One Piece: Eiichiro Oda’s controversial ending prediction is wrong

One Piece’s creator, Eiichiro Oda, made a controversial prediction about the manga ending, which turned out to be wrong.

One Piece debuted in 1997 and has maintained its rightful place as one of the best mangas ever since. The series always ranks high in sales and popularity. After all, the series has everything to offer: a lovable protagonist, tragic backstories, thrilling fights, layers of mysteries, amazing character design, and so much more.

The series follows Monkey D. Luffy and his adventures as he sets out to the sea to become the Pirate King after gathering reliable crew members. However, the story gets darker and deeper as it progresses. The series has been ongoing for over two decades and entered its Final Saga in 2022.

The story got more intense than ever since the Egghead arc. The world is in chaos with the continuous shift in the balance of power. However, amid all the exciting events in the manga, one of Eiichiro Oda’s controversial predictions about the One Piece ending has now turned out to be wrong.

Eiichiro Oda had controversial prediction about One Piece manga ending?

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According to Oricon News from 2019, Eiichiro Oda predicted that he would end the One Piece manga in five years. At that time, the Wano Country Saga was ongoing in the manga. Hence, Oda’s comment about ending the series in five years took the internet by storm.

In the same news article, Editor Naito shed light on his interview with Oda from the day before. He said: “Honestly, when I heard Mr. Oda’s plans for the future, I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Will this be finished in five years?’ But if Mr. Oda said it would be five years, I think he would finish it in exactly five years. 

“Judging from the current rapid development of the Wano Country arc, the tempo has certainly reached a point where it can be finished in five years. The fact that I said that means that there are so many things that readers already know, such as Mr. Oda’s thoughts of ‘I want to go to an island like this,’ and the various hints that have been laid out throughout the story. The next five years will be filled with great detail.”

Judging from Eiichiro Oda’s earlier prediction, the manga should’ve ended in 2024, but there’s no way it will happen. One Piece is still publishing only the first arc of the Final Saga, and no doubt, there’s more to come. While the series has revealed several mysteries in the Egghead arc, countless more are still waiting to be explored.

Needless to say, One Piece fans can’t find a reason to complain. After all, the series is currently at the peak of its popularity, so ending it would surely not be in their best interest. The story gets better with every chapter, and it’s still several years away from its grand finale.