Sanji is one of most beloved characters of One Piece, but fans feel that his perverted behavior often makes the series worse.
This trope isn't new to battle shounen, but it's bad most of the time anyway.
Sanji wasn't always like that, and he needs more screentime where he is actually doing something (other than being perverted).
Sanji is one of the most beloved characters in One Piece. That, of course, doesn't mean he's exempt from honest criticism. Perhaps one of the most annoying parts of the series is how much of a pervert he is. Fans feel like that ruins an otherwise great character, while not adding much to the overall experience.
The pervert trope isn't new, but it doesn't make it good
The pervert character trope is actually quite common in battle shounen. Dragon Ball had Master Roshi, and Naruto had Jiraiya — the trend isn't new at all. In recent times, we have seen that trope applying even to the protagonist — one example is Denji from Chainsaw Man.
However, it doesn't mean that the trope is good per se. At least in Denji's case, it actually makes sense for him, as he's starved for actual human interaction. Most of the time, the trope is annoying, and characters who act like that would probably be seen as disgusting creeps in real life.
It also just doesn't add much to the anime. Of course, not every action has to be relevant to the plot, and moments of character interactions and development are required to make the viewer actually care for the cast.
This kind of comedy is definitely not how it should be done, though: most fans don't like when characters act perverted, and find this kind of humor poor and lazy in general. It can be argued that these scenes are mostly aimed at a younger audience, but that doesn't make it much better.
Sanji deserves more than that
What makes Sanji's particular case even worse is that he wasn't always like that. Yes, he was always obsessed with women, but earlier in the series, he was more of a hopeless romantic than an outright pervert. This can be seen as a case where the character actually becomes worse instead of developing.
And while it's hard to pinpoint where exactly Sanji's writing changes so much, most fans agree it was somewhere after the timeskip, with the Fishman Island Arc being the most egregious example.
That said, he's not always like that — it just feels like his perverted moments always happen when there's hardly anything else for him to do. Perhaps the solution for this would be giving him more action scenes — a good example of this would be the Whole Cake Island Arc. And who knows, maybe that would make people tolerate his antics more, as the gag might actually be funny once in a while.
This trait ruins an otherwise great character.
Summary:
Sanji is one of most beloved characters of One Piece, but fans feel that his perverted behavior often makes the series worse.
This trope isn't new to battle shounen, but it's bad most of the time anyway.
Sanji wasn't always like that, and he needs more screentime where he is actually doing something (other than being perverted).
Sanji is one of the most beloved characters in One Piece. That, of course, doesn't mean he's exempt from honest criticism. Perhaps one of the most annoying parts of the series is how much of a pervert he is. Fans feel like that ruins an otherwise great character, while not adding much to the overall experience.
The pervert trope isn't new, but it doesn't make it good
The pervert character trope is actually quite common in battle shounen. Dragon Ball had Master Roshi, and Naruto had Jiraiya — the trend isn't new at all. In recent times, we have seen that trope applying even to the protagonist — one example is Denji from Chainsaw Man.
However, it doesn't mean that the trope is good per se. At least in Denji's case, it actually makes sense for him, as he's starved for actual human interaction. Most of the time, the trope is annoying, and characters who act like that would probably be seen as disgusting creeps in real life.
It also just doesn't add much to the anime. Of course, not every action has to be relevant to the plot, and moments of character interactions and development are required to make the viewer actually care for the cast.
This kind of comedy is definitely not how it should be done, though: most fans don't like when characters act perverted, and find this kind of humor poor and lazy in general. It can be argued that these scenes are mostly aimed at a younger audience, but that doesn't make it much better.
Sanji deserves more than that
What makes Sanji's particular case even worse is that he wasn't always like that. Yes, he was always obsessed with women, but earlier in the series, he was more of a hopeless romantic than an outright pervert. This can be seen as a case where the character actually becomes worse instead of developing.
And while it's hard to pinpoint where exactly Sanji's writing changes so much, most fans agree it was somewhere after the timeskip, with the Fishman Island Arc being the most egregious example.
That said, he's not always like that — it just feels like his perverted moments always happen when there's hardly anything else for him to do. Perhaps the solution for this would be giving him more action scenes — a good example of this would be the Whole Cake Island Arc. And who knows, maybe that would make people tolerate his antics more, as the gag might actually be funny once in a while.
