'One Piece' Gets Emotional With A Sanji Father-Son Sequence
02/25/2019 11:14 am EST
One Piece has passed out its share of goodbyes over the years, but the show outdid itself with its most recent episode. The shonen checked in on the Straw Hats as they began their escape from Big Mom's Country, but things soured when a certain Vinsmoke appeared.
Towards the end of episode 874, fans were met with a startling encounter. Sanji managed to get aboard the Thousand Sunny with Monkey D. Luffy in tow, but their escape paused when Judge Vinsmoke appeared. It was there the father-son pair had a final encounter, and it saw the old man pass on some stern words about his youngest child.
"You risked your life just to get him back," Judge says, referring to Luffy. "Sanji is Germa's failure. His skin doesn't work as a shield. He works as a cook because he has no pride in his royal blood! He is easily moved like an idiot and his soft mind makes him put his life on the line for the weak!"
Continuing, Judge drops a final word on his opinion of Sanji.
"A failed soldier who is far from perfect. That is all he is."
As for what Sanji says in reply, well — he says nothing. The Straw Hat chef refuses to acknowledge his father's cruel words, an act which finally severs the pair for good. For years, Judge hoped to reel Sanji back home in hopes he'd be good political fodder, but the Germa 66 leader has learned better. For better or worse, Sanji is sticking to his Straw Hat roots, and there's nothing Judge can do to sway the chef otherwise.
So, are you glad the father-son duo have parted ways for good? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.
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