One Piece creator, Eiichiro Oda, planned out the ending to Luffy’s story over 25 years ago.
This information came to light in an interview from November 1999 published in Asahi Shimbun, a renowned Japanese newspaper. A Twitter user, Sandman (or @Sandman_AP), shared an excerpt from this interview in which Oda states, “I’ve already decided on the last panel and how the last panel will be. I’ll focus on not only the Straw Hats, but also on events happening in the world. The problem is how many years it will take to start the final saga.”
Oda Explains the Importance of ‘the Whole World’ to the Story
During this interview, Oda discussed many topics, including when he decided to become a manga writer, the creation of Luffy, and his vision for the series’ future. When addressing One Piece’s ending, Oda stated that he wants it to encompass not only Luffy but the entire world and how the main characters have impacted it. “The story shouldn’t be confined to a small story just around the main character,” Oda said, “but the whole world should start to move.”
When discussing his chosen art style, Oda explained that he wanted to draw using silly, easily recognizable expressions in order to emphasize the “old-fashioned manga-ness” of the series. However, he also acknowledged that the story, particularly the fight scenes, would eventually become more serious. “As the series gets longer, the battles inevitably become more intense, and the amount of blood flowing increases,” Oda said. “If you want to meet the reader’s demands straight, you have no choice but to move forward in that direction. However, I think I have to show various interesting things that are different from just escalating.”
First published in July 1997, One Piece now spans over 1000+ chapters and is currently the best-selling manga series of all time, with over 516 million copies sold worldwide. Oda is now working on series’ last major story arc, in spite of ongoing sleep deprivation induced by the artist’s demanding work schedule. While Oda’s physical health is tenuous, he believes that One Piece would be successful even if he did have to stop working on it. The artist addressed this in a 2017 interview, where he stated that “A lot of staff are involved in the One Piece industry…It wouldn’t have a big impact even if OP were to suddenly come to an end due to my health.”
The One Piece anime is available in its entirety on Crunchyroll. The manga is available in English from VIZ Media.
Source: Asahi Shimbun, via Twitter
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