and it is revealed here that the one in Zou and one in Big Mom’s possession are two of the four parts needed to make a map of the likely location of the One Piece. Cat Viper worries for her safety based on this, and we can see that she has come to trust in the protection of her friends (including Nami, who bursts into flames – very Sanji-like! – while declaring that she’ll rob AND murder anyone who touches Robin). So it may be that they decided Robin was too valuable to risk on this mission, which is why she instructs Brook to bring her a rubbing of the poneglyph instead of going herself.
Princess Vivi is back in the story, yay! But she and her dad are sailing to Marijoa (or Mary Geoise?), with questions for the World Government. Which seems…probably not safe?
Finally, I don’t know where to put this, but…gaaah! Isn’t this traditional Japanese-style chapter cover great?! A lovely little teaser for the team’s upcoming trip to Wano (which is modeled on feudal Japan).
Gear 4 Luffy with (left to right) Brook, Sanji (who actually will wear a striped kimono in Wano!), Carrot, Nami, Chopper (looking especially tanuki-like), Momonosuke, and Pedro.
- Bell hooks, ‘The Will to Change’
I ran across this quote while reading this set of volumes, and it just feels SO appropriate for the self-worth issues that Sanji deals with, and the childhood trauma he is being forced to revisit in this arc. And, of course, it is very much in contrast with how Luffy and the other Straw Hats think of him…but will he be able to accept that they both appreciate his skills and love him for more than what he can do, when the fear of being seen as worthless is so ingrained?
BTW, I've put the things I thinks should REALLY be a surprise in spoiler tags, but this is an analysis. If you want no further details beforehand - go read it yourself and come back!
Sanji’s father – appropriately named JUDGE – is an archetypal patriarch. His home is literally his castle (a castle on the back of a giant sea-going snail) and everything has to be the way he wants it. And what he wants is for his children, especially his sons, to embody his values of cold-hearted strength and domination. Before they were even born . But Sanji could never meet that standard. No matter how much military training he was put through he still lagged behind his siblings, and he has just ALL the emotions, all the time! Probably more damning, in Judge’s eyes, are the things Sanji does like or is good at! While he has his own in-canon reasons for considering these part of the “failure”, real world men like Judge would probably outright call a boy like Sanji too girly. Little Sanji is really only close to his sickly mother, and his passion for cooking began as a way to express his love and care for her. Even after her passing he, Cinderella-like, continues cooking for rats. He cries easily, not just when he’s hurt but when he sees his brothers hurting some other innocent thing. He loves fairytales about mermaids and gallant princes who rescue princesses. And we know that, as an adult, he has a keen sense of fashion and cleanliness - to the point of being considered a bit prissy for a pirate - and is in love with the idea of love. Because of all that, Judge first considers him a useless son who might as well be dead…and then relegates him to the usefulness such a patriarchal monarch might give a daughter: as a bargaining chip to be married off for political gain. Conversely, his sister Reiju – despite being a girl and named after fucking ZERO! (rei =0, like san = 3) – is able to maintain her position as crown princess because she does have those prized physical abilities…so long as she hides her compassionate side (particularly her care for Sanji) when Judge is looking.
In order to protect himself, Sanji has developed two different masks of masculinity for use with “manly men” and women…both of which are a bit off-putting at times. But here, we can see why he doesn’t believe the person he really is to be enough. What’s really sad about this is that, not only can any outsider can see how relentlessly hard-working and talented Sanji is – he’s a 5-star chef who can keep up with Luffy’s appetite AND he can fight as well as Zoro (whose whole thing is being the best swordsman) AND he’s intelligent and organized AND he is good at stealth missions AND… - his crew love him for the emotional and caring baseline personality that can't help but shine through.
