One Piece is currently in its final saga and as of writing this article, the manga is wrapping up the Egghead arc as Luffy and the Strawhats head towards the highly anticipated Elbaf island.
Way back when chapter 1090 dropped in August 2023, fans noticed Vegapunk saying he and the Straw Hats would go there someday. However, it took 2 years real time for them to actually be on the move.
Despite being regarded as one of Earth’s best comic book writers in history, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda is notorious for stretching out his story arcs beyond what he initially told.
And this made fans wonder whether they’d be actually alive before One Piece concludes. But a lot of fans have been going with rumors and misinformation regarding Oda’s statements and it’s time for everyone to know the truth.
Oda’s track record of estimating the duration of One Piece serialization
According to the data gathered by the Library of Ohara, Eiichiro Oda initially intended for One Piece to end in 5 from the time of its creation, which was back in 1997. It’s been 27 years since and it’s still going strong.
In 2002, Oda estimated that it would take 20 years for him to draw everything he wants. That leaves us with an approximate ending year of 2022. However, that changed in 2014, when Oda and his editor reckoned they could keep going at it for another 10 years.
But that’s when the inconsistencies stop. In 2019, Oda reaffirms his estimate by saying One Piece would end in 5 years, which again leads to 2024.
Like some fans, the mangaka’s editor, Takuma Naito, was initially skeptical, but later assured fans that “If Oda says it will be 5 years, then it will surely end in 5 years.“
In a TV interview with Arashi in 2020, Oda stated pretty confidently that One Piece will conclude in 4 to 5 years. Okay, so he extended by another year. Big deal!
Oda reaffirms these statements while answering a fan question whether One Piece is truly ending in 5 years. His response was published in SBS volume 97 as follows:
Yes it is. Rather than finishing the whole series, It’s that series will end, because the most exciting part of Luffy’s adventure, being the story of “What is One Piece?”, will come to its conclusion. Things are heating up in Wano Country right now, but if Luffy can set sail from here safely, there will be developments on a global scale, a thrilling story likes of which no one has even read before I’ll draw the “Greatest War” in One Piece history. It will be exciting!! In other words, I made such a announcement so readers could be mentally prepared to understand that even a story as long as this one is properly heading towards its end. That said, for now just take your time and enjoy Wano while its hot. I’ll be draw with all my strength!!
While fans argue that Oda always uses the “5 years left” on social media, there’s enough evidence to suggest that he was more-or-less consistent about his estimates.
He only mentioned the “5 years left” twice and he has never once repeated or stated a higher number than what he had said before.
Fans are still concerned despite Oda’s recent consistency over his estimates
With that said, fans are still concerned over One Piece‘s conclusion and fulfilling Oda’s estimates.
The concern arises when one realizes that One Piece has now just entered the Elbaf arc and still has many mysteries to solve, apart from the “Great War arc” Oda foretold.
It took 2 years for Egghead arc, the first arc of the Final Saga, to conclude, and folks are worried One Piece will end before 2025 itself!
Elbaf arc promises lots of exciting new developments for One Piece fans. They might finally get to know stuff like the Final Road Poneglyph’s location, Vivi’s involvement, Imu’s identity, Usopp’s new powerup and more information about Sun God Nika.
One Piece is now available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
