It was not your fault. You tried to inform us what you heard and we appreciate it. Don't beat yourself over it @Sandman.

This is so shocking! I hope he comes back to us. Let's pray for his recovery.

@thegab:

The whole chapter wasn't built around Pound's supposed death. You're just exaggerating. Hell, I didn't even end the chapter on Pound, it ended on the Sunny.

When I say a whole chapter is built on Pound's fakeout I don't mean literally. What I'm alluding is that the driving force of this chapter, what makes it powerful, is Pound's sacrifice.This is, of course, my opinion, however, all everyone is talking about is Pound so I guess it's what made it interesting for a lot of other people as well.

@thegab:

Not sure how this was a waste either? This showed how far Pound was willing to go to protect/see his daughter again. Him not dying doesn't take that away.

Oda spent a couple of pages with Pound, saying how he was happy to see Chiffon if only that one time, thinking about all the things he would like to say to Chiffon and never could, making Pez the only one to notice Pound…those things seemed like a goodbye, a very powerful and tragic one given the circumstances.

Oda constructed this chapter a certain way to make us feel certain emotions. Would those scenes have the same impact if Pound ends up being alive? not for me. I understand that Pound is willing to make sacrifices but with Oda's reputation, this is where you go, meh, were all those panels even necessary?

@thegab:

All future similar circumstances should be viewed differently as a long time reader. Stop getting your hopes up that someone is going to die every single time something like this happens, and you won't be disappointed or "inconvenienced"

I'll view all future similar circumstances the same because not for a moment will I feel the tension if I know Oda is trying to trick me into something without delivering palpable results. That will always be my response as a long time reader until proven I can expect otherwise.

I'm aware of Oda's tendencies. It’s not like I started reading OP yesterday. I'm not even bothered that he hasn't matured in that aspect over the years. It's his style and I accept it. But that doesn't change the fact that these many fakeouts are simply not necessary. Two fakeouts in 10 chapters would be overkill even for Oda's standard.

To be honest, this is one of those fakeouts that would feel like a complete waste of space and time if Oda happens to invalidate it. Sixty something chapters in an arc with no end in sight and he spends a whole chapter focusing on Pound's tragedy with his unsaid words just so we have him alive and kickin' the next one. Him being alive? Classic Oda, I'll admit, but that is emotional manipulation at its best. All future similar circumstances will feel like an inconvenience. It's not the same when you have a fakeout that took three panels of a chapter to having a whole chapter built on a fakeout.

@Nubtro:

OK I´ve eaten so everything´s fine now. Thanks for the responses.

Let me clarify. Not sure how well I will be able to explain this though, English is not my native language. I understand we are here critics by default, as forum members who post every week, so a basic level of "knowledge" is expected.
But there are many fans, it´s a wide range of people. Some have a truly astonishing understanding like Greg, others might only remember major story developments.

But that´s not my point. What I´m trying to say is that the #1 reason we are here gets lost at one point in the analysis (unless the analysis itself has become the #1 factor for a person). The enjoyment of reading a damn good manga.

That for me personally means reading One Piece because it gives me an awesome feeling of adventure, action and comedy with the occasional drama. When it fails to do so, I criticize the stuff I didn´t like.
I can only experience this by getting involved within the story, like "in the moment" this is happening and I´m right there with the characters.
So, I wouldn´t enjoy it if I went to read a chapter with the mindset of OK, I should believe absolutely nothing that is going to happen because it might not be true. Note that I dislike "it was all just a dream / fake drama", especially when it comes to death.

So, as I read this chapter, I really felt "oh no, Pound is about to die, I hope/expect somebody to save him, go Sanji!" only to see him smile, fix his tie and wish his daughter and grandson the best in life as he is about to get executed.
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.

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?

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.

Basically, I do believe that a character dies in One Piece until it´s proven otherwise. This approach is needed for me to enjoy the story and believe all the other magical stuff that are occuring, if they make sense. Most of the deaths that were disproven or are disbelieved have been sacrificial and meaningful.
This is not me trying to blatantly ignore "common knowledge" if that makes sense.

EDIT:

• I believed that Pell died, it was a meaningful sacrifice worthy of his position,
• I don´t have Bon Clay as clearly dead because Blackbeard was around and might´ve disrupted the fight,
• I didn´t believe Sabo was dead because of the scene with Dragon on his ship,
• I believe that Pedro died, his sacrifice was meaningful and the only way of the others surviving,
• I believe Pound has been beheaded after he protected his daughter twice from harm.

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.

Also, as far as I know, Oda is not a robot. He might change his stance, fix past mistakes, approach things differently.

EDIT 2: It´s good to hear you can still enjoy the story even if you get angry with the way some things are handled. I can sympathize with that, it happens when you really like something to the point you want to be part of its creation.

I understand where you're coming from. I too believe Oda at some point can change his mind about deaths. It, without a doubt, would increase the tension of the story. Maybe he doesn't realize it but when we read a death scene in OP we most of the time know we're being played by him. I'm pretty sure it doesn't achieve what he wants us to feel (which is tension). Some buy into it though.

I'm trying not to expect much anymore but it would be in Oda's favor if he decided to raise the stakes in the "most dangerous sea" by avoiding half of his fake-outs and delivering some actual casualties.

This was insanely good. Everything about it was perfect. The pacing, the art, the animation, the music.

Pudding's balcony scene made me feel a certain kind of way. Perfect. 10/10. Creme de la creme. Every praise you know, thrown it in here.

Who did the storyboard?

Oda is an interesting man for sure.

@Sirxxx:

People here take issue with a lot, as if they haven't read 883 previous chapters of this same story or something Or at least know the story beats.

Believe me, the forum is rather tame now. At the beginning of the Dressrosa arc the chapter threads were pure crazyness.

I also agree it looks more like Tomita than Inoue.

@FelRes:

Has anyone figured out the point of Pound yet?

He's in Cocoa island preparing for a romantic reunion with his babe Big Mom.