Disclaimer: This article has spoilers for all deaths in series thus far, as well as some minor spoilers for the Dressrosa arc.

We’ve all experienced that feeling in the movie theater or in books. That point in the story when the proverbial garbage compactor is closing in on our heroes. Those nail-biting moments where our hero’s success seems impossible. When death seems like the only way out.

Early on in One Piece, moments like those still existed.

Back during the Arlong arc, I remember thinking that Nami actually did stab Usopp in order to save face in front of her old crew. During the Alabasta arc, I’d watched enough 24 to think that Pell was actually sacrificing himself for the good of the country. And as the Straw Hats marched on Enies Lobby, the threat of death to any of Luffy’s crew still seemed like a(n albeit distant) possibility. That time in the series is nearly gone for me, and with each passing arc, the threat seems to diminish a bit more. Without the specter of death hanging over our characters’s heads, is it still possible to care about our heroes and their fates?

In roughly 91.6% of the series (that is a legitimately scientific calculation), death is something that is only acceptable in flashbacks. In Zoro’s flashback, his childhood friend Kuina dies from a tumble down the stairs. In Nami’s flashback, Nami’s stepmother, Bell-mère, is shot in in the face by Arlong. The trend continues in pretty much every other flashback to date. And in almost every case, the reader is pretty much waiting for that moment when the parental figure is horrifically killed off. I mean, why else wouldn’t they still be in the story?

Now let’s talk about the remaining 9.4% of the series when death in the present timeline has been deemed acceptable by Oda. 5% accounts for the two deaths that take place during the Paramount War, where Ace was executed by Akainu, and Whitebeard was ceremoniously and repeatedly skewered by the Blackbeard Pirates. These are deaths that needed to happen. Ace’s death served as a catalyst for Luffy’s character arc, and Whitebeard’s death cleared the way — metaphorically speaking — for the new generation of pirates to take root. Admittedly, none of this would have been as effective if Oda had gone the George R.R. Martin route of storytelling of killing off main characters left and right.

All that being said, the fact that I haven’t feared for a character’s life since Fishman Island is a big problem. As the Straw Hats make their way through the new world, their foes become greater in strength. But what’s the point of escalating the crew’s strength if their lives are never really in jeopardy? Over time, the “raised stakes” begin to feel artificial, and the entire premise contrived.

I’m not saying One Piece needs to be pointlessly dark and grim. There is more to the story than death. The current Dressrosa arc has proven that an arc can be fun even without a real threat of death…but I’d be lying if I said the arc was better because of that threat not being present. Quite the contrary. I think that the real consequence of death would add to the drama (similarly, the Skypiea arc would have been much better if the characters we thought were killed actually stayed dead). As readers of entertainment, we crave true conflict, and without the potential of the worst of the worst outcomes coming to pass (i.e. death), the true essence of conflict in a series like this seems to be missing.

Let’s talk about the final 4.4% of death in the series. I’ve assigned all mass crowd deaths to this random percentage (you really didn’t think I was being scientific, did you?). With the exception of the two previously mentioned deaths, these are the only circumstances in which Oda seems to allow death in the present timeline. And as dark as things can get with mass deaths, it lacks the emotional punch that the death of a legitimate character would have.

“The reason Luffy doesn’t kill is this: In this era, men live by their beliefs and risk their lives to defend them. Luffy shatters the beliefs of his enemies by defeating them. For them to suffer defeat and to have their beliefs destroyed is as bad as death. Killing their bodies is besides the point. I feel that, as pirates, Luffy and his enemies care more about victory and defeat than they care about their lives.”

In every arc, Oda has consistently proven that he is unwilling to kill off a character in the series. He’s even unwilling to kill off the villains in his story. In an “SBS Question Corner” (in volume 4 of the manga), a fan asks why Luffy doesn’t kill his enemies. Oda responds thusly.

While from a certain standpoint he is correct, the fact that he has removed death from the equation in the series does almost make the entire series feel moot as a whole. For if there was no threat all along, then how much will his title of “King of the Pirates” really be worth? Everyone in the story says it’s dangerous, but we rarely get a chance to actually see that danger in the story–at least the type of danger that our leads should worry about.

I’m sure I sound like a thirteen year-old who’s looking for an excuse to call the cartoons he watches mature, but I legitimately think that, in a story like One Piece, the absence of death feels disingenuous. It’s a pirate story where pirates fight with swords, guns, and other explosive weapons. Death should be a possibility.

How can we have a whole arc where Trafalgar Law’s goal is to kill Doflamingo, when we know there’s no way Doflamingo’s going to get killed? It kind of takes away from the dramatic tension, right?

Obviously, the solution is not to start killing off characters left and right. That would be foolish, and I’m sure most fans would agree. But what I really want is one thing:

I want to be reminded that that death is still possible in the One Piece world.

I want to at least think Luffy is in danger at some point in the story. I want to think that if he doesn’t play his cards right with Doflamingo, that we could find him on the losing side. I want to think that Law really could become a victim of his own bullheaded nature.

Ultimately it is a question of stakes. Are they real? And if they aren’t, is the story really worth reading? I have a great love for One Piece, and I won’t be going anywhere as a reader anytime soon. But it is a problem that has been with the series for awhile, practically to the point where I am no longer on the edge of my seat, and am no longer lost in a world where anything can happen.

This is obviously my own opinion, and is by no means a call for anyone to stop enjoying a series they love. So enough about what I think. I want to hear your opinions. Do you think One Piece is best told as is, with the idea of death far removed from the mind, or do you think the few deaths we have had are more than enough? Sound off in the comments below, or join in on the discussion on Reddit!