#zoro is so fun to draw...sanji not so much (why is his hair so difficult)

[aimethyst]

long ring long land zosan i will forever miss you

zoro was so whipped in pre-timeskip

i aint drawing that many ppl for a background

[wellfine]

I had a small question for you: I've noticed your body types and details when it comes to characters feel very human. Little traits in body refs come together very well in your designs. Because of how well you can convey these things, I was wondering if there are any OP characters that are more difficult for you to draw? Be it design wise or translating the OP style to your own? Hope this isn't an odd thing to ask haha

Not odd at all, this is a really interesting ask! I always love an opportunity to talk about why I draw things the way I do haha... Also I'm so flattered you feel that way, body variations are something I find really interesting and gratifying to draw so I'm glad people pick up on them and like them too!

HMMmmm... Honestly I find it harder to translate faces to my style than bodies HAHA. There are sooo many interesting body silhouettes in One Piece that I find it more of a fun puzzle trying to translate them! Montblanc Cricket is definitely a challenge for example because his body shape is sooo extreme (dat neck. You know Zoro's jealous) but that's part of why I like his design/drawing him.

I mean okay the hardest Straw Hat for me to draw is Brook LMAO but I feel like that's cheating because you have to be so precise with all those bones. Body-wise... maybe Nami? It took me a long time to decide on what kind of body type vibes she was giving me before I decided she was kind of beanstalk-y but with big boob implants. I try and draw her boobs to look fake on purpose contrasted with, say, Robin or Tashigi, and I hope it comes across. I just think it's in-character that if her boobs got notably bigger after the time skip, well, it's because she wanted big old honkers lmao!

Zoro is also difficult sometimes because I imagine his body changes appearance a lot, not just because he gains muscle steadily over the series, but even on a shorter scale he probably fluctuates between bulking and cutting. I find it enjoyable to draw him at various stages but it does mean he looks inconsistent in my art sometimes and occasionally I worry that people won't understand my intent. Sanji can also be difficult to get the right proportions for because his muscle composition is so unbalanced, like some kind of hyper-cyclist, but I don't want to make him look absurd out of context either.

I'm not a furry artist by nature (despite Everything) so the hardest body types for me to translate are definitely animalistic characters, whether they're Zoan types or Minks! Chopper and Pedro are still hard for me to draw, for example, even if Minks mostly just have humanoid body shapes covered in hair. I have a hard time clicking with them. Interestingly fishmen/mermaids are not as difficult - I think because they're more fantastical, you can be less 'accurate'?

I'm trying to think of non-Straw Hat characters... Honestly I have a much harder time drawing faces than bodies. I'm working on it. I think my headcanon for Law's body type is at odds with a lot of other fans' LOL (same as me seeing Sanji without a shred of ass), I just can't see him as being muscular at all - he strikes me as the type who barely eats enough and doesn't really work out so he's all gaunt and gangly. Kid is WIIIDDEE which is fun to draw but sometimes hard to get the proportions of. One Piece women tend to be harder to translate to my style than men because their canon body types are so much less diverse :/ but I do enjoy it too. Vivi was hard for me to settle on but I like the body type headcanon I have for her now - I just haven't had time to draw it LMAO. Oh, and Yamato can be hard, but for kind of different reasons. His body is so politicised I know I'm going to get weird comments no matter how I draw him. Giving him top surgery makes me personally feel more comfortable in some ways (visibly denouncing transphobes etc) but less comfortable in others (implying that top surgery is necessary to be transmasc etc). But that's a different kind of difficulty. I still enjoy drawing him.

Inorganic shapes are much harder for me to draw so I would say the hardest OP characters for me are characters like Franky or Brook who have bone/cyborg parts! I love Franky's post-timeskip silhouette (sir your A-frame) but I always struggle with his shoulders and forearms because they're not organic shapes so inconsistencies/scale inaccuracies are way more obvious. Sometimes Fishmen designs fit into this category a bit too.

I hope there was something useful or interesting in that answer somewhere! For me personally I would say - based on bodies only - the Straw Hats scale from easiest -> hardest to draw is: Usopp -> Luffy -> Zoro -> Sanji -> Robin -> Nami -> Jinbe -> Franky -> Chopper -> Brook. Usopp is hands-down easiest for me because I take a lot of inspo for him from my boyfriend so it comes surprisingly naturally. (Love u baby)

Thank you again for such an interesting ask and for letting me indulge in talking about myself for so long, I always enjoy asks like this!

