One Piece Director Megumi Ishitani’s Shocking Response to Sanji Controversy and Fan Harassment!

by

This article contains spoilers from One Piece’s Egghead arc.

Summary

  • Megumi Ishitani loves all One Piece characters equally and does not play favorites.
  • Fans upset about Sanji’s portrayal in recent episodes should not harass staff on Twitter.
  • Toei may make mistakes in handling characters, but the manga remains the main canon source for fans.

As I watched, there was palpable enthusiasm among spectators for the revival of the One Piece anime. However, it didn’t take long before the series was embroiled in a whirlwind of controversy over its questionable portrayal of a particular character. This tumultuous situation unfortunately resulted in some fans directing harsh comments towards Megumi Ishitani, a revered director of One Piece, on Twitter.

Megumi Ishitani Responds to Comments On Twitter About The Newest One Piece Episodes

Some One Piece Fans Have Been Riled Up About The Current Controversy With Sanji

Enthusiasts of the One Piece animated series are overjoyed, as the show took a 6-month hiatus and is now back in action! The comeback occurred last weekend, bringing not just one, but two fresh episodes for viewers’ enjoyment – one on Saturday and another on Sunday.

Amidst all this, there’s been an enormous uproar in the community of One Piece enthusiasts, and the conversation shows no signs of abating. Countless fans of One Piece are displeased with Toei for their recent management of Sanji’s character, and they have several valid gripes.

In the last two episodes, Sanji appeared to have affectionate eyes towards Jewelry Bonney who is portrayed as 12 years old. This was not present in the manga, leading some criticism that it presents Sanji negatively, despite the fact that she’s actually 24 years old in relation to him in the storyline. It’s worth noting that creator Oda intentionally avoided having Sanji become infatuated with Bonney for a specific reason. Furthermore, the anime depicts Sanji struggling against S-Shark and ultimately being defeated by Nami – an event that never occurred in the manga. Additionally, one can’t ignore the fact that Sanji was absent from a significant spread in Egghead Island without any apparent explanation, causing further upset among fans. In summary, these changes in the anime have led to fan dissatisfaction.

However, although these concerns are undeniably important, some fans have unfortunately overstepped boundaries by harassing staff members on Twitter. These fans have subsequently targeted Megumi Ishitani’s Twitter account, posing questions at her. Over the past few days, Ishitani has been actively addressing numerous inquiries from people. Here is a sample conversation between her and her followers on Twitter:

This version attempts to keep the original meaning while making the language more conversational and easier to read.

Question: Why did the manga creator, Oda-sensei, intentionally avoid depicting Sanji with heart eyes towards a Kid character, leading one to wonder if Toei Animation dislikes Sanji for this reason? Is there some animosity between Toei and Sanji?

Megumi Ishitani: As I’m not in charge of this specific episode, I’ll refrain from sharing my thoughts publicly. Regarding the characters in the projects I’m involved with, I strive to avoid favoring or criticizing any one of them. Instead, I care for them all equally.

It’s not right to pose such questions to Megumi Ishitani, given she has no connection to the events in question. Some One Piece enthusiasts may have thought she could convey our displeasure to Toei, but that’s also highly improper to expect from her.

Megumi Ishitani is open about her equal affection for all her characters; she never intentionally harms one character for any personal motive.

Regardless of who it involves, this current dispute over Sanji isn’t an unusual predicament for Toei Animation. It’s not unique to Sanji’s character; similar occurrences have happened with other characters as well. For instance, the revelation about Zoro having Conqueror’s Haki in Wano was leaked ahead of time, which somewhat dampened his exciting scene in the anime. Similarly, fan reactions towards Ty Yong-ce for not being into sword fights seem rather strange. In essence, these incidents can happen with any character and sometimes lead to unexpected responses from fans.

It’s generally true that a large number of people involved in the production of the One Piece anime may not always get every character and rule perfectly right, given their human limitations. However, it’s important to note that these errors are unintentional. Therefore, instead of criticizing or harassing the staff members or fans who express differing opinions, we should remember that the anime is merely an adaptation of the original manga. As such, changes are inevitable and the manga remains the primary source for One Piece’s true storyline for fans to appreciate.

Read More

2025-04-12 03:37