User blog comment:JustSomeDude.../"There is a man I must kill!"/@comment-1595565-20140718151923

Punk Hazard gave me the feeling that Oda is changing his stance on killing characters, or rather, not killing them. I think he realized that letting characters live through the kinds of things he does is just too unrealistic (I know I'm saying realistic about a manga where everyone has super powers, stfu). The way I see it, Vergo and Monet were him getting his feet wet with the idea. He fully immersed himself by saying Shinokuni killed whoever it touched, but pulled back after realizing he went too far too fast and made it so the effects killed a person slowly. Punk Hazard had a lot of moments where characters were called dead or gone: The nameless Marines and hybrid soldiers, Vergo, and even Kin'emon. I'm not saying that Oda is going to start killing off characters left and right, but I am saying he is warming up to the idea and realization that deaths can make for a more impactful story. So yes, I think we will see more deaths in the future.