While most One Piece fans are more than ecstatic about the return of the anime, there has unfortunately been a controversy regarding the beloved character and member of the Straw Hats. Furthermore, this controversy has a long history that many fans have noticed and called out the studio for it, claiming the character was being depicted in an unjust and non-canon light.

The new opening song of One Piece Egghead part 2, titled ANGEL & DEVIL by GRe4N BOYZ, was without a doubt one of the series' most beautiful ones yet. In between the wave of praise and excitement, many fans of Sanji noticed that he was left out of an important scene from the manga that depicted the entire crew, and there was even a gap where he was supposed to be. This has not been the first time something like this has happened, and it seems that fans have had enough.

Sanji Causes Yet Another Uproar In The Anime

However, that was not nearly the extent of the controversy. The opening also made Sanji have heart eyes for Bonney, a character who has caused much controversy after being revealed to be only 12 years old. The manga never had Sanji doing such a thing, and this was an anime-only scene. These two scenes caused a lot of outrage that led fans like X @writingpanini to criticize Toei and the staff for the changes to the manga that overplayed Sanji's hated pervert gag and removed him from a moment of unity with the crew.

This is a pattern of the anime, adding scenes that lead Sanji to be portrayed in a poor light, with the most infamous example being him acting like a dog when he sees Stussy. He was also choked by S-Shark in the anime, which does not happen in the manga. Another example that Sanji fans took issue with is in the Fan Letter, where Sanji was mocked as someone below Zoro and other characters, leading to a fan backlash.

One Piece Fans Aren't Happy With Sanji's Portrayal In The Anime

Sanji is, without a doubt, one of the most beloved and popular characters in One Piece, and while the perverted gag might be something that is in the original story, fans still do not appreciate how the anime creates new scenes where he is fawning desperately over women. One Piece episodes 1123 and 1124 were amazing, so it is quite unfortunate that One Piece's return is being soured by the anime's poor portrayal of Sanji, and even worse, that Megumi Ishitani was harassed by the fans even when she had nothing to do with the opening.