@Nubtro:
Had I read with the absolute mindset that death is impossible unless it´s world-changing, it would be like "oh, he is about to get beheaded, mkay, chill, nobody really dies in OP, OK the blade is bloody, I´m sure it´s nothing, Pound is 100% alive because nobody really dies in OP".
I consider character deaths meaningful as they happen and believe them.
Yep, that was my reaction lol.
My question is, were you guys instantly calling bullshit as it happened?
What does it say about the meaningfulness of the whole sequence?
Should I be satisfied with just the fact that a more important character got away and the reason doesn´t matter?
How you feel is up to you. It is easy to feel disappointed by a reveal that Pound is alive in the next chapter on its own. But after so many death fakeouts, there's no real point in still being upset over it. It's more funny than disappointing to me at this point lol. And I can still at least appreciate the emotional drama of the death even if I know it won't happen. Pell's sacrifice was cool. Bon Clay's farewell was quite sad. Pound's act and internal thoughts made him a more endearing character for me.
You guys are annoyed that people seem to ignore stuff that seems to be too obvious to be ignored but that´s a common misunderstanding that often happens when you focus on seeing things your way.
Well, when you see a certain thing happen over and over for at least a dozen years…
Basically, I do believe that a character dies in One Piece or any other story until it´s proven otherwise. This approach is needed for me to enjoy a story. Most of the deaths that were disproven or are disbelieved have been sacrificial and meaningful in OP.
This is not me trying to blatantly ignore "common knowledge" if that makes sense.
It's fine for you to have any kinds of thoughts in a respectful manner. But because this is an open forum setting, we're going to bring up our thoughts too.
To elaborate on why I don't think Pound or Pedro can die though:
- I believed that Pell died, it was a meaningful sacrifice worthy of his position,
Pell taking the bomb up in the sky was what was necessary for the plot, not staying dead after the explosion.
- I don´t have Bon Clay as clearly dead because Blackbeard was around and might´ve disrupted the fight,
Bon Clay only needed to stay behind to open the Gates of Justice.
- I didn´t believe Sabo was dead because of the scene with Dragon on his ship,
It was always obvious he wasn't dead because of that.
- I believe that Pedro died, his sacrifice was meaningful and the only way of the others surviving,
Pedro's sacrifice was only necessary for letting the Straw Hats escape onto the sea. He doesn't need to stay dead afterwards.
- I believe Pound has been beheaded after he protected his daughter twice from harm.
Pound's role in the plot is only needed for letting the Firetank Pirates escape. He doesn't need to die after they have already escaped.
I only say all of these things to try rationalizing how Oda's mindset probably works with these character death fakeouts. Ace staying dead was necessary to spark Luffy to want to become stronger and to pass on his Devil Fruit. Whitebeard staying dead was necessary for Blackbeard's rise to power and to prevent the Straw Hats from having to fight "nice" pirates for One Piece. All of these other characters only needed to help stall for time or divert the attention/radius of a threat. After those threats are averted, they don't need to stay dead for the rest of the story.
Last but not least, I don´t want to think the author writes the story with an evil grin on his face, thinking "oh I´m gonna troll/surprise everyone with this death which is a fake death".
There´s just way too much sincere goodness in this story, which I tend to be drawn to, so I believe the author simply wanted to show us an emotional scene with a grandfather who didn´t have the chance to see his family grow up say his farewell and die. It was pretty impactful, for a side-character.
But that is precisely why Oda won't kill off most of his characters, ironically enough. He wants his stories, no matter how dark and tragic they can get, to have happy endings. And to have a happy ending in Oda's eyes, there can't be any regrets. Having supporting characters sacrifice themselves when their deaths staying permanent are not necessary for the plot counts along the lines of "regrets" in Oda's eyes. He even clarified this on the record during one of his interviews.
[QUOTE-"Eiichiro Oda"]"Basically I don't kill any characters because I wish the readers to feel satisfied after an arc ended." Asahi Evening Newspaper (26 November 1999)
Also, as far as I know, Oda is not a robot. He might change his stance, fix past mistakes, approach things differently. But this is just a general "people change" statement,
I like to believe that people can change too. But at the same time, I think that expecting such change to be possible requires effort. Visible effort in words or actions to convince the people affected by past flaws/issues. It needs to be earned if the problem seems to be a habit that is tough to change. I personally don't give the benefit of the doubt to everybody that they can change. But I do so for the people who I see have merits and willpower to at least try doing so. If that makes sense.
The man even just admitted that he can make various kinds of female faces, but chooses to stick with the one or two types just because he likes them the most for looking "beautiful" to him. Oda seems like the type of person to acknowledge his habits and potential issues, but also stick by them without regret if that's simply what he likes no matter what anybody else says.
I don´t know that guy personally.
I'd like to think we have at least gotten to know a thing or two about the writer's side of him though.