A moment I particularly enjoy is when the subset of the Straw Hats who are sailing to get Sanji back encounter Reiju and one of his brothers. Most of the crew see the brother and briefly mistake him for Sanji before realizing he’s a total asshole, “not kind and gentle at all!” (as Carrot puts it). Luffy was passed out after poisoning himself on some fish skin, and after Reiju cures him, he briefly mistakes HER for Sanji! Everyone else is confused by this – Reiju is clearly a woman – but it actually makes a lot of sense. Luffy does not care about outward appearances, including gender presentation (as we saw in his super chill interactions with gender-nonconforming characters and his slow recognition that everyone on Amazon Lily was a woman), but he is very skilled and very quick at judging someone’s heart…and Reiju just demonstrated that she is the most like Sanji in that respect by saving Luffy!
Sanji’s masks do partially obscure his true motivations, even to some of his crewmates (and some readers), however. Like Doflamingo did in the last arc, a lot of people take his simp persona too much at face value. Zoro – who’s not about to admit he’s a little too much in his feelings about the situation – says: “Listen…We know how he is. There’s a pretty good chance that he’s perving out and loving the idea of getting married.” Nami, Brook, and Chopper, who all witnessed how upset Sanji was when he saw the wedding invitation, are all insisting on going to rescue him…but the others seem like maybe they accept Zoro’s reasoning, and stay behind. Unfortunately, it is often assumed that a man would automatically want any hot lady who is into him! For another example, see the fans who are convinced Luffy is going to marry Boa Hancock, presumably because THEY wouldn’t turn down the most beautiful woman in the world…even though it is part of the plot that he isn’t attracted to her. The problem is naturally going to be even more pronounced for Sanji, who is actively trying to present himself as a ladies’ man (and definitely only that!).
In fact, while Sanji does notice that Pudding, his intended bride, is very pretty and even has a shared interest in cooking, he is adamant that he doesn’t want this wedding. In her recounting of their first meeting:
“Pudding: I was stunned at how wonderful he was…But then, at the very end, he said: ‘I want to marry you, but I can’t. I need to get back to my crew.’
Straw Hats: Sanji TURNED DOWN A GIRL?!!
Luffy (teary-eyed): Oh! I see! So he still wants to adventure with us…
Pudding: And that wasn’t a one-sided feeling! Sure enough, you have risked your lives…to come get him!...You’re the ones with true mutual love.”
But as the story progresses, Sanji finds himself more and more backed into a corner. He tries to stand up for his values, which is a briefly triumphant moment…before he and the servant girl he tried to protect get beaten to a pulp. In a particular act of cruelty, not only does Judge specifically targeting Sanji’s hands because he has chosen to reserve them to for creative acts of love, instead of violence. When he realizes that Luffy and Nami have come to rescue him (an effort he sees as putting everyone and everything he cares about at risk, including them) he panics and tries to drive them away. He is as vicious as he can be about it, because he knows how persistent Luffy is when it comes to saving his friends. And he evidently can’t believe that he is worthy of the same level of risk-taking as Robin was, when they declared war against the World Government for her.
It’s only in his desperate loneliness after that when he convinces himself he can love Pudding:
Given that the only people who were nice to Sanji in the youth he’s being forced to relive were his mother and sister, it is perhaps not surprising that Sanji trusts Big Mom’s promise and turns to the (seemingly) sweet and innocent Pudding as a source of support and comfort. However, we as the readers have information about Big Mom that he does not. For instance, Nami is shocked to discover that Big Mom considers Lola - who Nami befriended on Thriller Bark and who spoke well of her (then unnamed) mother as a famous pirate - someone who should die for her disobedience! Therefore, the chance that Pudding didn’t know the level to which Sanji was being threatened is very unlikely…and yet that’s what she’s claiming? Suspicious…
Luckily, Luffy has learned a lot since he ham-fistedly made Usopp’s insecurities worse in Water 7! When we see him shout: I wanted to sob as hard as Sanji was doing inside that carriage! After all, when LUFFY threatens a hunger strike, you know it's serious. He knows there’s something wrong with how Sanji is acting, and he’s not about to sit by and let him sacrifice himself. When Reiju helped Sanji escape 13 years ago, she told him: “Get on THAT SHIP right there, Sanji!...Understand? Don’t ever come back here! The sea’s a huge place. Someday, you’ll find people who are good to you!!” That’s EXACTLY what Saul told Robin when she was fleeing Ohara…and, fortunately, they were both right!
