One Piece stands as the most successful manga title to date, but that doesn’t mean the series can live forever. Creator Eiichiro Oda has been cranking out chapters for more than 20 years now, and the artist says the end is nearer than fans think.
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Recently, Oda opened up about the state of One Piece in a TV special. Fuji TV did a piece touring the artist’s massive Japanese home, and Oda did an interview as well where he touched upon when One Piece will end.
According to Anime News Network, the creator said the ending of the manga is “near.” Oda would not elaborate on specifics, but he did say the series will have “just over 100 volumes” total.
Of course, this news has not sat well with fans. After all, One Piece has grown up with many of its readers, so fans are not sure how they will go on without the title. However, one Shueisha writer did comment on Oda’s note, and he wants fans to calm down.
Taking to Twitter, user @ochimusha108 reassured fans Oda is almost certainly trolling fans with his update. In fact, the official One Piece columnist wants fans to tear down their memorials because the shonen title has a ways to go still.
“When Oda says OP is going to be ‘a little over 100 volumes’ don’t start cracking out you candlelight vigil clothes to mourn the end. You can almost see the troll grin on his very words. One Piece will continue for some time,” the writer stressed.
ddAnd when Oda says OP is going to be ‘a little over 100 volumes’ don’t start cracking out you candlelight vigil clothes to mourn the end. You can almost see the troll grin on his very words. One Piece will continue for some time.
— Greg (@ochimusha108) January 9, 2019
Still, no one knows the true ending of One Piece save for Oda. The story is still one of Shueisha’s top titles, and its anime continues to expand under Toei Animation. With a 20th anniversary film on the way, One Piece could carry on indefinitely if that is what Oda wants, so it is up to fans to decide whether or not his latest statement is an upfront one.
So, are you ready to part ways with the Straw Hat crew? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.
