One Piece continues to tell an amazing story with Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates at the center and Eiichiro Oda at the helm. The renowned author of the long-running manga series has changed the anime world forever with his work, particularly in the characters he creates. Among these characters, Sanji is one of the most compelling, serving as the chef and left-wing member of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Without Sanji, the Straw Hat Pirates would not be complete. He is an irreplaceable asset in both the kitchen and the battlefield, acting as the cook and aiding in intense fights. Fans know this very well, but Eiichiro Oda revealed a surprising inspiration behind Sanji, made possible by none other than his daughter and her favorite anime. Without Oda's daughter, fans might have gotten a different Sanji in One Piece.
One Piece: Oda Confirms Sanji Will Reach Yonko Level
Sanji is Luffy's left hand, and is set to reach Yonko level before the end of One Piece.
Eiichiro Oda’s Daughter Likes Osomatsu-San Anime
Osomatsu-San Has Sextuplets as Main Characters
From time to time, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda mentions his daughter in interviews when asked about his inspirations behind his work. As the daughter of a Japanese artist, it's only natural that she would also get into anime and manga like her father. True enough, Oda revealed in an interview that an anime called Osomatsu-san, otherwise known as Mr. Osomatsu-kun, was one of her favorites.
For those who have never heard of Osomatsu-san, it is a comedy and parody anime that aired during the 2015 fall season. It was produced by Studio Pierrot, the same anime studio behind Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul, Black Clover, and Akatsuki no Yona, to name a few. It is based on the 1962 manga series, Osomatsu-kun, by the Master of Gag Manga, Fujio Akatsuka (The Secrets of Akka-chan, Liquor Hermit Dayoon).
Osomatsu-san is one of the most popular anime in Japan, with many local and international fans reporting how big it is in the country. After all, it’s the return of a classic manga, so fans were itching to watch it when it was released. The anime features identical sextuplets as main characters, each with unique personalities. Each episode also follows their mischief and over-the-top antics.
Eiichiro Oda Revealed Osomatsu-San Inspired Him to Give Sanji More Siblings
Oda Competed With Osomatsu-san for His Daughter’s Love
- Eiichiro Oda's daughter was into the Osomatsu-san anime.
- For Oda's daughter to love his work, he changed the number of Sanji's siblings.
Without Eiichiro Oda’s daughter and her favorite anime, Osomatsu-san, One Piece fans might have known a different Sanji. He could have been the first or second son of the Vinsmoke Family, and his other siblings would have been nonexistent. Judge and Sora would have been parents to Niji and Sanji, unless the wordplay in their names was also removed.
With Osomatsu-san featuring sextuplets as its main characters, Oda matched it with quadruplets, of which Sanji was a part of. In an interview Oda did with the creator of Case Closed, Gosho Aoyama, he revealed that he tried to compete with Osomatsu-san's sextuplets with One Piece quadruplets since his daughter liked the show. He wanted his daughter to also like his work, which was why he decided to change his plans for Sanji.
I had already planned to have Sanji have siblings for quite a while, but my daughter loved an anime called Osomatsu-san with sextuplets just before the Whole Cake Island arc. I wanted her to love me, so I decided to set Sanji as a quadruplet.
-Eiichiro Oda
Apparently, Eiichiro Oda originally wanted to give Sanji only one sibling instead of four. But because of his daughter’s interest in Osomatsu-san, he started from scratch and set up four siblings for Sanji instead. Any fan could see the Osomatsu reference in the Vinsmoke siblings just in the visuals alone. Each sibling has a different hair color, which could be a nod to the different colored sweaters the sextuplets wear in Osomatsu-san.
Sanji Is Part of the Vinsmoke Family in One Piece
Sanji Has Four Siblings
Sanji is known as the talented and charismatic chef of the Straw Hat Pirates. He is also known for his combat prowess, especially his Black Leg fighting style. Beyond that, fans know him as part of the Vinsmoke Family, born to Sora and Judge. Specifically, he was one of the quadruplets of One Piece, with his other siblings named Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji. He also has an elder sister named Reiju.
God creates the food, and the devil creates the spice. I think I might have spiced him up a little too much.—Sanji
This is not the first time that an anime or manga series has pushed Eiichiro Oda to change his plans for Sanji. In fact, Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto Uzumaki pushed Oda to think of a better name for Sanji. The chef of the Straw Hat Pirates was originally named Naruto, but with respect to Kishimoto, and knowing that Naruto would be a long-running series, he quickly changed Sanji's name.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
- Franchise(s)
- One Piece
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
