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Despite portraying Sanji in the ONE PIECE anime for over a quarter-century, Hiroaki Hirata stated frankly that he couldn’t relate to any single aspect of his character.
Hirata, who appeared alongside fellow ONE PIECE voice actor Kappei Yamaguchi (Usopp), courtesy of Crunchyroll, at Mumbai Comic Con 2025, was asked by Animehunch Team whether there was a facet of Sanji—his chivalry and flirtatiousness, his love for cooking, or his fighting spirit—he related to most after such a long tenure.
His direct response was that he didn’t think he was like Sanji.
While admitting that performing Sanji’s moments of fawning over women (‘meromero’) comes relatively easily to him without thinking, Hirata clarified this was about the ease of execution rather than personal identification.
The veteran explained that he viewed Sanji not as distinct, relatable parts, but as a complete entity defined by all his characteristics combined. According to him, Sanji won’t be Sanji without all those parts.
“The part where he’s absorbed in cooking is Sanji; when an unforgivable enemy appears and he gets fired up and his leg starts burning, that’s also Sanji; and no matter how seriously he’s thinking about things, if a beautiful woman passes by, going ‘Waaah!’ is also Sanji,” Hirata said.
So, while dubbing the character there was never a moment when Hirata thought “this time it involves this aspect [of his character], so it’s difficult,” or “today has a lot of this aspect, so I like it.”
Hirata, however, admitted that there were certain challenges when it came to voicing Sanji’s role. He revealed that the high-intensity scenes of Sanji were demanding, particularly due to the vocal strain.
“However, to tell the truth, the aspects of Sanji that use a lot of energy, like shouting and raising my voice… I do find those tough when I get the script. Seeing lines like ‘Uwahh, Sanji’s shouting today’ is something I kind of wish I could avoid,” he said.
When he was asked by other journalist at the roundtable meet as to what message Sanji might convey to men worldwide watching him, Hirata suggested the core message was about prioritizing giving over receiving in relationships with women.
“Wanting women to do something for you, wanting them to do this, wanting them to do that, is to not think about that at all,” Hirata explained. “Sanji is someone who wants to do things for women.“
“All you men, you like women, right? In that case, for that person, ‘What can you do for them?’ Setting aside your own self completely, sacrificing, for that person’s sake, ‘What can you do for them?’ If you think about that, surely, like Sanji, you might become loved, perhaps,” he added.
Hirata characterized Sanji as someone who views women as treasures, willing to go to extremes (Sanji thinks it’s okay even to die for women, though Hirata called that specific part foolish). He concluded that adopting this attitude of selflessness might lead to being popular, before adding that he hasn’t managed to do that himself though.
Hirata and Yamaguchi attended the Mumbai Comic Con 2025 and interacted with the media before participating in a live voice acting demonstration at the event.
