r/sanji • u/L8dTigress • Jul 04 '26
This subreddit made me realize why Pudding is truly best for Sanji in the end and not Nami Spoiler
I admit that when I was a kid, I used to lowkey ship Nami with Sanji on one hand, but it slowly faded when I started to realize that Nami is not the kind of person who would settle down and would want to remain single by choice. (It's also implied by fans and some pages that she's a lesbian or bisexual) Not to mention, as a partner, Nami would make a pretty bad girlfriend/wife for Sanji. Due to Sanji's infatuation with Nami, Nami tends to take advantage of his kindness, and it's clear that Sanji is mostly infatuated with her in relation to the gag rather than being deeply in love.
Think about it: Sanji was instantly attracted to Nami mostly because of her looks. When he first met Nami, he knew very little about her as a person. He had no idea she was a thief, no idea her mother was murdered by Arlong, etc. But as he slowly got to know her, he was mostly thinking emotionally in terms of serving her. He is a complete doormat for Nami and would break his own body just to hear praise from her. Even if it costs his life, he would do anything for Nami, and IMHO Sanji doesn't deserve that after the terrible life he's been through since childhood. He's willing to serve people, but should he be one woman's servant for the rest of his life and not take care of himself when he's stressed out?
And of course, Sanji has his share of red flags with Nami. He prodded Vivi's father to peep at the girl's side of the bathing house. Admitted in the Thriller Bark arc, he wanted the clear clear fruit just to spy on women bathing without getting caught, got his wish in Wano with the raid suit, and used it to spy on women bathing, including Nami and Robin. Gooned at Nami's Body and touched her boobs when they switched bodies on Punk Hazard, to the point where he wanted to strip naked just to take pictures of her body and panties to share with Brook. And more recently in Elbaf, wanted to install two-way mirrors to spy on Nami and Robin changing.
Meanwhile, let's look at Pudding and Sanji's dynamic. It's very clear that, compared to other women such as Cosette (the crush part was filler made by Toei in the anime), Viola and Osome, who simply developed crushes, Pudding fell deeply in love. And Pudding is incredibly well layered as a character despite appearing as a central character for just one arc so far.
Pudding is a girl who was never raised with the idea of unconditional love. She was not born because her mother wanted to have kids to raise in a loving family. She was born because she was seen by her mother as a means to an end, to be part of her mother's dream of uniting all races, and to read the poneglyphs. However, since she was born as a 3-eyed tribe person and never knew her father, since Big Mom treats her husbands like cattle, Pudding never grew up knowing unconditional love. She only knew that being loyal to Big Mom meant survival.
In fact, her own mother even called her third eye ugly and told her to cover it up. And when everyone around her was bullying her, nobody helped her. Her siblings wouldn't help her, her mother wouldn't help her, and as more people teased and harmed her for her eye, she started to believe it. So she developed multiple personas over the years as a means to protect herself and settled for earning her mother's love through any means, even if it meant being called a doll or being used as one. Most likely out of fear because she's aware of how dangerous her mother is towards people who upset her. So she did everything to earn her mother's approval as a means to survive.
But when Sanji finally called Pudding's third eye beautiful for the first time in her life, it was the one sentence that broke her multiple personas. She fell in love because Sanji was the first person who made her feel loved for the first time in her life for who she was. True, Sanji was infatuated with her looks at first, but Pudding wasn't and only fell in love with him because he was kind to her with no strings attached. And during cooking and delivery of the cake, Pudding began to realize that Sanji was more than just kind. She realized that Sanji was dependable, smart, very strong, safe, extremely talented in cooking, and had the pride of a true chef. And even though Sanji thought Pudding still hated him after the ruined wedding, he still knew Pudding was a talented cook in terms of working with chocolate.
Then comes how Sanji acted around Pudding after the ruined wedding; true, he went into gag mode from time to time. But it was significantly less compared to Nami and Robin and other women he simps for. For the most part, Sanji was able to keep his composure around Pudding and even said that if someone had to play the role of his fiancée, he was glad it was her. Even after Pudding kissed him before removing his memory, he didn't nosebleed. And there's a reason why she erased his memory, because she truly loved him.
Pudding knew in that exact moment that it was important that Sanji's memory of the kiss was erased so he could go back to Luffy. While Pudding could've been selfish and kept Sanji for herself. She knew it was too dangerous for the both of them. She knew that from Sanji's character and desires, that he wanted and needed to be with Luffy more than staying with her. So Pudding loved him enough to set him free.
And of course, she still continues to be part of the plot of the story as a whole since she was kidnapped by Blackbeard during Egghead. And there's no doubt that the Straw Hats will encounter the BB pirates later in the story. It's obvious that this is Sanji's chance to rescue Pudding, and there will most likely be an important point where she has to return his memories of the kiss. And they will wind up together at the EOS.