The aesthetics of this arc are really interesting. Big Mom’s domain looks like some kind of creepy Disney cartoon. This suits her form of seemingly-sweet matriarchy with a hidden darkness (she has 85 kids from 43 husbands, but only values them as extensions of herself). With all the food theming and fairytale vibes – things you’d expect Sanji to like - it’s striking how clearly miserable he is: telling the dancing food items to shut up, and not able to flaunt his princely cloak because he’s curling in on himself the whole time.
And then, of course, there’s Germa 66 and…well, the family dining room really speaks for itself, what with the giant eagle, the banners, and the skulls with lightning bolts! While Nazi-theming your villains can be lazy, in this case I think it suits Judge’s attempt to breed his own superior master race, and his attitudes toward any form of weakness or deviation.
“Niji: You’re an embarrament to the Vinsmoke name.
Sanji: I’m embarrassed just to be associated with it. An idiot who can’t respect the sanctity of food! A man who raises his hand against a woman! Royalty who treat their servants like inhuman objects! Everything you stand for runs counter to my ideals!!
Ichi: That is the ideology of the weak huddled masses, Sanji…Royalty operates by its own set of rules.”
Reiju asks where Sanji got his strong sense of chivalry from…and we get a very illuminating flashback. We’d just seen how Sanji was disowned by his birth father – something that upset him deeply, even though he’d already decided to run away, some part of him clearly hoping that his dad still loved him. Then we see a flashback of Zeff saying he doesn’t hire women cooks because he couldn’t kick them if they messed up. When Sanji questions this, Zeff is A) vehement about how a real man should never hurt a woman and B) says that if a kid he raised became “the type of person I despise” he would be a failure as a parent…and the stunned look on little Sanji’s face suggests that he just realized that Zeff considered himself his father! Of course he wouldn’t want to let Zeff down after THAT, so he latches onto this “style from the age of the dinosaurs” – as Sanji himself calls it – WAY harder than Zeff probably intended, to the point that he can’t fight a woman even if she is actively trying to kill him!
This is a really interesting choice, I think. Oda has written a shift in attitudes into the ‘One Piece’ world: The oldest generation of pirates like Zeff and Whitebeard have more traditional ideas about masculinity and typically didn’t have women on their crews, whereas as you look toward the middle and younger generations you see more female captains (including Alvida and Bonney) and more mixed crews (like the Straw Hats) - as well as gender-queer captains/leaders like Bon Clay and Iva. Zeff has brought along with him to his restaurant both that more sexist attitude and his notions of how to discipline a rowdy “crew”. While it is clear that he loves his “little eggplant”, and he did a lot of good by giving him a home, supporting his love of cooking, and teaching him how to defend himself and others…he wasn’t really prepared to parent a traumatized child and inadvertently compounded Sanji’s gender-related issues!
I kind of wish Robin had come along on this rescue mission! It would have made a lovely symmetry with Water 7/Ennies Lobby. However, it’s possible that her presence would have made things a little TOO easy! For one thing, she’s a badass former-assassin probably-current-revolutionary who can sprout extra limbs everywhere…which would have been super useful at several points. For another, if she could have gotten to Sanji, she would be in the best position of anyone to talk him into accepting help – which, while psychologically healthy, would make the story less tense! Also, Robin is the only one who knows how to read poneglyphs, and it is revealed here that the one in Zou and one in Big Mom’s possession are two of the four parts needed to make a map of the likely location of the One Piece. Cat Viper worries for her safety based on this, and we can see that she has come to trust in the protection of her friends (including Nami, who bursts into flames – very Sanji-like! – while declaring that she’ll rob AND murder anyone who touches Robin). So it may be that they decided Robin was too valuable to risk on this mission, which is why she instructs Brook to bring her a rubbing of the poneglyph instead of going herself.
