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One Pieceis Eiichiro Oda’s global smash hit, the current best-selling manga ever. However, its spinoffs continue to drive public interest, especially withShokugeki no Sanjiby Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki. For those who noticed the spinoff’s name, it’s done in the same spirit and style as their famous collaboration,Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, withOne Piece’sSanji spinoff manga being a perfect vessel for their creativity. Reuniting with Yuki Morisaki to concoct the most delicious eats on the Grand Line, readers ofOne Piece: Shokugeki no Sanjiwill eat this spinoff right up.
However, Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki have worked together on more than simplyFood Wars!andOne Piecemanga spinoffs. They recently also channeled their passion and love for filmmaking inTenmaku Cinema. They continue to assert themselves as an impressive duo witha unique flair for the craft that’s even titillating, sometimes to a fault.
However, withOne Piece: Shokugeki no Sanji, the Straw Hats' chef gets a much-needed dive into his culinary adventures over the years in this beautiful spinoff manga newly released by VIZ Media.
Why Sanji Never Fights With His Hands In Netflix’s One Piece
Since Sanji never uses his hands during fights in One Piece, his fighting style raises the question of what’s the reason behind his kick-only approach
One Piece: Shokugeki no Sanji is a Self-Contained, Gorgeous Spinoff Manga
Who Better Than the Food Wars! Team to Highlight Sanji’s Culinary Talents?
While the volume is essentially the collection of all six one-shots penned between 2018 and 2022,One Piece: Shokugeki no Sanjiwas made available in print by VIZ Media on June 21, 2025. Each chapter of this spinoff manga is a self-contained culinary adventure for Sanji as Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki explore his noteworthy cooking feats between his time on the Baratie and in Wano. The result is a gorgeously drawn,thoroughly researched, and educational manga showcase just likeFood Wars!It features delicious dishes only Sanji could create in thisOne Piece spinoff’s most decadent fashion imaginable.
It’s perfectly fitting for a womanizer like Sanji, and it’d be believable from the character’s perspective that his food is so overwhelmingly delicious it causes an almost primal, erotic reaction.
Sanji creates everything from sushi, from the fabled dragon salmon to the mouthwatering Momoiro Duck Tagliata. In typicalFood Wars!fashion,this manga spinoff features characters getting carried away by their reactions to every scrumptious morsel. It’s perfectly fitting for a womanizer like Sanji, and it’d be believable from the character’s perspective that his food is so overwhelmingly delicious it causes an almost primal, erotic reaction. Readers of thisOne Piecespinoff manga may find the fanservice plentiful, but it’s on-brand for theFood Wars!team.
One Piece Food Wars! Manga is a Strong Case for More from the Creators
Tenmaku Cinema Deserved Better
DespiteOne Piece: Shokugeki no Sanjireleasing in print this year,Tenmaku Cinemaran between the beginning of spring and the end of the summer in 2023, with an all-too-concise run of the manga by theFood Wars!team. It features fewer fanservice moments, without removing them completely, despite predominantly featuring a cast of high school students.But the greatest common element betweenTenmaku Cinema, Shokugeki no Sanji,andFood Wars!is Shun Saeki’s gorgeous artwork, and Yuto Tsukuda’s thriving passion for the topic.
Tenmaku Cinemaby Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki ran from April to September 2023, with twenty-one chapters and one bonus chapter, with no physical release yet in North America.
One Piece: Shokugeki no Sanji’steam and their other mutual manga projects put exhaustive research into real-world influences, elevating their work into extraordinary art.It helps that their frequent collaborator, renowned chef Yuki Morisaki’s insight into cuisine shows in the detailed historical annotations added to each dish Sanji serves to his distinguished guests.The same can be said aboutTenmaku Cinema, with reverence for the entertainment industry, along with every chapter exploring the difficulties of a student making his first movie, with the passion of a veteran director. It’s a strong case for more manga from the duo.
One Piece Newcomers Get a Sample of the Manga’s Popular Arcs
A Tasty Appetizer For Those Yet to Fully Dig in
The first chapter ofOne Piece: Shokugeki, no Sanji’smanga, unsurprisingly shows Sanji as the bad boy sous-chef of Baratie, winning over the heart of a notorious critic aboard his restaurant ship.However, his culinary adventures soon take him aboard the Going Merry, Alabasta, Momoiro, and Wano. While Sanji’s character doesn’t necessarily endure much noteworthy growth in these chapters, it showcases his greatest assets in theOne Piecemanga.
Sanji may be an infamous womanizer inOne Piece, but theShokugeki no Sanjimanga reminds readers of his obsessive perfectionism and sense of honor.
Sanji may be an infamous womanizer inOne Piece, but theShokugeki no Sanjimanga reminds readers ofhis obsessive perfectionism, dedication to finding exotic fish, and sense of honor.Despite being among pirates and given an unfair disadvantage with inferior flour in a soba noodle cooking challenge, Sanji rises to the occasion without resorting to similar sabotage. It’s not entirely arbitrary, either, as he brings up how revealing his rival chefs' deception would only humiliate and publicly shame the patrons duped into enjoying their inferior products. This is a great character moment in thisOne Piecespinoff manga.
One Piece in the Food Wars! Style in More Ways Than Food
Every Chapter Has Fanservice Moments
One Piece: Shokugeki no Sanji,which has some ofthe most beautiful dishes ever drawn is not the only common element shared withFood Wars!Shun Saeki’s artwork is also showcased, with its characters often depicted enjoying their food to a comical degree, their clothes suddenly ripping off in many cases as they’re carried to culinary nirvana.It’s total fanservice and thoroughly unsurprising for those who have readFood Wars!or the works of Shun Saeki before.
Shun Saeki’s artwork is also showcased, with its characters often depicted enjoying their food to a comical degree, their clothes suddenly ripping off in many cases as they’re carried to culinary nirvana. It’s total fanservice and thoroughly unsurprising for those who have readFood Wars!or the works of Shun Saeki before.
As it turns out, Saeki’s resume beforeFood Wars!includes art of the more risqué variety, working as a hentai artist. Given the characters depicted in this One Piece spinoff, this is not relatively problematic, with the only risk being pre-time skip Vivi. However, the creators opt to make her dining experience one fueled by nostalgia instead of a more carnal reaction.The result is aOne PieceandFood Wars!blend of themes and characters that only theFood Wars!team could pull off.
Shokugeki no Sanji Makes Readers Wish to Sail the High Seas
It Seems Cruel to Introduce Delectable Seafood That Doesn’t Exist
While the culinary influences and techniques are all too real inOne Piece’sSanji spinoff manga,many of the creatures featured are not real, which is a shame, as they’re desirably presented. The tomahawk lobster’s design is imposing to encounter in the water, but seeing it served on a platter for a discerning diner is immensely entertaining. Sanji using a katana to elegantly fillet the infamously difficult dragon salmon is practically iconic. However, it’s an experience that isn’t likely to happen in real life, which is good; it’d likely be prohibitively expensive.
TheShokugeki no Sanjispinoff manga references theOne Pieceuniverse’sEncyclopedia of Rare and Unique Ingredients,speaking to the fabled and immensely sought-after creatures Sanji elegantly prepares for his guests.
But perhaps the most interesting part of theOne Piece: Shokugeki no Sanjispinoff manga is it could entice any readers not yet familiar withOne Piece. This seems hard to believe,with the series selling half a billion copies. Still, the gorgeous artwork and reverence for familiar characters in this global smash hit can entice readers to learn more, especially with some great story arcs teased. But aside fromOne Piece, there’s a strong case for readers to check out the other collaborations and spinoff manga featuring Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki.
One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history’s longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.
