Episode 51: A Burning Culinary Battle? Sanji vs the Gorgeous Chef
Air Date: 2000-12-06
Opening: Believe (2nd Opening)
Ending: Run! Run! Run! (2nd Ending)
Manga Chapters: n/a
Short Summary
Sanji encounters a woman named Carmen, who claims to have been looking for him for ten years to challenge him for the title of greatest chef in East Blue. Sanji turns down the challenge, but after seeing a blue-finned elephant tuna that is to be the prize for the All East Cooking Championship, Sanji enters. He faces Carmen in the finals and comes out on top, who concedes to him. Meanwhile, Luffy's hat blows away from him, leading him right back to the execution platform.
In-Depth Summary
The episode opens with a woman in a red dress with bright pink hair declaring she has been searching ten years for Sanji, and her two disciples, Jose and Leon, introduce her as the Burning Carmen. Sanji takes her by the hand, in love, but she whacks him in the face with a pan. Jose and Leon show Sanji a bunch of pictures of different chefs, all of which were defeated by Carmen in cooking contests. Carmen explains that she came to think of herself as the greatest chef in East Blue, but one day she saw a newspaper with an article about Baratie. The article claimed that the assistant chef was the greatest in East Blue, so she hunted Sanji down for ten years. Jose and Leon, however, point out that it was only ten days, as Carmen tends to exaggerate. Carmen tells Sanji to come to the #1 Cooking Contest that afternoon, and she spins into the air, but falls back down, dizzy, as Jose and Leon carry her off. One man asks Sanji if he's going to enter the contest, but Sanji refuses.
At an outdoor restaurant, Luffy and Zoro stuff themselves silly as Buggy sits at another table with Mohji, angry about being unsuccessful in finding Luffy. Mohji asks why they have to wear cloaks, and Buggy explains that it's because Smoker is in town and if he spots them, they're done for. Zoro says he's glad he bumped into Luffy, as he was hungry but had no money, but Luffy says that he doesn't have any money either. Zoro freaks out, but as Buggy pounds his fist on the table angrily about not finding Luffy, he accidentally sends his bag of money flying. It lands on Luffy's hat, and Luffy takes out a coin, thanking Buggy for treating him, as does Zoro. As they leave, Buggy recognizes the voice as being Luffy's, and he yells at Mohji to go after him. Meanwhile, Sanji comes to the marketplace and sees many fish for sale at a stand. He sees one fish that the merchant explains as being from West Blue, but since Loguetown is close to the Grand Line, they can catch fish from many different seas. Sanji then sees a crowd gathering by the harbor, so he and the merchant go to see what it is.
The crowd gathers around a giant blue-finned elephant tuna, and a flashback shows a young Sanji on Baratie reading about the elephant tuna. Two cooks say it comes from South Blue, but would also be in All Blue, and so they tell Sanji about All Blue, though say it doesn't exist. Sanji offers to buy the elephant tuna, but the man with it says that it's going to be the prize for the All East Cooking Championship. Sanji decides to enter so he can win the tuna. As the contest begins, Sanji waits around as he meets Carmen and her two followers again, and is promptly hit in the face with a pan after trying to kiss her hand. Nami and Usopp enter the crowd to see what's going on, and there Sanji meets up with them, explaining how he entered the contest so he could win the elephant tuna and learn the secrets in it. Sanji is then called to his first match, so he goes. The tournament progresses along, and soon the final is decided - Carmen and Sanji will face each other for the title of greatest chef in East Blue.
As the match begins, Carmen does dazzling moves while Jose and Leon try to distract Sanji with their capes. Sanji remains undaunted, and as he cooks, he remembers arguing against the chefs of Baratie as a child that All Blue did exist. Sanji realizes that a place like All Blue shouldn't be able to exist, but knows in his heart that it does. The two chefs then finish up their meals, and they line up to be judged. As the host is about to announce the results, Carmen interrupts, saying that when she saw Sanji ten years ago, as a young girl aboard Baratie, she thought she could defeat him, but now realizes she was too arrogant. She concedes to Sanji that he is the winner, and so when Sanji goes to hug her, he is hit in the face by Jose's pan. With his new elephant tuna, Sanji and Usopp carry it along through the streets, led by Nami. Nami stops, telling them it will rain, as the air is now different. Meanwhile, as Luffy and Zoro are walking, the wind blows Luffy's hat off of his head, and he runs after it, causing Zoro to lose track of him. As Buggy and Cabaji are searching, Cabaji spots Luffy, and so they head toward him. In the Marine base, a soldier reports to Smoker that he found Luffy, so Smoker springs into action. As Luffy picks up his hat, he finds himself back in front of the execution platform. However, Smoker, Alvida, Buggy, and his crew are all heading toward Luffy as the episode draws to a close.
Mumbo230’s Notes
The style of this episode is remarkably similar to another Sanji specific filler episode later on (see Episode 133). The end of the episode ties back into the manga events of the Loguetown story.
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