Princess Vivi is back in the story, yay! But she and her dad are sailing to Marijoa (or Mary Geoise?), with questions for the World Government. Which seems…probably not safe?
Finally, I don’t know where to put this, but…gaaah! Isn’t this traditional Japanese-style chapter cover great?! A lovely little teaser for the team’s upcoming trip to Wano (which is modeled on feudal Japan).
Gear 4 Luffy with (left to right) Brook, Sanji (who actually will wear a striped kimono in Wano!), Carrot, Nami, Chopper (looking especially tanuki-like), Momonosuke, and Pedro.
November 25, 2022
Whole Cake Island is probably one of my favourite arcs in a while, its so fun, the story is so different to the usual stuff but in an amazing way, can't wait to read on immediately!
Read
April 22, 2024Amazing book, it is a very long adventure to find the one piece but it will all be worth it when it ends and sad when it ends but this book is top tier.
May 18, 2023
Okay this was a ride. I cannot even fully comprehend what is going on right now because I'm just speedreading through this arc as I want to see what happens next. I also have a lot of thoughts on these volumes so bear with me in the spoiler part of the review.
There are so many good character moments here that I can't even count and Whole Cake island is amazing from the worldbuilding point of view. Also Big Mom is an interesting villain, not gonna lie.
Overall, I'm hooked again after that little Zou adventure that wasn't exactly one of my favorite things in the world. 5 stars it is.
The following part will be full of SPOILERS so beware before reading!
Okay... let's my favorite character because he deserves it. And yes, Vinsmoke Sanji is my favorite character even if he is a bit pervy sometimes. He is the star of this arc and I'm here for it. So first I just want to say that I appreciate his awareness that he is the only one in the crew capable of cooking. Also I loved the part where the crew learns that Sanji turned down a girl and their souls just leave their bodies. And then we get to the part where my man's family shows and... well, we'll talk about those guys in a minute but let's focus on Sanji's role here first. I need to talk about that scene where the blue brother disrespects food so Sanji tells him to fuck off only for that idiot to throw his plate into the female cook and for Sanji to step in between because his brother just disrespected two things that he loves the most: food and women. And then he eats the food off the floor and compliments it while doing so (I love him so much). We also get the second Sanji backstory and I'm so sad now because everyone calls my boy a failure and they beat him up the entire and they don't let him cook (what assholes). And then we get this jam of a scene: Sanji calling Luffy an inferior pirate (I laughed so hard and I don't know why) and then it gets sad because Sanji beats up Luffy and then cries because Luffy is like "you're the one feeling pain and I'll stay here and starve until you return".
Uff, that was a long rant. Now let me talk about Sanji's family. And speaking of that...
GO GO POWER RANGERS (the power rangers theme song playing in the background while I write this part)!!!!
I don't like the green power ranger because he is creepy and heartless (Reiju's words not mine), the red power ranger is meh because he didn't do anything yet and the blue power ranger is a menace and thus he is the best villain out of all of them even if he is also just a spoiled brat. And then we have Reiju who seems the best out of all of them on paper, right? Well, not in my opinion (don't come at me I have my reasons). I just think she's a bit shady to be honest. Like, she is all like "oh yeah Sanji, I'll help you escape" but then she laughs at him along with the others because "otherwise they will bully her too". Shut up girl. There are a million other, more mature ways in which you could react but you chose one of the most harmful ones. Also I will not forget that she was the one who put those chains on Sanji's precious hands. It's an unforgivable crime and I will not stand it. There is also the Judge dude and he's just plain evil and a terrible father and I think we can all agree that he does not deserve to be called Sanji's father because that title clearly belongs to Zeff.
