Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece episodes #1127-#1128.Most One Piece fans are in agreement that the anime has a big problem with how it handles Sanji. Between constantly exaggerating his comedic traits and how often his fights don’t seem to receive great treatment from the animators, especially compared to Zoro’s fights, Sanji always seems to get the short end of the stick, all of which is disappointing for the genuine fans of his character.

The way the One Piece anime handles Sanji has always been a hot topic, and the most recent episodes of the Egghead arc have made things even worse. Not only has the anime downplayed Sanji’s competence and overall importance in several glaringly obvious ways, but they also changed how he acted with Bonney in a way that goes completely against how he was written in the manga. Fortunately, the One Piece anime seems to be walking back its recent poor handling of Sanji, but whether it’s too late for that is another story entirely.

How The One Piece Anime Made Sanji Look Worse Than Ever Before

Why One Piece Has Been Sparking Controversy With Sanji

One of the most unique aspects of Sanji and Bonney’s relationship in the manga is that, despite Bonney aging herself up into a beautiful adult woman, Sanji never acts lovey-dovey with Bonney like he does with almost every other woman in the series. Whether Sanji understood that Bonney was a child when the Straw Hats rescued her from the Warm Eddy or if he was doing it subconsciously is unclear, but Sanji’s dynamic with Bonney proved that he’s still capable of being a normal person around women, a great change of pace after years of that gimmick becoming so exaggerated.

All of that, of course, was ruined in the anime. One Piece episode #1123 featured a brief interaction between Sanji and Bonney, and in complete contrast with the manga, Sanji had hearts in his eyes while talking to Bonney, just like he does with most women in the series. Not only does that ruin the uniqueness of their dynamic, but Sanji acting lovey-dovey with Bonney accidentally makes him look like a creep for getting that way around a literal child, and it’s been a major point of derision among fans ever since.

One Piece’s Anime Is Finally Fixing Its Biggest Sanji Mistake

How The One Piece Anime Finally Does Right By Sanji

The way the One Piece anime changed Sanji and Bonney’s dynamic for the worse was terrible to see, but fortunately, the anime has already rectified it. In One Piece episode #1127, after Vegapunk said that he couldn’t leave a child like Bonney alone, Sanji, who originally said nothing in the manga, reacted with surprise over hearing Vegapunk call Bonney a child. Based on that, the One Piece anime seems to be fixing the change in Sanji and Bonney’s dynamic by saying that Sanji didn’t know Bonney was a child, which, all things considered, isn’t the worst way to do that.

That level of course correction can already be seen in episode #1128. Episode #1128 saw Sanji rescue Bonney from some of the Marines, and just like in the manga, Sanji didn’t act lovey-dovey around Bonney, instead treating her more like a sister than anything. Considering how long anime productions take, it’s unlikely that this was done in response to the criticism, but at the very least, Sanji’s interactions with Bonney in One Piece episode #1123 appear to have been little more than an outlier, and the rest of the arc will hopefully follow through on that.

One Piece’s Sanji Problem Might Be Too Big To Fix At This Point

Is It Too Late To Fix One Piece's Sanji Problem?

As great as it is for the anime to fix such a major Sanji issue, it, unfortunately, might not matter. Not only does Sanji still look bad for flirting with a child, but it’s still symptomatic of the larger issue of the anime always making Sanji look worse than need be, so One Piece will never truly do right by Sanji until it starts consistently giving him the same level of treatment Luffy and Zoro get. How likely that is to happen is unknown, but with everything that’s just happened in One Piece, it hopefully won’t take too long.

One Piece releases new episodes Sundays on Crunchyroll.