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‘One Piece’ Manga Not Ending Soon, But Big Mom Arc Is? Longer And Frequent Breaks Doesn’t Mean Series May End Soon

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 05:14 PST, Oct 30, 2016

The upcoming chapters of the immensely popular Japanese manga One Piece are few of the biggest ones in the current arc.

Judging by the intense schedule strictly adhered to by One Piece mangaka Eiichiro Oda, it was consistently speculated that the series might be coming to an end. Multiple aspects, including his extremely long working hours and frequent breaks, led to the rumors that Oda might not have enough material to regularly put out chapters of One Piece.

One Piece manga has been running successfully for a decade. While this is certainly a long time for any manga series to enjoy, One Piece is nowhere close to other Japanese series that have been running for a lot longer length of time. Nonetheless, it has not only withstood the test of time but managed to entertain its fans with a unique blend of action, drama, comedy, and intrigue. Hence, it may not come as a surprise that One Piece has survived numerous rumors about its alleged conclusion, including the most recent one.

In the past, several writers who allegedly worked with Oda on One Piece insisted that he lived and breathed the manga series. Many of these writers claimed Oda routinely stays up the whole night so he can discover more story arcs for the series. When he does sleep, Oda wakes up very early to write them, reported Mobipicker. According to rumors, Oda barely sleeps for three hours and spends every waking minute for One Piece. Quite recently, the Japanese government’s Labor Ministry had acknowledged deaths due to overwork. In fact, the Japanese even have a name for such fatalities: “Karoshi.” Hence, fans of the manga series had expressed concern about Oda’s health.

There have been several indicators in the past about how long One Piece manga is expected to run. Based on a few interviews given by Oda, many fans calculated that the manga had at least a decade or so before it ran out of steam. But recent interviews with one of the editors, Naoki Kawashima, indicated quite the opposite. According to Kawashima, the manga had already burned through 70 or perhaps even 80 percent of the story. If his version is to be believed, One Piece manga won’t have much reliable material to sustain. If the manga is indeed 80 percent over, then One Piece may end as early as December this year or early next year.

Apart from the verbal indicators, the frequent breaks that One Piece routinely experiences doesn’t bode well for it. Moreover, the breaks appear to be getting more frequent as well as longer, complained quite a few of its fans. Additionally, recent rumors even suggested the lack of material might force Oda to release a chapter every month, instead of its weekly release. Fortunately, these rumors were quelled after chapters 843 and 844 were released, according to their regular schedules.

Fortunately, there were strong indicators that seem to suggest One Piece might not be ending so soon, reported iTechPost. However, the same can’t be said about the Big Mom arc. Fans feel the current arc might be nearing its final showdown, owing to the convergence of a few important clans on Whole Cake Island. The clans are steadily congregating for the impending nuptials of Sanji and Lady Pudding.

While Sanji, the son of Judge Vinsmoke, and Lady Pudding, who is the daughter of Yonko Charlotte Linlin, aren’t exactly in love and are reluctant to marry each other, their union is expected to have several political ramifications for the clans involved. The Vinsmokes, as well as Big Mom, are interested in getting their wards married to make a much stronger and terrifying team. The Vinsmoke clan has the Germa 66 army, but they lack the vision and fine art of villainy, in which the Big Mom is extremely skilled. While Judge Vinsmoke commands a powerful, genetically-enhanced army as well as multiple sons, Big Mom has a few skilled commanders. Moreover, she only has daughters, who can’t head into battle.

With the Straw Hats gang headed towards the Whole Cake Island as well, it is likely that the mangaka is prepping the Big Mom arc for its fiery culmination. Do you think Oda might try to stretch the arc for a few more episodes before he winds it up?

[Featured Image by Eiichiro Oda/One Piece Manga]

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