User blog comment:Jademing/Ask Oda!/@comment-5082295-20120506055623/@comment-173.77.202.14-20120506234031

yeah i suppose. i get the whole vivre card thing was ominous, but i still never thought it would ACTUALLY happen for the simple fact up until that point no one (important) died. let alone someone of ace's stature in the series. it's always been luffy saves everyone and the day etc.

read some translated interviews of oda and he pretty much says he knows how it's all going to play out, so from that standpoint i guess his death was planned. and judging from how the series flows.. you know, with him dropping a subtle hint about something and then that thing he casually mentioned turns out to be huge news like 400 episodes later. so, yeah. guess it was planned. oda doesn't seem like a dude to do things on a whim or just to buck the trend.

blah. ramble. understand why he died, just wished he hadn't.