Oh absolutely! I think about how often Sanji sees Reiju in other people constantly, especially women under the control of violent men.
There's a really good post going around, talking about Sanji's treatment of Nami and Robin, when they each respectively "turned" on the Strawhats in Arlong Park and Enies Lobby. He says something along the lines of "a woman has her reasons to lie"; he shows a lot of understanding towards their need to project themselves as "villains" in order to save what is dear to them.
And yes, part of it is the way he perceives women in general, but part of it is also the sister he grew up with. A girl who had to lie and perform cruelty in order to be spared from violence, the violence that Sanji himself was a victim of. He was ABSOLUTELY shaped by that experience, and the way he perceives """cruel""" women.
Viola is a really good example of this, too, yes! And he doesn't do this with every woman he meets either! He's able to read them and tell. He didn't do this with Black Maria for example, there wasn't any performance to her villany. So it's not just a "Sanji-ism". You're definitely onto something.
Pudding is another good example, of course. But to me, an element of this I've never seen anyone talk about is how Sanji treats children.
Yes, on the one hand, he treats all of them pretty nicely, and even when he's rough, it's in a similar way Zeff would have been on him. Think of his lines about the children of Elbaph, how they were "raised with love and care" and how he gets mad at Luffy for berating them for that. But despite that, he can be a bit more rough with young boys; think about how he clashed with Momonosuke often. He wasn't afraid to call him a little brat or scold him.
But Sanji with little girls? He's so protective. The way he acted around Toko specifically, is kind of ingrained in my brain. There's that little extra bit of animation in the anime, where he holds her head close to his chest when she cries to comfort her. I can't help but wonder if he sees his sister in her. They're nothing alike in personality, yes, but when Sanji knew Reiju, she was also a young and resilient little pink-haired girl who was living in fear. Idk, maybe it's a reach, but it's an interesting reading to me!
And as always, let me clarify that I don't think Sanji doesn't have feelings of frustration about Reiju's treatment of him. But that inner conflict is probably exactly why he understands women who are similar to her so much. If she had protection back then, maybe she wouldn't have been afraid, and thus she wouldn't have been forced to treat him that way. It's a weird mix of self-preservation and love for the one person that was, in limited ways, kind to him. In the end he is definitely grateful to her, and he does see her as the only family he actually has left in Germa. And part of me wonders if he feels guilty that she was left behind, and maybe the way he acts towards those who remind him of her, are a way to retroactively thank someone he wasn't able to.
