Urgh, nail hit on head so damn hard. Sanji will put himself on the line for the girls at the drop of a hat, everyone knows that, but his grandest gesture of sacrifice for Luffy was just cut down. And not just that, but Zoro damn well knocked him out with a single well-placed blow. When he and Zoro fight, it's usually pretty damn even, so it just adds mega insult to already enormous injury that it was apparently so easy for Zoro to knock him aside.
And yet he doesn't act pissy or petulant, he doesn't attack Zoro. He thinks about it. He keeps it to himself. And he maybe watches Zoro a little more. And I love that. We've seen all the characters take major steps forward, some far more obviously than others - Nami learning to trust others and being freed from her shackles at Arlong Park, Usopp refusing to give up during battles where he knows he's hopelessly outmatched, Robin admitting that she wants to be part of the crew and that she doesn't want to be alone anymore. But what's happening at the moment is Zoro and Sanji's growth, and I think it's more rivetting than any 'leveling up' in fighting technique that we've seen before, because it hasn't been explicitly talked about, because that's not how Zoro and Sanji work. I can see there being something said about it later, or even nonverbal communication, but they're not there yet because they're both adjusting and keeping an eye on each other.
Movie 6 has actually been mentioned a couple of times now by different people, and I loveLOVE that, because it's so true and I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one reminded of it. The animation of those current chapters, with Luffy running between them all and not quite making it in time, is going to be so beautifully painful. And Movie 6 really shows what happens when cracks appear between the Straw Hats, and that is potentially what's happening now. There are secrets, there's separation, and the fall out has the potential to be EPIC.
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And yet he doesn't act pissy or petulant, he doesn't attack Zoro. He thinks about it. He keeps it to himself. And he maybe watches Zoro a little more. And I love that. We've seen all the characters take major steps forward, some far more obviously than others - Nami learning to trust others and being freed from her shackles at Arlong Park, Usopp refusing to give up during battles where he knows he's hopelessly outmatched, Robin admitting that she wants to be part of the crew and that she doesn't want to be alone anymore. But what's happening at the moment is Zoro and Sanji's growth, and I think it's more rivetting than any 'leveling up' in fighting technique that we've seen before, because it hasn't been explicitly talked about, because that's not how Zoro and Sanji work. I can see there being something said about it later, or even nonverbal communication, but they're not there yet because they're both adjusting and keeping an eye on each other.
Movie 6 has actually been mentioned a couple of times now by different people, and I loveLOVE that, because it's so true and I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one reminded of it. The animation of those current chapters, with Luffy running between them all and not quite making it in time, is going to be so beautifully painful. And Movie 6 really shows what happens when cracks appear between the Straw Hats, and that is potentially what's happening now. There are secrets, there's separation, and the fall out has the potential to be EPIC.