Okay, there won't be so much ranting in the future from here on. I promise.
I want to give a moment of appreciation for Nami because she's amazing here. She is currently the responsible one in the group and respect to her. We also have to talk about that slap she gives Sanji because... chef's kiss. I love it so much. She's a girlboss and let no one tell you differently.
And let me also mention Pudding because I don't trust her at all. There's something shady about how she's acting all innocent and that, being Big Mom's daughter and all. I think she will do something awful in the future.
There are some other moments that I need to mention though:
a) Momo is apparently a lord and I'm here for it
b) Zoro is comparing himself to Sanji which is hilarious
c) Kidd got beat up by drunk Kaido and now I'm mad because I like that guy for some reason
d) Vivi says she doesn't want to get married and that makes her an absolute icon
e) we're back to Chopper being the emergency food supply
Thank you for reading this. I'll be back with the next three volumes shortly.
There are so many good character moments here that I can't even count and Whole Cake island is amazing from the worldbuilding point of view. Also Big Mom is an interesting villain, not gonna lie.
Overall, I'm hooked again after that little Zou adventure that wasn't exactly one of my favorite things in the world. 5 stars it is.
The following part will be full of SPOILERS so beware before reading!
Okay... let's my favorite character because he deserves it. And yes, Vinsmoke Sanji is my favorite character even if he is a bit pervy sometimes. He is the star of this arc and I'm here for it. So first I just want to say that I appreciate his awareness that he is the only one in the crew capable of cooking. Also I loved the part where the crew learns that Sanji turned down a girl and their souls just leave their bodies. And then we get to the part where my man's family shows and... well, we'll talk about those guys in a minute but let's focus on Sanji's role here first. I need to talk about that scene where the blue brother disrespects food so Sanji tells him to fuck off only for that idiot to throw his plate into the female cook and for Sanji to step in between because his brother just disrespected two things that he loves the most: food and women. And then he eats the food off the floor and compliments it while doing so (I love him so much). We also get the second Sanji backstory and I'm so sad now because everyone calls my boy a failure and they beat him up the entire and they don't let him cook (what assholes). And then we get this jam of a scene: Sanji calling Luffy an inferior pirate (I laughed so hard and I don't know why) and then it gets sad because Sanji beats up Luffy and then cries because Luffy is like "you're the one feeling pain and I'll stay here and starve until you return".
Uff, that was a long rant. Now let me talk about Sanji's family. And speaking of that...
GO GO POWER RANGERS (the power rangers theme song playing in the background while I write this part)!!!!
I don't like the green power ranger because he is creepy and heartless (Reiju's words not mine), the red power ranger is meh because he didn't do anything yet and the blue power ranger is a menace and thus he is the best villain out of all of them even if he is also just a spoiled brat. And then we have Reiju who seems the best out of all of them on paper, right? Well, not in my opinion (don't come at me I have my reasons). I just think she's a bit shady to be honest. Like, she is all like "oh yeah Sanji, I'll help you escape" but then she laughs at him along with the others because "otherwise they will bully her too". Shut up girl. There are a million other, more mature ways in which you could react but you chose one of the most harmful ones. Also I will not forget that she was the one who put those chains on Sanji's precious hands. It's an unforgivable crime and I will not stand it. There is also the Judge dude and he's just plain evil and a terrible father and I think we can all agree that he does not deserve to be called Sanji's father because that title clearly belongs to Zeff.
Okay, there won't be so much ranting in the future from here on. I promise.
I want to give a moment of appreciation for Nami because she's amazing here. She is currently the responsible one in the group and respect to her. We also have to talk about that slap she gives Sanji because... chef's kiss. I love it so much. She's a girlboss and let no one tell you differently.
And let me also mention Pudding because I don't trust her at all. There's something shady about how she's acting all innocent and that, being Big Mom's daughter and all. I think she will do something awful in the future.