[monkeydluffy19920]

I also noticed he’s wearing the circles like Nami does. Is there a reason for those circles?

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Greetings @icantthinkof1posts and many thanks for the submission :) I’ve never paid attention to this detail while watching Heart of Gold-tv special before so thanks for pointing this out!  Now that I look at the jacket pattern it surely reminds me of Nami’s skirt and jeans’ circles and after browsing her outfit gallery in One Piece fandom wiki it seems like these circles appear in many of her outfits:

The reason how those circles ended up in Sanji’s jacket in Heart of Gold probably remains a mystery forever but it indeed is a nice detail from the perspective of shipping. However, I think it is partly a coincidence, they both enjoy fashionable clothings and maybe they like same clothing brands. An interesting topic and for example my fellow shippers @pernanegra [x] and @sanjiafsincedayone [x] have written nice thoughts about clothing related to Sanji x Nami for Sannami week- event.

But in general, it’s actually pretty interesting to notice that Sanji and Nami indeed do seem to have some similarities and/ or “parallels” when it comes down to their style and clothing. For example in the following cases there seem to be something:

Sanji’s Alabasta’s outfit

First one might be very far fetched but I admit when I first saw the desert outfit after a long while, the sun on his sleeve reminded me of the logo of the Sun Pirates and guess who was part of the Sun Pirates? Arlong and then who was working under Arlong? Nami!

It’s hard to say did Oda-sensei mean any foreshadowing in this but now to think about the connection to the Sun Pirates came up later in the story line when Jinbei revealed to be close to Arlong.

Sanji knew about Nami’s backstory because Nojiko told it to them earlier when Nami struggled to fight against Arlong’s terror. She didn’t know Sanji knows so she was probably surprised why it was difficult to Sanji to face Jinbei’s confessions.

Actually the Nami’s backstory that returned in Mermaid Island arc turned unexpectedly into a parallel at the latest in Zou arc where Nami became the one who learned about Sanji’s backstory (well there was also Brook and the others but the point is, they both know their backstories)

A bit similar pattern in shirts

Before the Strawhats arrived to Alabasta, Nami wore this colorful heart-patterned shirt and later she changes it to the black/blue bikini top. Sanji also switches his outfit in Skypiea to this red-shaded and flowery patterns too that are a bit similar to Namis (who knows, maybe the same brand?)

 Punk Hazard style

Sanji’s winter outfit after the main adventures in Punk Hazard is stylish and has Nami’s colors and those S-patters partly resemble Nami’s iconic pinwheel tattoo. Her jacket instead follows a bit of Sanji’s suit jacket style (with 6 buttons)

Of course those swirls in Sanji’s jacket and in Nami’s could also represent the symbolism behind their names. My fellow shipper @eleamaya wrote a interesting analyze about their names:  Sanji = whirlpool  // Nami = Wave both things are linked to swirls.

The swirls can also be symbolism for Sanji’s curly eyebrows and now to think about, the symbol of the Arlong Pirates reminds a bit of a whirlpool if one looks quickly.

wearing blue and orange

There are obviously dozens of outfits Nami has worn but one thing that crossed my mind after browsing the One Piece’s fan gallery was that she wears a lot of blue, either the top or the bottom part which is nice because blue is a nice color.

(and yes I am color blind, I can’t distinguish blue and purple-ish well *laughs*)

Also Sanji likes to wear blue but also he has worn a lots of shades of yellow/orange.  Shipwise this  is an interesting thing to notice because their theme colors are blue and orange. Eleamaya linked it to the colors of the sunset which has these two very colors and she also pointed out there the common link in their names (related to the element of water).

(btw @sanjiafsincedayone‘s post about orange and blue sums ups well this theme)

ties

Both Nami and Sanji have been seen wearing ties both in canon and in Color Spreads, if we return into a earlier subject, Nami wears blue again in Water 7.

Offering the suit jacket to the lady

Sanji is a gentleman so it’s natural nice gesture for him to offer his jacket. First time he offered it to Nami when they survived the ordeals in Little Garden. Nami’s reaction was annoyed.

Later he gave his jacket when they were freezing in Punk Hazard’s cold side. Then Nami’s reaction was more friendly (she seemed actually be surprised about him doing it again). This is most likely because they’ve known each other for a longer time in Punk  Hazard arc.

Number 3 in clothing

There has been great analyzes about this topic but to sum it a little bit: Oda-sensei has given each Straw Hats a “theme”number that is based on their birthday and names, Sanji’s is 3.

