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With the One Piece manga going on a one-month hiatus before the final saga, there have been a lot of questions on the minds of readers as to what can be expected from the final arc of the series.
One Piece has been going on for over 1000 chapters spanning across what now looks like almost two decades. It’s quite eerie to imagine that one of the longest-standing shounen will finally reach its conclusion, however, it was an inevitability no matter how much fans of the series do not want it to end.
Now, with the series going on a hiatus, there has been a lot of speculation amongst community members as to what they can and should expect from the concluding saga, and what are some of the things that mangaka, Eiichiro Oda, should not leave to the reader's imagination.
Today’s article will discuss eight things that readers and One Piece audiences want to see in the series when the final saga rolls in.
What should the concluding arc of One Piece have in store for fans?
Before heading into the list, it’s important to note here that the article reflects the author’s personal opinions on the matter. It’s not a universal list of expectations, but rather a “what if” fancy and the things that the writer and a fair number of community members would love to see in the final saga.
1) Luffy vs Blackbeard as the ultimate showdown
The first expectation is a no-brainer, and who in the community will not like to see Luffy and Teach duke it out against each other in an all-out brawl? Many in the community want it to be the final and most hyped showdown in the series, and if Oda does look to make it a reality, the excitement surrounding it will be off the charts.
Ever since Marineford Arc, Blackbeard has indeed evolved to be one of the most disliked characters in One Piece. However, with his Yami Yami no MI and innate Haki capabilities, he has grown incredibly strong enough to rival the likes of Shanks and the other Emperors of the sea.
Concluding the series with a showdown between the two will honestly be a treat for long-standing fans.
2) Elbaf needs a visit
Elbaf needs to be visited at least once, either in the form of a lighter arc or as part of the concluding One Piece arc itself. While there has been a great deal of talk around Elbaf throughout the series, even introducing some very memorable characters from there, the kingdom itself was not exactly dealt with thus far by Eiichiro Oda.
Elbaf is considered to be a mysterious kingdom ruled by giants located somewhere in the region called Warland. Community members have been looking forward to the Straw Hats visiting it for years now, and hopefully, the final saga will give in to their demands.
Elbaf is often regarded as one of the strongest kingdoms, with even the Yonko, Big Mom commenting that she would have been the Pirate King by now if she had their assistance.
If Elbaf does make its way to One Piece’s concluding arc, it will be quite interesting to see how the mangaka links it to the grand narrative.
3) A war that shakes the foundations of the One Piece universe
The Luffy and Blackbeard showdown will be even more hyped if it results from an ongoing large-scale war across all the major stakeholders of the manga’s universe. With the Marines, the Emperors of the sea, the Warlords, the pirates of the Worst Generation, the Celestial Dragons, and more involved, the mangaka can look to make it the biggest war arc in the series' history.
The clash can be so big that it shakes the One Piece pirate world to its very core, turning the entire hierarchy and social structure on its head.
4) Major stakeholders finally making a move
A lot of powerful and important characters have been introduced over the course of the One Piece anime and manga who are yet to have a considerable impact on the proceedings of the narrative.
Fan favorites like Shanks, Monkey D. Dragon, and Dr. Vegapunk are yet to be directly involved with the journey that the Straw Hats have made thus far.
While in Shanks' case, a lot might just come to light in the upcoming One Piece Film: Red, the community would still like him to have a more active role once the final saga is officially on its way.
5) Explaining the age-old question “What is One Piece”
It’s about to be two decades now, and audiences still have no clue what the One Piece treasure actually is, even though the treasure itself was directly dealt with within the series during the Wano arc. Especially in the flashback episodes around Oden’s journey with Whitebeard and then Gol D. Roger.
While everyone covets the treasure and thinks it to be nothing more than just the biggest heap of valuable trinkets, it’s highly likely that there is more here than what is made apparent.
The treasure can be of more than material value, and Oda will not be doing his readers any justice if he ends the series without giving a proper showcase of what the treasure actually is.
6) Explanations on the Will of D.
Another long-standing mystery of the series universe is the Will of D. While it pertains to a select group of people who have the D. initial in their name, the only information the community has of them is that those carrying the initial are prominent figures in the world who are destined to make great waves in it.
Characters like Monkey D. Luffy and his entire family line, Trafalgar D. Law, Portgas D. Ace and his family line, and Marshall D. Teach, carry it.
The meaning of the initial is yet to be revealed thus far. While Roger did explain the meaning to Whitebeard in the Wano flashback chapters, the explanation was cut off for readers and audiences.
7) The Void Century: What was it and what caused it to disappear
As explained in the series thus far, the Void Century was a period in One Piece lore that was lost in history and information on which is only traceable through Phoneglyphs.
The current World Government of the manga forbids any form of research into it, and it’s also said to be linked to the treasure to a particular extent.
It’s also mentioned that Void Century holds the true history of the world, but what it was and why it vanished was not something that was explored in the series to date.
Hopefully, the events surrounding Void Century will play an active role in the final saga, and although Silvers Rayleigh learned the truth about the world during his time with Gol D. Roger, he did not explain much about it and encouraged Robin to dig for the truth herself.
8) A narrative surrounding the giant straw hat in Mary Geoise
It came as quite a shock to fans when a giant straw hat was revealed to be just sitting there in Mary Geoise. Straw hats have been tremendously important in One Piece, from being Luffy’s very epithet, the namesake of his crew, as well as paralleling his ambitions to that of Gol D. Roger, who was the original owner of the hat.
The presence of a giant straw hat in Mary Geoise is indeed very baffling, and hopefully, the plot of the final saga will look to touch upon the hat, along with who it belonged to and how it ended up there.
