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One of the most appreciated and longest-running series in the world, One Piece is a unique blend of adventure, epicness, comedy, and mystery. After decades of entertaining serialization, the story is about to reach its climax, as the manga just entered its final saga.
In his message issued at the recent Jump Festa 2023, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda reassured fans that the series is still many years away from its conclusion, which makes sense. The story has so much narrative potential, which was only teased, but it has yet to be fully developed.
Especially after all these years of buildup, a rushed ending would be unforgettable. A masterwork of this caliber has to wrap up everything in the best possible way. Regardless, the sad day when the curtain closes will come sooner or later. This thread will try to predict what will happen when One Piece ends.
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After the story concludes, which route will the One Piece franchise take?
A sequel series
When a successful franchise meets the end of its original story, most of the time the narrative verse gets expanded so that it's possible to develop some sort of sequel. This is a well-established practice, as seen with Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, the archetype of all shonen series, which eventually resumed and continued with Dragon Ball Super.
However, living up to the legacy left by their original stories is not easy, and most sequels fail to do so. A vivid example of this is Boruto, which, according to most fans, doesn't even remotely measure up to Masashi Kishimoto's iconic Naruto series.
Interestingly, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda seems to have already spoken on the matter. He said that, if asked to work on a sequel once the story concludes, he would refuse. However, on another occasion, he also jokingly declared that he'd like to start a new manga called "Two Piece" after One Piece ends.
Regardless, sequel series tend to be redundant. Rather than seeing the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates' heirs or sons, fans would probably be more interested in watching their beloved protagonists achieve their long-established dreams.
Special chapters and movies may be the best choice
With its exceptional worldbuilding and intertwined plot, One Piece would have plenty of canon material to entertain fans even after the end of the original manga. Readers often complain that the series didn't focus enough on several events or characters, which could be properly covered once the main story concludes.
To keep the series from lasting longer than it already does, Eiichiro Oda chose to handle certain issues very briefly, not showing what happened directly but leaving it off-panel and just mentioning the outcome through text. However, fans would give anything to see, for instance, every moment of the battle between Akainu and Aokiji.
Many other great fights were left off-screen, including Shanks vs. Mihawk, Red Hair Pirates vs. Kaido and King, the God Valley Incident, Garp vs. Roger, and more. Granted, some of these events will likely be shown in dedicated flashbacks towards the end of the series. However, this clearly will not apply to all.
Thus, it would be great if One Piece released dedicated chapters or movies, allowing fans to fully satisfy their curiosity with regards to what the original series didn't manage to cover. Likely, this would be much more appreciated than a sequel.
A prequel would also be great
One Piece mostly focuses on the adventures of young pirates who explore the world and fight the established top dogs to overthrow them, but legends from the past also play a pretty major role. Before the Great Piracy Era, there were already powerful guys ruling the seas.
Whitebeard, Roger, Rayleigh, Sengoku, Garp, Xebec, and many other mighty pirates and Marines competed for supremacy, with their names earning everlasting fame. A prequel completely and solely focused on their adventures would be exceptional.
Likewise, another great idea would be a prequel centered around the chronicles of "Sun God" Nika and "Sword God" Ryuma, as well as their interactions with the World Government around the time of the aforementioned tyrannical organization's proper establishment.
Final Thoughts
The interest that the upcoming Netflix live-action series has already generated, despite not even being released yet, evidences the immense appeal of the One Piece franchise. Likely, the hype will skyrocket even more when Eiichiro Oda finally delves into the lore that he carefully built up.
The reveal of Void Century's events, which led to the rise of the World Government, and all the other mysteries of the series, as well as the Straw Hats realizing their dreams and partaking in the final war along with the other major characters, will all be unforgettable moments. Unfortunately, they will also mark the conclusion of the story.
Strictly speaking, even when the manga ends, fans won't be immediately left empty-handed. The anime will still last for some time, probably at least one year, with Toei Animation taking care to transpose Eiichiro Oda's manga chapters into anime episodes.
Regardless, when this marvelous journey, which started back in 1997, inevitably ends, the entire One Piece fandom won't be able to hold back tears. The most dedicated fans will always carry inside themselves the memories of this beautiful story.