He has worn number 3 in his outfit in Whole Cake Island arc in flashbacks when he was a child, mostly so their father and his minions could distinguish Sanji and his siblings.  Nami as well has worn number 3 in Water 7 arc. Actually Luffy has also worn numbers in the flashback arc.  but they are linked to his own birthday as far as I remember, Nami is only strawhat who has worn numbers “just for fun” so far but correct if it’s false.

Of course it might be that since  Nami was the third one to join the Straw Hats, her number also is therefore 3 which could be the reason why Oda-sensei made her wear that in Water 7.

clothing details in official art

@sanjiafsincedayone also wrote posts about the colors blue and orange and how they appear in One Piece. Oda-sensei likes to share his official One Piece art in Color Spreads between the chapters and in art collections (Color Walks) and once these are published, we fans then enjoy to find details that match to our OTP. 

Here are some of the stylish details that has been pointed out in Sanji x Nami posts about official art:

- similar/matching accessories

One thing Sannami fandom has pondered together is that they like to wear accessories, for some reason there has been a couple of drawings where the accessories are very similar to each other

(the picture below with giraffe theme is from Color Spread chapter 357 and the picture below with similar flowery necklaces is from Color Walk 5)

(They both seem to really enjoy wearing necklaces)

(and who knows, maybe that necklace that appears in Color Walk 4 could be the same as in  chapter 357)

When it comes down to similarities, there has also been same styled wristbands in chapter 878′s Color Spread

and sunglasses in the Color Spreads of chapter 941 and 835

Sanjiafsincedayone pointed out also that Nami seems to like to wear blue colored kimonos in Color Spreads

A couple of times Sanji and Nami either wear the same patterns in their clothes (i.e chapter 507)

or one wears swirls and the other rings (Chapter 937)

- character shirts, a (far fetched) foreshadow?

In chapter 692′s color spread Sanji wears a shirt where there is a character who l1ooks very much like Nami (with all the bikini top-style and curly hair)

Nami has actually worn character shirts as well, in chapter 578′s Color Spread. If the theory would be far fetched  then we could imagine that picture in her shirt could be referred to Alabasta arc (because of the cactus and desert) where he referred himself with a codename Mr Prince.

If we wanted to put this thought of this even more trickier we would think about Sabo’s background as a noble who never wanted to be a noble and ran away, just like Sanji did so that picture on her shirt could be also a parallel

but  since  the guy looks  more like Sabo perhaps it was more likely foreshadowing to Dressrosa when the Luffy’s long lost  brother made a comeback.  

And now to think about, Nami’s outfit in chapter 771′s and 588′s  Color Spreads could have foreshadowed the upcoming art since Sanji also wore ruffle-styled shirt before the tea party? (and actually, Nami’s WCI arc dress had ruffles too).

fun fact: Robin’s outfit in that Alice in Wonderland themed Color Spread was very close to what Sanji wore in WCI)

sweet escape

The gingerbread theme in chapter 902′s color spread was cute and as a shipper the view of Sanji and Nami sharing the same pattern icing/frosting/topping is cute (there were other Straw hats too in that picture but their patterns were different).

Movie 2 Clockwork Island

Last but not least in the list is One Piece’s second official movie. Yes, it’s a movie and therefore it’s non-canon but I find it interesing that out of all outfits and characters, Nami and Sanji are dressed as they could walk to the wedding aisle any minute. What makes it even more amusing is that Usopp and Zoro are dressed more traditionally and could bless their union *laughs*

And after the Whole Cake Island’s and Thriller Bark’s events and marriage theme that is quite a parallel in total (first Nami being the damsel in distress who needs to be saved from a forced marriage and then later Sanji being forced to marry because of his father’s policies) the more funnier the link between the arcs and  movie 2 feels (since there is too Nami being kidnapped and almost forced to marry someone she doesn’t want and the movie’s promo picture includes a bridal carry)

When it comes down to the concept of the word canon, It really depends on the shipper which is counted so called shipwise-material. For some everything is potential but dor some,  only manga as canon counts and  therefore everything else like side stories (fillers, movies), merchandising (ads etc.) is shipwise just so called “nice extra” (like some of these examples mentioned before) since  these filler-stories and movies are still mostly handwritten and directed by someone else than the main mangaka. Obviously Oda-sensei is the main supervisor and is very strict about what should happen and what not and he might do these detail things just for fun and it’s us reading it as signs for OTP. So all in all, as always said,

as much as we like to seek for details to support the ship,  it’s all about interpretation ;)