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Will One Piece Ever End?


Credit: Toei Animation

With over 1000 chapters, 970 plus episodes, and counting, One Piece is definitely making its mark on history as one of the popular longest-running manga and anime series.

This shōnen manga by Eiichiro Oda tells the story of Monkey D. Luffy—a young man who sets off on a journey around the world to fulfill his dream of being King of the Pirates. His adventures wouldn’t be complete without his crew, the Straw Hats. Together, they sail around the world in search of the ultimate treasure called One Piece—all the while chasing their dreams.

One Piece began serialization in 1997 under Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump. There are currently 99 volumes. The anime adaptation began in 1999 under Toei Animation. As of writing, the One Piece anime is on its 20th season and has 978 episodes.

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Many manga and anime fans would either praise One Piece for its length or complain about it. Some people who want to get into the series are often hesitant at first because of the number of chapters and episodes. Meanwhile, avid fans would counter this by saying that you’ll be left wanting more once you reach Wano, the latest arc. 

A hack that new fans would do with the anime is that they’ll skip through all the filler episodes just to catch up. Many longtime fans have also offered various tips and tricks in going through the series as fast as possible. 

With that, the question of whether One Piece will ever end or not is regularly brought up. In the past couple of years, Oda has occasionally updated fans on the remaining percentage of the story.

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In 2019, the mangaka revealed in a YouTube videothat he wants to finish One Piece in five years. Oda has already thought about the ending years ago. The manga editor, Takuma Naitō, also reaffirmed what Oda said about the manga ending soon. Oda previously said in 2016 that the manga was at 65%.

With the current events happening in the Wano Arc, it seems that we really are near the end of Luffy and the Straw Hats’ journey. (Prepare the tissues!)

It’s been 24 years since the serialization began. All good things must come to an end. Eventually, One Piece is going to end right before our eyes. When that time comes, I’m sure that all of us will be left bawling over this masterpiece and thanking Oda-sensei a million times.

Related: What is Haki in One Piece Explained

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