Oda Reveals How One Piece Will Continue After The End 

This article contains spoilers from One Piece’s Elbaf Arc.

Key Takeaways

• Elbaf Arc marks the beginning of One Piece’s Final Saga, pushing the series close to its end.
• Oda plans to end One Piece on his terms, not succumbing to pressure from Jump editors.
• Spin-off manga may continue the world of One Piece after Luffy’s journey concludes.

One Piece has already entered its Final Saga and fans are waiting in anticipation for Elbaf to progress further. This is the Saga that Oda has always been most excited to draw, and while it is most definitely going to give fans the biggest of moments in the entire series, it will, at the same time, also push the series incredibly close to its end.

As the Final Saga wraps up, One Piece will finish serialization, and the story will eventually come to an end. This is something that a lot of the fans are fearing already, given that One Piece has been a major part of their lives for decades now. However, the end of One Piece might not be permanent and Oda might have many big plans for the series even after it finishes its run in Jump.

One Piece Enters Its Final Saga After Wano Country

• Egghead Marked The Beginning Of One Piece’s Final Saga
• The Plot Thickens With Elbaf

The Wano Country arc was incredibly significant for For One Piece, in more ways than one. Not only did this particular story arc push Luffy one step closer to the grand treasure that he has been chasing since the beginning, but it also made him one of the Four Emperors of the Sea. More than that, Oda himself stated in the past that once the Wano arc is over, the end picture of the One Piece series will finally begin to emerge. Immediately after One Piece wrapped up the Wano Country arc, Oda announced the beginning of the Final Saga and even took a major break from it.

One Piece entered the Final Saga with the beginning of the Egghead Island Arc, and this story recently wrapped up in the manga. It is safe to say that Egghead was absolutely sensational from start to finish and set up better things to come in the Final Saga. With Vegapunk’s announcement having recently finished, the Strawhats are now headed to Elbaf, and the Final Saga is most certainly going to take a major turn soon enough. Elbaf is going to be an arc akin to Wano itself in terms of magnitude, and possibly in terms of length as well. Fans are absolutely delighted to see Oda tackling Elbaf, but, with this arc, the series will take one step closer to its end.

After all, One Piece is in the Final Saga and not many islands are left for the Straw Hats to explore. It is possible that Elbaf will be their last major adventure before Luffy goes on to claim the One Piece, and that in itself is quite a damning statement.

Oda’s Plan To End One Piece On His Own Terms

Oda Doesn’t Plan To Succumb To Pressure From Jump Editors

When one speaks of One Piece right now, the end is almost equivocally part of the conversation. This is simply because One Piece is tackling the last few arcs before Luffy becomes the Pirate King, and from there onwards, a Great War with the World Government will be fought. Although One Piece might still have around 4 to 5 years left, what fans need to keep in mind is that it will, sooner rather than later, wrap up. Oda himself has been waiting to finish the series properly and take a much-deserved rest. Meanwhile, fans are caught in a difficult position, where they certainly do recognize that Oda deserves his rest, but at the same time, don’t want this beautiful journey to ever end.

After all, similar cases have been witnessed with the most popular series in Jump. Naruto continued through Boruto, and Dragon Ball is essentially immortalized even after the death of Akira Toriyama. However, the case for One Piece might just be very different. While One Piece has a lot of potential to continue even after Luffy’s journey concludes, Oda himself has stated that no amount of pressure from Jump editors is going to make him continue One Piece when he doesn’t want to. One Piece is a major source of revenue for Jump, and in 2019, Shonen Jump Editor-in-Chief Nakano clearly stated that he wants One Piece to last forever for Shueisha, akin to how some other series have continued over the years. Here’s what Oda had to say about that.

I will end One Piece when the time comes, no matter how much Shuiesha asks me to extend the series. It all depends on my own decision. – Oda

As is evident from Oda’s own words, he does not want the series to continue after Luffy finds the One Piece and his adventure eventually ends. For Oda, it would be time to put his pen down and enjoy time with his family. Given how much time One Piece has taken from Oda’s life, he will most likely not write any manga in the future either. However, that certainly doesn’t mean that One Piece will not continue in some way or form.

Oda’s Plans To Write Spin-off Mangas

Oda Has Stated His Desire To Write Exciting Spin-off Stories

One Piece will finally come to a conclusion sooner rather than later, and fans know that Luffy’s journey is eventually going to come to an end. But, the end of Luffy’s journey doesn’t necessarily mean that One Piece cannot continue. There is potential for the series to continue in some form, such as through spin-off manga. Oda himself has stated that One Piece could potentially continue through spin-offs. While the statement wasn’t explicit, Oda stated that in the future, he would love to write spin-offs on characters such as Garp, where he would go over his relationship with the Marines, such as the Admirals, including Sakazuki, and at the same time, he would also love to write a spin-off story on Dragon, Luffy’s very own father. According to Oda, a story on the Revolutionary Army leader would be pretty gripping and it would bring joy to fans all over the world as well.

This could potentially be the future of One Piece after the series wraps up. The world of One Piece is so absolutely massive that countless spin-offs can be written by Oda whenever he has time. This wouldn’t ensure Oda has the rest he needs, and spend as much time with his family as he wants. But, every once in a while, Oda could potentially drop a one-shot that would add great depth to the story, and give fans exciting content about their favorite characters.

Fans who are worried about not getting any One Piece content once the journey ends would be delighted to know that Oda will continue the series in some way or form. There is also a possibility that a filler series by Toei Animation Studio will continue, similar to how many other stories have done over the years. Whether Oda would allow that or not remains to be seen. Perhaps, Oda could even do some supervisory work on such a project, but, at this point, only time can tell.

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 1131, is set to be November 11, 2024.