okay normally i like the way oda writes a story, but man oh man do i hate how sanji and nami part ways in whole cake island. it just leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. like i get it, nami doesn't understand why sanji is leaving them, and she has every right to be hurt and upset when sanji and luffy start fighting. how could she be anything but? however, i think nami's decision to slap sanji was completely uncalled for. and even then, i can still see why she does it. nami is deeply afraid for her captain and her crew, and in this moment, she probably thinks that sanji really isn't coming back to them. after everything they've been through together, she still sees someone she loves hurting another person she loves and leaving, and she's helpless to do anything about it. all of those emotions manifest themselves when she hits him. it's not a mature or logical or compassionate response by any means, but it is just a tad bit understandable when you try to put yourself in her shoes.
or, at least, it would be, if oda had resolved this particular issue differently.
once nami finally understands why sanji decided to leave in the first place, once it finally clicks for her that sanji is sacrificing himself for the sake of his true family, it would've been so great to see anything resembling some sort of an apology or heart-to-heart between the two of them. but we don't get that. obviously, nami being there with luffy when sanji leaves the crew is done on purpose, and how amazing would that purpose be if nami, at some point, (be it before or after she discovers why sanji left), tried to reach out and tell him that she knows exactly why he's doing all of this. if anyone can understand why he decided to push them away, it's her. she understands his mindset of cutting ties with the crew, because the darkness he's spent so long trying to run away from feels so much bigger than them at their best, and all he's trying to do is save them from it. it would've been such a wonderful call back to nami's own struggle with arlong, and would provide an important piece of character development for the both of them. nami would be the one to give sanji that verbal and emotional support he so desperately needs, and luffy would be the one to give him the tangible proof of it.
a lot of people say that the whole altercation between luffy and sanji would've been way better if zoro or usopp had taken nami's place, but i don't think so at all. i think that nami had to be there, because who else could've given sanji that comfort but the one who had been the first to pull away? who else could've told him: you saved me. you didn't let me go, now let me do the same for you. only nami, in my opinion, could've been the one to give that to sanji.
or, at least, she would have, if oda had written it differently.
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