Warning! Contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter #1084!The A piece manga is often criticized for its seemingly childish art style, but its most recent chapter shows that this can actually make it more brutal. Mangaka Eiichiro Oda’s art style is instantly recognizable and turns many readers away, who find it too silly. These fans may rethink that opinion upon seeing the graphic death in the latest chapter.
Chapter #1084, translated by Stephen Paul, delves deeper into the events of Reverie. Prince Charlos, one of the Heavenly Dragons who is a World Government aristocrat, attempted to use Kuma to enslave the mermaid princess Shirahoshi, prompting many members of Luffy’s Great Straw Hat Fleet to try to stop him. stop him by force. Through the combined attacks of Leo and Sai, Charles was stopped and killed in a very disturbing manner. The force of their blows caused his already grotesque head to fold like a creepy accordion. It’s simultaneously a disgusting and hilarious moment that only works thanks to One Piece’s cartoonish art style.
One Piece’s art makes Charles’ death so disturbing
This is just the latest example of Oda proving that his art style is indeed perfect for the story he is trying to tell. Luffy’s Gear Fifth ability is the clearest example of this, with its Looney Tunes-style slapsticks being a great fit for One Piece’s cartoon art style. Oda even used these Gear Fifth powers to unlock Luffy’s most fearsome attack in the Wano section of One Piece, showing that the style can be used for horror as well as comedy. In general, the art style often improves One Piece’s darkest scenes by making them seem more false due to the contrast between the gruesome subject matter and the silly art.
It’s this contrast that makes Charlos’ murder so much more gruesome than in a more realistically drawn comic. The morbidly silly nature of Charlos’ fatal wound would be a silly distraction in a less stylized series. But given how well it fits the style of One Piece, Oda is able to convey the full horror of Charlos’ death in a truly shocking way. However, Oda hasn’t had many opportunities to use this unique aspect of his art style in the manga’s plot so far.
One Piece will probably have more brutal deaths in the future
Charlos’ apparent murder is made even more shocking due to One Piece’s general aversion to killing its characters. But since the manga is now entering its final Saga, Oda may be more willing to kill characters that have served their narrative purposes. He practically confirmed this by teasing a giant death during the One Piece panel at Jump Festa 2023, and now he seems to be putting this into action. If this is the case then A piece fans can expect even more unique and brutal deaths made all the more shocking by how silly they are drawn.
One Piece Chapter #1084 available to read from Viz Media.