On August 30th it will be exactly five years since Eiichiro Oda, the creator of “One Piece”, has announced his intention to end the series within five years. The iconic manga, published in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, has been in circulation for 27 years and has already surpassed 1,100 chapters. However, the question that many fans are asking is: Is it really feasible for the story to come to an end in the time promised by Oda?

In 2019, during an appearance on the Japanese Fischer's YouTube channel, Oda surprised everyone by stating that he planned to end the One Piece story within five years. This claim was supported by his editor at the time, who confirmed that the goal was achievable. Two years later, In 2021, when the series reached the 1,000 chapter mark, the mangaka commented that “the adventure already had one foot in the end”which intensified speculation among fans about the outcome of the epic saga.

Currently, One Piece is in its final saga, revealing many of the mysteries that Oda planted throughout the series. However, despite the fast pace of the plot in the last chapters, many fans agree that the end still seems to be a few years away. This is due in part to contradictory statements from Oda himself, who in 2023, during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the series, softened his previous comments saying: “I was the one who stirred things up by talking about how we were in the final stages, but it won't be over anytime soon, so I'd like readers to relax and enjoy the story.“.

Furthermore, Oda isn't exactly known for predicting exactly when the series will end. As he revealed in an interview with The New York Times, at the beginning of his career he thought that One Piece would end in five years, but that was clearly not the case. The recent conclusion of popular series like My Hero Academia and the imminent conclusion of Jujutsu Kaisen have put Weekly Shonen Jump fans on alert about the end of other great works, but everything indicates that One Piece will continue its journey for some time to come, despite the fact that the five-year period granted by Oda is about to expire.

As the story approaches its climax, One Piece fans are in a state of anticipationknowing that although the end is closer than ever, there is still much to explore and discover in this vast pirate world.

Source: AUTOMATIC MEDIA