When will the One Piece anime and manga end?
The series looks ready to sail for years to come.
Pirate adventure series One Piece is one of the longest-running television shows in history, let alone in anime.
Monkey D. Luffy and his cohorts have sailed the high seas for everything from treasure to devil fruits, but they're still miles away from their final maiden voyage.
One Piece has solidified itself as the anime that will always be there for fans no matter how much they age, first breaking onto the scene in 1997. The televised adaption follows the manga faithfully while throwing in hundreds of episodes of filler to pad things out even more.
Recently, the series has gone on to adapt one of the fans' most long-awaited events in One Piece: Luffy's Gear 5 transformation. It's a pivotal moment in the anime, and one that signals a fundamental shift in the power levels of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirate crew - maybe he needs the power for some of the most powerful villains to come. Could a face-off with Emperor Imu be on the cards?
Aside from the exaggerated action and comic book-like thrills, a touching and sometimes dark narrative undercuts the comedy which makes you root for and fall in love with the colourful cast of pirates. The story's conclusion is just around the corner with its creator, Eiichiro Oda, teasing one final adventure for our protagonist.
There's still a long road that Luffy is travelling down to become the ultimate pirate king, so there's a lot of adventures left in store. Read on for everything we know so far about the One Piece ending below.
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When will One Piece end?
Oda continues to estimate when the final plot will be delivered but pushes those dates back in favour of more content. His most recent predications suggested One Piece could potentially conclude in either 2024 or 2025 but given the show's history, nothing is set in stone.
In truth, it's not really clear when One Piece will wrap, even after 1,075 episodes. Oda promised the series was venturing toward its final days but it will be in no way rushed in favour of meeting deadlines.
The good news is fans will be kept entertained for many more months – and potentially years – to come because Luffy is still a long way off the title of Pirate Master.
Will the One Piece manga continue after the anime?
No. The manga is quite a bit ahead of the anime in terms of content that needs to be adapted but when the source material ends, then it's lights out for the band of pirates.
Some franchises decide to keep fans entertained long after their anime agreement ends but Oda seems determined to wrap things up after two decades of build-up.
There are a few context clues and hints from Oda which might give us some insight as to when we could see the manga wrap up - the creator has hinted that he'd like to see One Piece hits its 30th anniversary which would be June 2027.
There's also the fact that Oda enjoys the idea of number coding - combinations of numbers in Japanese can often sound like other worlds, for example Luffy's birthday spells out the word 'gomu' and Buggy's birthday is 'bara'. Fans have speculated that the manga may conclude on chapter 1156, which translates to 'Hito' or chapter 1200, which translates to 'Dawn.'
If Oda was to end on chapter 1156, judging by the rate the manga is currently going at around 37 chapters a year, we could expect the manga to end around May 2025.
However, if Oda is looking to end on the nice round number of 1200, it looks like it could be roughly July 2026. Only time will tell.
What will happen in the final One Piece arc?
As the conclusion draws nearer, there are a few loose ends that need tying up. While we don't have a definitive answer set in stone, fans have speculated a mass brawl which sees Luffy transport himself 900 years into the past to meet two brothers, Franky and Bonney, who each have their own Devil Fruits.
Four "Original Devil Fruits" are said to play a key part in the journey. A final showdown between Luffy and Blackbeard will set the ultimate battle in motion with the very existence of the Devil Fruits wiped out by willing their return to nature.
Oda has kept the finer details of the final arc close to his chest, but a lot of die-hard fans are convinced this is what is going to play out.
Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to find out what else is on.
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