One Piece: Why The Manga Will End Sooner Than You Expect

One Piece is definitely getting better and better as Oda sets the stage for the Final War. With the Elbaph Arc bringing massive revelations and wrapping up now, fans are excited about the next developments of One Piece. There has been much debate not only about how the Final Saga will likely unfold, but also when the manga will finally reach its conclusion.

As Oda has made several “innacurate” projections in the past few years, fans have become increasingly skeptical that the manga would actually end before 2030. But now there are some reasons to believe that One Piece might indeed reach its climax before most fans imagine.

Oda Wants to End One Piece “Soon”

Eiichiro Oda has stated for years that he wants to finish the story “soon,” and has also given several “deadlines” in many interviews. For example, in 2018 he said that he intended to end the story within five years, but, as we can see, things went in a different direction. He also stated that about 80% of the story would be completed by the end of the Wano Arc. Of course, even if the author has a good idea of what will happen in the final arc (and it’s clear that Oda has already defined how many things will unfold), when they sit down to actually write it chapter by chapter, it’s common to realize that the scope of events is bigger than previously imagined.

In any case, One Piece is already in the Final Saga. The remaining question is how long it will take until the manga actually reaches the end. Oda has already dropped a few “spoilers” of his plans, as he has stated multiple times that there will be a massive war which will make the Summit Wars, the “peak” of the manga for many, look like child’s play. Therefore, while it may take a while, the manga is indeed ending.

Imu Descending Upon Elbaph is a Major Twist

The Elbaph Arc started as something big, as it immediately followed Egghead, which was clearly a transition. Thus, fans had no doubt that this arc would deliver massive revelations. In addition, this phase was expected to set the stage for the war, but not necessarily to be immediately followed by the Great War itself. While this might still be true, a few things changed in the most recent chapters, as an unexpected event happened: Imu decided to leave Mary Geoise for a short while, descending upon Elbaph.

While Elbaph has been high stakes since the beginning, fans have been wondering why it seemed like this arc didn’t have a clear antagonist. Typically, each arc has a “main villain,” and since Imu is seen as the major villain of the story, fans expected him to confront the main characters later. Now that Imu has officially stepped into the role of the arc’s primary villain, a massive battle against him is inevitable. The outcome, however, could follow one of these paths: Imu will either need to retreat, given that he seems weakened on Elbaph, or he will still be so strong that he will force the Straw Hats to retreat. In both cases, the stakes will climb even higher, as Luffy will likely find a strong reason to actively want to overthrow the World Government.

Will One Piece End Before 2030?

Given the pace of the Final Saga, many fans now expect the story to end by 2030 or even later. Oda has seemingly avoided giving new projections, likely because his previous ones failed to materialize. Furthermore, One Piece has grown even bigger in the past few years. While this could be a sign that big players expect the story to keep going for a few years, it also raises the hype for the end of the current anime, the new anime adaptation (which will likely cut the fillers) and the live-action series. These are three projects that depend on Oda finishing the story. Keeping the series for another ten years would likely particularly complicate the production of both the remake and the live-action.

On top of that, Imu’s arrival on Elbaph seems to change things significantly, as it gives the feeling that the Final War will be imminent. If some fans initially thought that a transition arc would follow this arc, it seems now that the war will begin right after Elbaph wraps up. Oda has stated that this arc would conclude in 2026, and perhaps sooner than many initially thought. While there’s no official word yet, it really feels like Oda is aiming to finish everything within the next four years; there’s even a chance we’ll see the finale well before 2030.

The Anime Has Started Covering the Elbaph Arc

As Elbaph is winding down in the manga, the anime has just started adapting this arc. The first batch of episodes is airing during the 2026 Spring Anime Season, and the first episode premiered on April 5. Once this cour finishes, the next batch is expected to begin around September. For now, episodes are only released with subs, but an English dub will probably drop in a few months.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Writers

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)