Highlights
- One Piece has entered its final saga after the conclusion of the Wano arc, but there is still a lot of story left to tackle and many plot threads to tie up.
- Eiichiro Oda wants to end One Piece in a fulfilling manner and has already planned the ending, but it will take time to address all the major factions and events in the final saga.
- With the current pace and the introduction of new arcs like Elbaf, One Piece is unlikely to end before 2030, and Oda's previous estimation of ending by 2024 will not come to pass.
Eiichiro Oda's magnum opus, One Piece, has been continuing for nearly 25 years now and the series keeps on getting better with each passing saga. One Piece recently wrapped up its biggest arc yet, the Wano country arc, and it is safe to say that this story was loved by fans far and wide, with quite a lot crowning it as the best arc of One Piece to date.
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With the conclusion of Wano, it was only a matter of time before One Piece entered its final phase. Previously, Oda had mentioned that after the Wano arc wrapped up, fans would then start seeing the end of One Piece in sight. Now that the arc has finally wrapped up, One Piece has truly entered its final saga. This means there isn't all that much of the story left, however, the question still remains, when exactly will One Piece end?
When Oda Wants To Finish One Piece
One Piece has continued for over 2 decades now and it is quite clear that Oda would want to end the story sooner rather than later. That said, Oda has previously mentioned that he does not want to finish a story in a way where it feels like he's disrespecting his audience. Whenever Oda introduces an idea in the story, he plans to flesh it out completely, which is one of the reasons why the story has continued for so long. That said, has made sure to tie up most of the plot threads in his story and it is very likely that he will continue to do that in the future as well.
Oda, of course, wants to wrap up his story as soon as he possibly can, however, at the same time, finish a story in a fulfilling manner. He already has the ending of One Piece planned, so coming up with one should not be an issue for him. The main issue that Oda has to resolve in order to end One Piece in a fulfilling manner is to tie up all the plot threads and there are plenty that are still left in the story.
Oda has spoken about finishing One Piece on quite a lot of occasions and one of the most recent ones was in 2019, when he mentioned that he would like to end One Piece in 5 years. That would mean Oda was planning to end One Piece by 2024, however, with the year already upon the fans, there is absolutely no way for that to happen. One Piece is certainly going to continue in 2024 and beyond since there is a lot that is still left to tackle.
One Piece's Final Saga
While One Piece might not end in 2024, at the very least, the beginning of the end is finally here as the story has now entered its final saga. The Final Saga of One Piece started immediately after Wano concluded and, with that, the Straw Hat Pirates are now in the endgame. Having collected three of the four Road Poneglyphs already, Luffy is within reach of his goal. However, that does not mean that all this will happen anytime soon in the story. The Egghead Island arc itself has lasted for a year already and it will likely continue into 2024.
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Egghead is only the beginning of the Final Saga and there is a lot more to come. Previously, Oda made it very clear that in the Final Saga of One Piece, he would like to throw attention on not just the Straw Hat Pirates, but to events going on all over the world. This means all the major factions of the One Piece world, such as the other members of the Yonko, the World Government, the powerful Marines, and the Revolutionary Army will all come into play in this Final Saga. Fans have already seen a glimpse of this approach in Egghead Island, which took them all over the world and showcased many pirate crews and other organizations being involved in major happenings all over the world. That is precisely how the Final Saga will continue and, if anything, that means Oda will be spending more time drawing these vast and illustrious stories.
One Piece Arcs In The Final Saga
In the Final Saga, One Piece will be composed of several arcs, as is the case with every single saga in the story. There are quite a few islands that the Straw Hat Pirates have yet to visit. Currently, the crew is on the island of the future, Egghead, and that certainly won't be the last place that the crew visit.
Elbaf, the island of the Giants, is next and this arc is most likely going to be a very big one, given that it has been set up for years and its structure is most likely going to be similar to that of Wano. Elbaf is going to be huge in every regard and that is the arc that every fan of One Piece is currently looking forward to.
Even though this arc is going to be massive, it is certainly not going to be the end of One Piece and there is more to come. Fans know that Luffy has to get to the Final Island, Laugh Tale, and there, claim the One Piece. There is also the Great War that will come in which Luffy and the Straw Hat Grand Fleet will overthrow the World Government. This war can come before Luffy reaches the Final Island or, it can come after, depending on which way Oda wants to handle this. There could be other smaller islands sprinkled across that way and, of course, there's going to be the aftermath of the war as well. Taking all things into consideration, One Piece is not going to be ending anytime soon and Oda's very own estimation of the series ending by 2024 is certainly not coming to pass.
When Will One Piece End?
All things considered, One Piece will most definitely not be ending anytime soon. If Egghead continues into the next year, then that means the next major arc will begin in 2024 and, from there onwards, taking into consideration all the plot threads that need to be tied, One Piece will most likely end closer to 2030. While this might seem like a lot to the fans, given how many arcs there are in the story this seems like a fair estimation. If Elbaf lasts for up to 3 years, there is also the final war to consider and, of course, the journey to Laugh Tale. Finding out the true history of the world will also take the fans into the past, which will also be an extensive flashback. At the very least, One Piece will still continue for 5 years after the conclusion of Egghead, which means the story could wrap up anytime around 2029 or 2030.
There is also the fact that Oda is now taking more breaks than ever before. Furthermore, with Netflix's One Piece Live Action being a major success, Oda will be more involved than ever before and, as seen this year, this involvement certainly does ensure that he ends up taking a lot more breaks as well. These breaks are certainly not going to make the end of One Piece come any closer. By all means, One Piece will end by 2030 and, potentially, even after that.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1094, is set to be October 8, 2023.