There are some other moments that I need to mention though:
a) Momo is apparently a lord and I'm here for it
b) Zoro is comparing himself to Sanji which is hilarious
c) Kidd got beat up by drunk Kaido and now I'm mad because I like that guy for some reason
d) Vivi says she doesn't want to get married and that makes her an absolute icon
e) we're back to Chopper being the emergency food supply
Thank you for reading this. I'll be back with the next three volumes shortly.
December 23, 2021
- Zou : 5+ stars
Reviewing the whole of Zou here because I didn't want to break down the review into two.
At first, I was not really feeling the whole Zou arc. The toned down colour palette (which I don't particularly like), the animal furry protagonists, a whole story that happened off page and is recounted to us when we already know the outcome... I wasn't really sold on this arc... UNTIL THE MOTHER OF ALL PLOT TWISTS!
A truthfully incredible surprise that hit hard in the feelings and did wonders for the characterization of the Minks. A true genius move from the writer to be honest.
And the best thing? Everything just gets better and better after the twist! The red poneglyph, Raftel, Oden who sailed with Roger, the set up for the wars with Big Mom and Kaido, the strange voice heard by Luffy and Momo, the Reverie, Raizo the awesome ninja... We are tackled with an onslaught of information that finally, finally really gets the plot shaken up. You can feel the story's engine roaring, the gears shifting... If I loved the first part of Dressrossa for being pure fun, the second part of Zou was undistilled epicness!
I seemingly say this very often with One Piece but it felt like promises of monumental adventures and epicness to come.
Also noteworthy is how funny Zou was. With constant battles, we don't really get the opportunity for the trademark humour that made the start of the series so enjoyable. Here, we dive back into it with numerous hilarious laugh out loud moments.
All around one of my favourite arcs!
- Whole Cake Island first 2 volumes : 4 stars
If I mentioned being a bit disappointed in the more drabby tone of Zou, I was served with colours with Whole Cake Island.
We go back into Oda's signature campiness in ideas, characters, setting. It's maybe a tad too much even. But as usual, there's some really original and interesting ideas there. Oda also makes a great job at keeping us hooked, keeping a sense of mystery as to BM's powers, how the situation will be resolved etc.
It's a fine arc for now but since we're in Big Mom's territory, there is a lot of battles and, as usual, that takes away from the plot. The plot that there is, however, is quite engaging. You can't help but wonder how everything will turn out and Sanji's backstory is quite touching. His battle with Luffy, his childhood and his dilemma... I'm glad he is getting some development since I really didn't care much for him before. He's really growing on me now!
I miss Zoro, Robin and Law though.
LFW me Yonji, Niji and Ichiji \(>x<)/
Reviewing the whole of Zou here because I didn't want to break down the review into two.
At first, I was not really feeling the whole Zou arc. The toned down colour palette (which I don't particularly like), the animal furry protagonists, a whole story that happened off page and is recounted to us when we already know the outcome... I wasn't really sold on this arc... UNTIL THE MOTHER OF ALL PLOT TWISTS!
A truthfully incredible surprise that hit hard in the feelings and did wonders for the characterization of the Minks. A true genius move from the writer to be honest.
And the best thing? Everything just gets better and better after the twist! The red poneglyph, Raftel, Oden who sailed with Roger, the set up for the wars with Big Mom and Kaido, the strange voice heard by Luffy and Momo, the Reverie, Raizo the awesome ninja... We are tackled with an onslaught of information that finally, finally really gets the plot shaken up. You can feel the story's engine roaring, the gears shifting... If I loved the first part of Dressrossa for being pure fun, the second part of Zou was undistilled epicness!
I seemingly say this very often with One Piece but it felt like promises of monumental adventures and epicness to come.
Also noteworthy is how funny Zou was. With constant battles, we don't really get the opportunity for the trademark humour that made the start of the series so enjoyable. Here, we dive back into it with numerous hilarious laugh out loud moments.
