Why 2025 Is The Year Of Shanks

The Final Saga of One Piece has proven to be quite exciting so far, with Egghead being one of the very best arcs in the entire series, and quite easily one of the very best starts to any saga in the story. Now, the heavy-hitting arcs are to follow, and as fans know, Elbaf is already ongoing. The final saga is where Oda has promised to give exciting roles to the vast majority of major characters that have been on the sidelines for all these years.

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One Piece: Oda Sets Up Marineford 2.0 In The New World

Marineford marked the end of the first part of One Piece. Oda sets up a huge war, similar to Marinford, in the Final Saga.

As promised by the author previously, this is the most exciting part where the vast majority of the characters are going to make moves even aside from the Straw Hat Pirates. Of course, the biggest character that fans want to see make exciting moves in the Final Saga is none other than Shanks, and 2025 might just be his year.

Oda’s Promise For Shanks In The Final Saga

• Shanks Has Been On The Sidelines For Many Years
• Oda Stated Shanks’s Appearance Means One Piece Is Close To The End

Shanks is easily one of the biggest players in the Final Saga of One Piece, if not the biggest. As fans know, he was introduced quite early in the story and was the most important character in Luffy’s life at the beginning as he was essentially responsible for him setting out on the path to becoming a pirate in the first place. Shanks departed Luffy’s life quite early, but he did his job as his guide. Fans knew that even though he hadn’t appeared in the story in the initial few chapters, he would come back later down the line and play a major role. Of course, no reader could have predicted Shanks to be on the sidelines for as long as he has been, but, what matters is that One Piece is in the Final Saga right now, and Oda has already promised the fans that Shanks is going to make massive moves here.

In 1999, Oda clearly stated that fans would be able to tell that One Piece was in the Final Saga when Shanks started appearing more often. This essentially means that the Final Saga of the story is where Shanks goes on to play a very important role. This is further backed up by Oda’s message, where he clearly stated that the Straw Hat Pirates are not going to be the only protagonists of the Final Saga. Of course, the Straw Hats are the centerpiece to the entirety of One Piece, but Oda stated that the Final Saga will see the vast majority of the side characters being under the spotlight as well.

One of the many reasons why Oda was incredibly excited for drawing the Final Saga was because he knew that here, he could focus on characters other than Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates and bring them into the fold as well. Of course, when it comes to the side characters, Shanks is, by far, the most important one. As fans know, Elbaf is already upon us, and it is here that Oda will give Shanks a massive role, in one way or another.

Why 2025 Is Going To Be Massive For Shanks

Shanks And His Family Will Be Involved Massively

2025 is going to be the year of Shanks and fans will find out a great deal of secrets about this character. For one, One Piece is in the Elbaf Arc and this arc is directly tied to Shanks. For those who do not remember, Shanks is the protector of Elbaf. This means that this country is essentially under the protection of the red-haired pirate. Elbaf being under focus automatically means that Shanks is going to be under focus as well. Even though Shanks is not in Elbaf at the moment, he is still out there on the seas, serving a very important purpose. He initially set out to sea to punish Bartolomeo, who had committed a grievous error. Shanks successfully punished him and his crew, and his second most important task was to get to Blackbeard and stop him in his path. Shanks was on the quest for Blackbeard all this time, and it is possible that he and Blackbeard will come face to face soon enough.

It is possible that 2025 is when Shanks and Blackbeard will finally get to clash, but, if they don’t, fans know that Shanks’s destination should be the country of the Giants, Elbaf. On Elbaf, there is currently another Yonko, who also happens to be the protagonist of the series, Luffy. Fans also know that Luffy and Shanks are very close to each other, and that they will eventually go on to come face to face before Luffy claims the One Piece.

More importantly, Luffy has promised to return his hat to him once he becomes a Great Pirate. He has successfully fulfilled this goal, and their meeting is going to trigger a chain of some of the most important events in the story and. 2025 can actually give fans a reunion between Luffy and Shanks, as well as a battle. It all depends on which way the Elbaf Arc goes. Of course, it is not a certainty that Shanks will return to Elbaf in 2025, but, even if he doesn’t, fans will find out a great deal of information about Shanks through another way.

How Shanks Can Be Central To The Story In More Ways Than One

The Figarland Family Is Already Deeply Involved

So far, what has been discussed assumes that Shanks either fights Blackbeard, or returns to Elbaf in 2025. However, even if neither of these things ends up happening and Shanks continues sailing to a mysterious location without appearing in the story as often as fans would have liked, fans will still get major reveals about this individual. This is simply down to the fact that the Figarland family is going to be central to the Elbaf Arc. St Garling Figarland, who is Shanks’s dad, was recently revealed to have risen through the ranks of Five Elders. He is going to play a pivotal role in the story moving forward.

But, more than that, the Shanks’s look-alike, who is likely his twin brother and the son of Saint Garling, was recently seen arriving on Elbaf. This character is going to be incredibly important and will most definitely come face to face with Luffy soon enough, given that he is the main villain of the arc, by the look of things. The Shanks look-alike is searching for none other than Loki. More importantly, Loki also holds deep secrets about Shanks that he wants to share with Luffy, albeit at a price.

Clearly, even if Shanks doesn’t return to Elbaf, fans will find out a great deal of history about him through his brother, who Luffy will even inevitably go on to fight, and of course, also Loki, who carries some deep secrets about Shanks that he hasn’t shared with Luffy yet. This year is going to be the year of Shanks because fans will essentially find out a great deal about his family, his past, and his true connection to Elbaf. Fans might also get a glimpse of his true level of strength, and of course, if Shanks is focused on across some exciting battles, such as the one against Blackbeard, then 2025 might just be the best year of One Piece so far.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1136, is set to be January 19, 2025.

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Release Date

October 20, 1999

Creator

Eiichiro Oda

Number of Episodes

1122