FULL SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1187 AHEAD
One Piece has run for almost 30 years at this point, and in that time Eiichiro Oda has become the best-selling manga author of all time, and the 8th best-selling fiction author of all time. The series began in 1997, and in that time it has surpassed 1,000 chapters and sold over 600 million tankōbon volumes, making it the best-selling comic/manga series ever.
It’s basically one of the biggest series in the world at the moment, attracting existing animanga fans and those who have never read a manga or watched an anime in their life. From musicians to actors to athletes and content creators, people from around the world have all praised the series and Oda’s writing. One Piece is a global phenomenon - it’s undeniable - and it may be nearing the end.
Eiichiro Oda has stated multiple times throughout the years that the series has about five years left in its run - and while that statement is obviously incorrect, with the last time he said it being over five years ago - it does appear that the Straw Hat Crew is either in or reaching the endgame of the story.
At this point, only a few mysterious silhouettes and backstories are left to explore, and it seems as if all the final plot points are falling into place, leading to the final confrontations. It’s hard to say, but it really seems like One Piece may be ending soon, which begs the question: “What does the actual end of One Piece look like?”
What Is the Status of One Piece Right Now?
It can be hard to predict how many years are left in the story, but if you have been keeping up and are keenly aware of the different players all vying for the ‘One Piece’ and how close they are to getting it, you know the end is looming. It’s taken a lot to get to this point, and it’s important to fully wrap your head around how massive the whole series has become around the world. One Piece has:
- An anime series, running since 1999 with over 1,000 episodes.
- 14 animated feature films - with the most recent entry, One Piece Film: Red, being the 8th highest-grossing Japanese film.
- Two new films announced: One Piece Film: God Valley, and One Piece Film: Baad.
- A live-action TV series in 2023.
- A new anime series premiering in 2027.
- A new anime - One Piece: Heroines - adapting a light novel series.
- 56 video games.
- The 4th largest trading card game in the world.
- Over 20 live-action stage plays, theater productions, and figure skating adaptations.
- 11 different spin-off manga.
- A critical and fan-favorite TV special - One Piece Fan Letter (2024).
The status of One Piece right now could be summarized in a single word - monumental. Yes, there have been other series like Dragon Ball and Naruto that have captured a similar swath of the global audience and spread out into other mediums, but those series have come and gone. They’ve been existing in secondary material and spinoffs for decades now, with the Naruto manga ending in 2014 and the Dragon Ball manga ending in 1995, over 30 years ago!
What is the point of me saying this? Essentially, One Piece has gone nuclear, and we haven’t even reached the actual One Piece yet, Luffy isn’t the King of Pirates yet, Zoro isn’t the world’s greatest swordsman yet, etc. We can’t know where Oda will want to go with the series once it ends serialization - Naruto’s sequel series Boruto began just one year later in 2015, and Dragon Ball received sequels like Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super years later.
Oda may want to create a sequel series; he may want to explore different characters’ backstories or do a prequel series following Gol D. Roger’s generation; or he may not want to touch the series at all for a few years, if ever. He’s been writing it for a long time and could choose to do something completely different. Oda is now the highest-earning manga artist of all time, and any smart person would throw themselves at his feet to support whatever his next endeavor may be.
However popular Oda and One Piece are right now is just the beginning.
How Much Time Is Left in One Piece
To really understand what the end of One Piece looks like culturally, we need to do our best estimations and see what the actual end of One Piece will look like and how much Oda has left to cover with the rest of the series.
There are hundreds of different factions in the series’ 1,000+ chapters, but only a small group have any actual power in the story going forward:
- The Straw Hat Pirates
- The Blackbeard Pirates
- The Red Hair Pirates
- Cross Guild
- The Revolutionary Army
- The World Government (Imu, the Gorosei, the Holy Knights)
- The Marines
- SWORD
A lot of these groups have been in the story for almost the whole run, but they’re finally making their moves. Imu is fighting Luffy and Loki in Elbaph right now, Shanks has finally mobilized to claim the One Piece, Buggy is telling his followers they’re all going to go and take it, etc.
Whatever the final saga looks like exactly, whether there’s some kind of all-out battle royale between the different factions, à la God Valley, or there are more micro skirmishes and some kind of final head-to-head between Luffy and Blackbeard, the end is in sight.
To break it down in terms of arcs, there will be an end of Elbaph, which we’re in the middle of right now. There has to be some kind of visit to Laugh Tale. It feels like these are the only two guaranteed things, and the rest is all speculation. Potentially a visit to Lodestar - the last island of the Grand Line - potentially some kind of journey to Mary Geoise - MAYBE.
Depending on Oda’s writing habits with arcs, and the breaks he’s been taking lately because of his health and supervision of the live-action show, I’m going to give the series 10 years left at the most. I could see it going until 2036, but on the shorter side of things, Eiichiro Oda may end the series in just a few years.
Fans have speculated Oda rushed to the end of Wano to get to Shanks’ somewhat confusing appearance so it could coincide with the release of One Piece Film: Red. Oda is not immune to outside influence and pressure, whether it’s from his editors, fans, or Shueisha. There are a lot of factors involved contributing to when One Piece will end, and all we can do is sit back and keep reading.
Speculation About the Future
The end is nigh for One Piece the series, but that doesn’t mean the end is approaching for the fandom. If anything, One Piece is entering its renaissance era. With so much worldbuilding and lore and characters and places to love, more and more people are finding the series than ever before.
As I mentioned earlier, other series such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Haikyuu, Fire Force, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, and Black Clover have all come and gone. These series are significant and have a lot of cultural weight behind them, but something about One Piece is just different.
So many people from all different walks of life have fallen in love with the series, and it’s really transcending the boxes people have been putting it in for decades. For example, classic books are high art whereas graphic novels and manga would be low art. That’s just how it’s sort of always been - or at least how bibliophiles have viewed the situation. In today’s world, numerous book lovers on social media are accepting One Piece with open arms, analyzing the world and themes. Some have even begun comparing the series to the seminal Odyssey.
No, One Piece is not the first manga series to have a character go on an adventure, encountering and shaping the vast world around them, but it is by the numbers the most popular one. It’s a story that has impacted lives from different corners of the world, and by all estimations - if Eiichiro Oda can nail the ending - it’s going to continue impacting many more even after the story is completed.