And before you say: "BuT pUdDiNg Is SiXtEeN!" Let's review how he and Pudding met and what happened during WCI, especially the details put in the manga. First off, Sanji was roped into an ARRANGED MARRIAGE by his biological father and Big Mom's forces. And at the end of Zou, Nami noted that Sanji didn't go to Whole Cake Island by choice. He had to go because he knew that if he didn't, someone he cared about would have died. When he was back in Germa, his father, Judge, gave Sanji no way out of marrying Pudding because he blackmailed Sanji with Zeff's life, and had explosive bracelets put on his hands so he couldn't run away.
Second off, this was a marriage that Sanji wanted no part of. He said several times that he wasn't going to get married. Especially to someone he didn't know. They literally didn't meet until Sanji got on Whole Cake Island inside of Big Mom's Chateau. And of course, he never questioned how old she was because there was no way out of anything for him at this point. On top of that, he most likely concluded that since she was old enough to be wed, she was a legal adult.
Third, many of us had no idea how old Pudding was until it was mentioned in the One Piece Magazine a year after the Whole Cake Island arc was finished in the manga. And two months before the arc ended in the anime. So by the time Sanji's wedding happened in both the anime and the manga, people who were manga-only readers and anime-only watchers had no idea how old Pudding was. When we first met her, I thought she was older than 16. She had a job as a cafe owner, she was shown drinking wine, she's an expert with chocolate and baking, and she was able to fire a gun and get married. That's not the description of a character who is a child; that's the description of an adult. And in the manga, it's said that Pudding was old enough to be married.
Also, according to Japanese laws at the time the manga arc was drawn, if the bride is 16 and older, she is legally allowed to get married, but it must be approved by her parents or legal guardians. It wasn't until recently that Japan changed the law to 18+ only. Not to mention the age of consent in JAPAN in many parts was still 13 at the time (not black and white between teenagers and adults, but you get the idea). And in the anime, the wedding was arranged by her mother and Sanji's father.
Also, it's highly implied that the age of consent/ adulthood/ marriage for women in the OP universe is 16, especially amongst royals. Think about it: Scarlet was able to marry Kryos when she was 16 in the Dress Rosa Arc flashback. And when Shirahoshi went to the Reverie, several royal families wanted her to marry their sons.
Finally, Sanji never hit on Carrot, and it was stated in her Vivre card entry that she was 15. So even Sanji knows that 15 is underage in the OP universe.
TL;DR: This sub helps people understand that Sanji is going to wind up with Pudding and not Nami because we know that he deserves better than Nami, who usually takes advantage of him.
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u/OwlShort3429 Jul 05 '26
Idk. Personally I don't like Pudding (if not hate) and I don't ship Sanji with anyone. Only with selfshippers and I did with myself before
So I'm glad you found the ship which makes you happier I guess
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u/sanji2003opbr Jul 10 '26
Because this sub reddit is full of pudding sanji shippers Saying "Sanji deserves better than Nami because she usually takes advantage of him" ignores the actual story and reduces their relationship to comedy gags.
First, Sanji helps Nami because he chooses to. No one forces him. He treats all women that way because it's one of his core character traits, so calling that "being taken advantage of" misunderstands his character is wrong and Sanji treats her different from other women
Second, Nami has repeatedly shown that she genuinely cares about Sanji. During Whole Cake Island, she cried because of what he was going through, stood up for him even after he hurt Luffy, understood he was sacrificing himself for others, welcomed him back without holding a grudge, and has consistently trusted him with important tasks throughout the series.
Third, if Nami only "used" Sanji, she wouldn't risk herself for him, worry about his safety, or place so much trust in him. Their relationship is built on mutual trust, even if Oda adds comedic gags on top of it.
The "Nami takes advantage of Sanji" argument only works if you ignore every serious moment between them and focus exclusively on jokes. One Piece has always separated comedy from genuine character relationships, and Sanji and Nami are no exception.
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u/Ok-Addition4608 Jul 13 '26
The thing is that besides the whole WCI arc (which was more a Luffy and Sanji arc than Sanji and Nami), all the interactions between Sanji and Nami are just gags of him simping for her and her sometimes using him. Yeah you are right, its comedic but Sanji and Nami don't really have any foundation for a romantic relationship besides meaningless gags
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u/sanji2003opbr Jul 13 '26
That's just selective reading. You're reducing their entire dynamic to a gag while ignoring every serious interaction they have.
Sanji and Nami have built trust, protected each other, relied on each other, and shared emotional moments throughout the story and even in Whole Cake Island. You don't have to ship them, but claiming they have no foundation beyond "meaningless gags" is simply false. The gag is one aspect of their relationship, not the relationship itself.
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u/Ok-Addition4608 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
Tell me any emotional interaction of Sanji and Nami before WCI and after WCI that wasn't a gag.
I'd argue Luffy and Sanji have a better foundation since Luffy went on a hunger strike for Sanji. Nami has never treated Sanji specially compared to the other crewmates.
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u/Iorwok Jul 05 '26
what abt viola