My top 4 Zoro moments in Wano:
1. When he and Sanji saved Toko at Yasuie’s execution
2. When he promised to kill Sanji if he lost his emotions
3. When he got up to fight alongside Sanji against Commanders
4. When he… wait a minute…
"Zoro's flashback is only in the SBS."
Zoro flashback chapters -
.5 .51 .195 .598 .1033
Sanji's flashback chapters -
.56 .57 .58 .840 .841
The truth is that Zoro & Sanji actually have an equal amount of flashback chapters.
But despite the all the fighting, they do respect each other’s individual strength. For Sanji, this is shown in Punk Hazard when he trusted Zoro to take care of Monet, and for Zoro when he trusted Sanji to protect Brook, Nami, and Chopper in Zou
This is an INSANE statement to make, so here’s a thread of obvious moments when Sanji’s fighting strategically
1. Sanji can’t beat Kuroobi in the water, so he breathes air into his gills so he can escape to land
Although Zoro and Sanji haven’t really gotten along since their introduction to each other, their rivalry didn’t truly develop until Little Garden when they competed in a hunting challenge
Just like the Giants before them, the two began arguing and competing to see who was stronger. This is demonstrated well in Zou when Zoro protests that he is worth twice as many men as Sanji, showing that it is a contentious topic for him
This growth in their relationship is demonstrated again on Zoro’s end in Zou after the crew finds out Sanji has abandoned them. Although Zoro won’t admit he is worried about Sanji, Luffy who is gifted in sensing peoples true emotions says as much
Zoro agreed, playing it off like it was something he’d enjoy, but in the end, he used it as a guise to tell Sanji not to die, similar to how he couldn’t be up front about his feelings in Zou
In small moments though, they can go beyond just respecting the other’s strength and come together to work as a team. This most recently happened while fighting King and Queen. In this moment, they were fighting together to see Luffy reach his dream of becoming the Pirate King
#ONEPIECE1077
This panel of Sanji looks so out of character to me– like the fact that he’s smiling in this situation. If he really is starting to lose his emotions again, Nami and Brook are the perfect people to witness it since they were present for Whole Cake Island
This mirrored the rivalry of Groggy and Dorry who argued over the same thing before it snowballed into an endless series of fights which all concluded in a draw
When Zoro and Sanji caught the same sized creature like Groggy and Dorry did, it acted as a foreshadowing moment that this rivalry would continue past the arc and become about much more than who got the bigger catch
Even without this, Zoro’s actions throughout the arc reads like someone who feels personally offended by the departure. The way he sits outside the room to listen to Sanji’s predicament but doesn’t dare go in accompanied with his strangely hurt dialogue shows us that he’s worried
While they do compete over strength, rather than just fight, the two more commonly insult each other and constantly replace each others names with degrading nicknames. For example, Zoro often likes to negativity draw attention to Sanji’s obsession with women
But of course, this death pact has not seen it’s conclusion yet, which I couldn’t be anticipating more, so when it finally does get a resolution, I’ll definitely add to this thread… unless it disappoints me
Sanji also shows he cares in return by taking it upon himself to protect Zoro during the events of Sabaody. The man who always makes a big show of protecting women and denies men the same treatment, a quality Zoro insults him for, takes it upon himself to look out for Zoro too
Sanji had the resolve to do the same, showing a newfound respect for Zoro’s dream that he was severely lacking in Baratie. This is important since it was Zoro (alongside Luffy) who got Sanji to respect his own dream and now he’s showing the same to Zoro’s
This leads us to what could possibly be the most important moment for their relationship thus far. When Sanji feared he was losing his emotions, he used that transponder snail to entrust Zoro with the duty of killing him if he became the monster he felt he was bound to become
It’s a gesture that shows he cares while maintaining the outward appearance that they hate each other. That’s just it though, an outward appearance. As demonstrated through this thread, Zoro and Sanji do care for and respect one another, and that is the core of their relationship
@anthonyackee2
Oda also never clarified that Zoro and Sanji aren’t in a romantic relationship. Some conclusions are more credible than others despite not being 100% confirmed by the author
On Sanji’s end, during Onigashima, Zoro was seen in his worst condition since Thriller Bark, and once again, Sanji was left to deal with it. He decided to place a transponder snail inside Zoro’s haramaki in case he wound up lost and in need of help
@sanji_joestar
I think they did interact but it was just them constantly antagonizing each other so they never actually talked about anything important lmao
He’d told him to abandon it and now he’s telling him he can’t. In response, Zoro takes a cheap shot to knock Sanji unconscious. This shows that despite all the fighting, Zoro does care enough about Sanji to protect his life and offer up his own instead
Sanji in particular demonstrates his respect for Zoro in another, more comical instance in Punk Hazard. Sanji had threatened to do something to Zoro’s food and Zoro said he wanted him to so he could test his digestive system. Then Sanji did in fact put razor blades in his meal
Still, he doesn’t want to let it show, but when Luffy is leaving to go rescue the cook, Zoro wears a smile on his face in stark contrast to the frown he had when telling them to just forget about Sanji
Remember, Sanji has a big problem with wasting food. He wouldn’t do this if he thought it could actually hurt Zoro and prevent him from eating it. He knew Zoro could take it and respected his desire to test his limits, as strange as that sounds
It’s this reason that most often brings the two to a mutual understanding which was most prominently depicted in Thriller Bark when Zoro offered to give up his life and his dream for Luffy
This situation also emphasizes their pridefulness. Both made a challenge to the other and once that happened neither could back down. Sanji had to put blades in the food out of pride and Zoro had to eat them for the same reason, even though it was likely a bad experience for both