All around one of my favourite arcs!
- Whole Cake Island first 2 volumes : 4 stars
If I mentioned being a bit disappointed in the more drabby tone of Zou, I was served with colours with Whole Cake Island.
We go back into Oda's signature campiness in ideas, characters, setting. It's maybe a tad too much even. But as usual, there's some really original and interesting ideas there. Oda also makes a great job at keeping us hooked, keeping a sense of mystery as to BM's powers, how the situation will be resolved etc.
It's a fine arc for now but since we're in Big Mom's territory, there is a lot of battles and, as usual, that takes away from the plot. The plot that there is, however, is quite engaging. You can't help but wonder how everything will turn out and Sanji's backstory is quite touching. His battle with Luffy, his childhood and his dilemma... I'm glad he is getting some development since I really didn't care much for him before. He's really growing on me now!
I miss Zoro, Robin and Law though.
LFW me Yonji, Niji and Ichiji \(>x<)/
January 24, 2026
A lot to unpack as per usual
[Spoiler]
1. Zou
It's more of a prep world building to Wano but def build up the hype... highlight was Zunesha waiting for the order to fight back that was cool.
2. Ahh the ultimate pain of Whole Cake Island
Even though I've read before it still hurts the same. My poor sweet self sacrificial boi. Will def need to consolidate my thoughts on Whole Cake Island as a whole but for now man Sanji.
Many ask me how come I prefer Sanji over Zoro and my answer is Kindness. Sanji exudes kindness as a part of himself, an extension to himself and not expecting anything in return. Despite his cruel upbringing and even his dad pressurising him to be cruel, not once did he sacrifice his moralities for validation.
He exudes kindness on every being and holds onto his moralities with such grip. Sanji is truly a character that illustrates kindness is a choice even with the trauma you possess. He showed that even with trauma and a cruel past, one can still be kind.
Can we also talk how self sacrificial he is... explains a lot abt Thriller Bark where he selflessly stepped in to sacrifice himself to keep Zoro alive. Sanji is the epitome of selfless kindness and I DO NOT APPRECIATE TOEI BUTCHERING THE ESSENCE OF HIS CHARACTER!!!!
[Spoiler]
1. Zou
It's more of a prep world building to Wano but def build up the hype... highlight was Zunesha waiting for the order to fight back that was cool.
2. Ahh the ultimate pain of Whole Cake Island
Even though I've read before it still hurts the same. My poor sweet self sacrificial boi. Will def need to consolidate my thoughts on Whole Cake Island as a whole but for now man Sanji.
Many ask me how come I prefer Sanji over Zoro and my answer is Kindness. Sanji exudes kindness as a part of himself, an extension to himself and not expecting anything in return. Despite his cruel upbringing and even his dad pressurising him to be cruel, not once did he sacrifice his moralities for validation.
He exudes kindness on every being and holds onto his moralities with such grip. Sanji is truly a character that illustrates kindness is a choice even with the trauma you possess. He showed that even with trauma and a cruel past, one can still be kind.
Can we also talk how self sacrificial he is... explains a lot abt Thriller Bark where he selflessly stepped in to sacrifice himself to keep Zoro alive. Sanji is the epitome of selfless kindness and I DO NOT APPRECIATE TOEI BUTCHERING THE ESSENCE OF HIS CHARACTER!!!!
March 4, 2023
Series: One Piece #82-84
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
This volume ends the Zou arc and starts the Whole Cake Island story arc with Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Brook, Pedro, and Carrot headed to Big Mom’s territory to rescue Sanji from his arranged marriage. Before leaving for Whole Cake Island, the gang learn the true identity of Momonoske and make an alliance with the Minks and Samurai to bring down Kaido. While very brief of a story arc, I enjoyed Zou and the Minks a lot. I can’t wait to see them battle in the future against Kaido’s Animal Pirates.
