One Piece's Creator Connected Wano's Arc to the Series' Finale Long Ago

The word of One Piece is one which millions of fans around the world listen for. The series remains the best-selling to leave Japan, and it has amassed a loyal fleet of fans. Of course, those followers are always looking for new updates on the series, and it seems two high-ranking executives gave netizens just that.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia hosted a large anime convention which welcomed talent from Japan and around the world. It was there a Toei Animation and Shonen Jump held a panel where they discussed One Piece. And as one admitted, the series' creator has been plotting Wano for quite some time.

According to a panel summary done by Sandman AP, Shimizu of Toei Animation admitted he was told how One Piece will end, but he can never reveal the secret lest he draw Oda's ire. He went on to say the Wano arc will be a story where Luffy and others "fight against Kaido and Big Mom" in an epic showdown.

Continuing, Shimizu went on to say creator Eiichiro Oda told him a special note about Wano. Long ago, the artist said that "when [the] Wano arc is over, it means the ending of One Piece will be in sight."

Clearly, Oda has been thinking on the Wano arc for some time if he was able to give Shimizu such a heads up. With such big words tied to the Wano arc, fans are more eager than ever to see the story move forward as One Piece's finale slowly but surely sails closer to shore.

Are you excited to see how this arc will end? 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.