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The Live Action One Piece has fixed one of the manga's worst characters - Sanji [Popverse Jump]

Toning down Sanji's unbearable horniness and giving him some much-needed emotional vulnerability makes the live action One Piece from Netflix infinitely more watchable.

Popverse Jump Header Sanji One Piece — Image credit: Toei Animation / Popverse

Features by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Mon Sep 21 2026

We’ve all had a few weeks to digest the new season of One Piece on Netflix, and there are many things that the series does to stay true to the original manga. From the pacing to the costumes to Oda’s insistence that Tony Tony Chopper be as cute as possible, it is a very faithful adaptation of the iconic manga. However, one aspect has been changed, and that is the relentless womanizing of Sanji, who becomes a far more fun and charming (and significantly less creepy) character in the live-action One Piece.

If you’ve only seen the live-action One Piece, first, welcome to the fandom. We’re very welcoming and friendly, and only occasionally try to overthrow national governments (but only because that is what Luffy would want us to do). I hope that, upon seeing the show that Netflix has produced, you’re tempted to get into the original manga or the anime because there are few things that bring joy to my heart quite like watching someone else sink huge chunks of their time into getting caught up. Just be prepared for things to be a little different from the live-action show if you do.

Most of the differences are due to pacing issues; characters are introduced much earlier in the live-action show, or they cut characters like Don Krieg to brief cameos instead of long, drawn-out fights. However, one of the most important changes Netflix made to its One Piece show isn’t so much when a character is introduced as how they act. See, Sanji in the live-action show is charming and a little easily distracted by either quality food or beautiful women. However, in the original manga, he gets shoehorned into the “unbearable pervert” trope too hard and too often, and it brings the entire series down.

Sanji In One Piece Season 2 — Image credit: Netflix

Manga Sanji treats skirt-chasing like a spiritual calling. This is a man who hits on every woman he meets as soon as he lays eyes on them. While everyone else is training during the two-year time skip, Sanji gets stronger by running away from ugly women on an island. During the Fishman Island arc, he has to be monitored constantly because if he suffers one more sexy-woman-induced-nosebleed, he will die of blood loss. Sanji still has some good character development, and there are plenty of great moments where he shows depth, but his role in One Piece is to be the frustrating pervert of the Straw Hats, and Oda doesn’t let him venture from that box often.

Now, compare that to how Sanji acts in the live-action One Piece. Sure, he still puts Nami on a pedestal and practically worships her, but it comes across as more charming than creepy. Women are still his downfall during the Whiskey Peak arc, but it is treated as him being a bit too trusting rather than aggressively pursuing any woman he comes across. Taz Skylar gives Sanji charm and sophistication without him being overbearingly perverted. The character flaw is still there, but it is rounded out and polished into something far more palatable to modern audiences watching a live-action adaptation. Seeing a real person act the way that manga Sanji does would have been unbearably awkward and you cannot convince me otherwise. The fact they gave him some actual emotional vulnerability as he revealed his backstory was the icing on the cake for me.

Sanji Crying In One Piece Season 2 — Image credit: Netflix

The pervert character is a tried-and-true trope in manga. Dragon Ball, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ranma ½, and countless other classics have characters who are either completely or partially defined by their perverted tendencies. Sanji isn’t even the only instance in One Piece; Brook keeps asking women to show him their panties, though at least he does it with a little bow and always graciously accepts their refusal. Sanji is more like a dog chasing a bone, which makes his constant pestering of every woman in One Piece that much more annoying.

The Netflix One Piece series takes the heart of Sanji and tones down the bits that would make the character unwatchable in the live-action format, while still letting him be playful and flirty. Taz Skylar deserves a lot of credit for walking that tightrope; in a world that is so colorful and loud, grounding Sanji is one of the best decisions the showrunners made in One Piece.

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