The Whole Cake Island arc starts off action packed and doesn’t stop. We meet the Vinsmoke family and learn about Sanji’s childhood and why he escaped them, Luffy defeated Sweet 3 General Cracker, Chopper and Carrot are trapped in the mirror realm by Brule, Luffy and Nami meet Sanji’s bride Pudding, and Brook and Pedro are searching for the Road Poneglyph. The saddest part of this collection was Sanji and Luffy’s battle. It was heartbreaking for Sanji. I can’t wait to see how Luffy will rescue Sanji before his wedding in the next volume.
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
This volume ends the Zou arc and starts the Whole Cake Island story arc with Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Brook, Pedro, and Carrot headed to Big Mom’s territory to rescue Sanji from his arranged marriage. Before leaving for Whole Cake Island, the gang learn the true identity of Momonoske and make an alliance with the Minks and Samurai to bring down Kaido. While very brief of a story arc, I enjoyed Zou and the Minks a lot. I can’t wait to see them battle in the future against Kaido’s Animal Pirates.
The Whole Cake Island arc starts off action packed and doesn’t stop. We meet the Vinsmoke family and learn about Sanji’s childhood and why he escaped them, Luffy defeated Sweet 3 General Cracker, Chopper and Carrot are trapped in the mirror realm by Brule, Luffy and Nami meet Sanji’s bride Pudding, and Brook and Pedro are searching for the Road Poneglyph. The saddest part of this collection was Sanji and Luffy’s battle. It was heartbreaking for Sanji. I can’t wait to see how Luffy will rescue Sanji before his wedding in the next volume.
January 10, 2025
Interesting volume. A lot is happening, and, like Dressrosa, this does have the whole multiple split threads thing, but at least here, right now, it's done in a way that isn't as overwhelming or annoying.
Good setup, hopefully it does keep the good pacing.
Good setup, hopefully it does keep the good pacing.
October 10, 2020
Ninja Mink Pirate Samurai Alliance takes form and Sanji Rescue mission is on!!
January 25, 2022
I shouldn't like Big Mom as much as I do.
May 20, 2023
I am undone. What a manga.
August 19, 2023
I’m trying so hard to not just plow through everything.
February 19, 2024
No voy a mentir, me está flipando q x fin se digan y se expliquen cosas pero el mundo de Big Mom está siendo demasiado mal rollista
March 20, 2024
actual rating: 4.5 stars
March 24, 2024
Really enjoying this new arc!!
June 2, 2024
Finally, an arc for the Sanji fans
February 3, 2025
peak
August 30, 2025
Me encanta la nueva localización y lo lleno que está de referencias a cuentos infantiles. Y la backstory de Sanji, que monada de niño.
September 15, 2025
Volume 84 broke my heart. I thought watching the anime hurt.
November 12, 2025
I'm really enjoying whole cake arc so far. the "moment" between sanji and luffy was eiichiro oda in peak form. really good plotting and character work once again.
December 30, 2025
10/07/21:
Notes: Tremendous omnibus—super dense, tons of great big-picture plot development (some truly awesome “LORE” in this one), great balance of action and comedy and emotion (Sanji and Luffy’s fight is quite touching), an insane number of bizarre and creative designs/powers, and not one but two different (and very fun) “new island exploration” segments. Also, Luffy’s face when he finds out they can just make an etching of the poneglyph and don’t have to steal the whole thing…man. Number One Piece.
September 8, 2024
Not my favorite storyline so far. I liked how Oda made the connection for Big Mom with Sanji. That is probably my favorite thing about the volume and current storyline; how much screen time Sanji and Nami specifically are getting. It has been a while since some of the older crew mates get to have some development connected to their past and dreams. I’m not a fan of Big Mom’s pirates, the Alice in wonderland aesthetics, the designs, or any of that unfortunately. I do like the Germa 66 characters and the extended look into Sanji’s past. Overall, can’t wait to see the dramatic resolution and hopefully move on from this storyline.
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