Yes. His comment on death was, as a I recall, from a separate interview, not an SBS. I believe it may be read at Destination Paradise.
In the full quote (and I'm paraphrasing) he goes on to say while he isn't 100% against it, he believes it should be used sparingly.
Which….at the time....he seemed to do. He let things be more ambiguous than they are today.
It's kind of like reverse Harry Potter. Instead of getting more mature with fans, it gets fucking kiddier.
This I find really selfish on his part. He's always talking about doing shit for 'little fans' but how about the people who've graduated high school, college and have gotten married since you started writing, huh?
This is NOT the Hate Oda thread. Just being bluntly honest about his dealing with this aspect of the series.
Is this point of view of Oda's entirely wrong? Fans who have read One Piece since the beginning are more likely than not the die-hards who are fully accustomed to his style and know how he operates. Nothing he's done here is a big shock in that circumstance. Annoying, yes. Shocking, no. He pays attention to them, but is there really a spectacular need to change how he does things solely to accomodate them? Not that I can tell.
On the other hand, the younger fans in Shonen Jump's main demographic who haven't been able to follow One Piece from the get-go are what Oda has to deal with now. I'll bet anything they outnumber the die-hards and they're only increasing in number as we go along. Fact of the matter is, if Oda feels obliged to take those newer and younger fans into account then who are we to blame him?
If that is what Oda's doing I can't say I like it. But in my feeling it's his story, let him tell it how he wants. It's still quality stuff, in my mind and who knows, maybe he's doing this extra-mercy to set up something bigger? Wouldn't be the first time he pulled a fast one on the readers. One opinion I've had on the lack of deaths is that they make the deaths that do stick (flashback deaths/Merry) more meaningful.