@TheGreatestSwordsman:
Fair enough. To me, it was an atrocious move of epic proportions, probably one of the worst things I've ever seen in an anime, which is weird considering it's from one of my favorites. I was genuinely mad when I found out he was alive, esp since this was before I came to the realization that Oda likes fake killing characters as some type of bad parody. Good on you for spotting that he wouldn't die though.
Actually there's plenty of good reasoning behind him living from that explosion. Only a simpleton would think it's stupid that he survived because their minds can't comprehend what happened.
You must realize that he's not a normal human. Explosions as such as those are only capable of killing normal people. Pell has a strong body and has obviously surpassed the human limits. being in the air an explosion first sends you flying due to the shock wave/air pressure. At the same time he can move faster than normal people can see so that means he can react fast to explosions. That means he could have tried flying away from it right before it completely exploded. I'm not sure if I remember right but wasn't there a cloud blocking him and the bomb when it exploded? Oda doesn't show the death blow because he plans to bring those people back. Him having a strong body makes it so that the bomb can't do enough damage to kill him. It's always safe to assume a bomb would kill you though.
The same can be said about, Sabo. His death blow wasn't shown which means there's no proof that he's dead. It also means that, Oda plans to bring him back. To top it off, Oda gave a good hint that he's still alive thanks to, Luffy's father. Sabo, surpassed the humans normal limits so his body was stronger than a normal humans. The bomb that hit him was small since it was only a cannon and to top it off the cannon wasn't directly aimed at him. The best a cannon ball could do to him is push him to the edge of his life. Dragon standing in the crowd watching it happen wouldn't just stand there. He'd obviously go out swim and save the poor kid.
Keep in mind that people like Pell and sabo are super human. They aren't weak like us. The bomb that Pell took into the air would have definitely killed, Sabo though since it's stronger than a cannon ball.