The story of Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of Straw Hat Pirates isn’t ending anytime soon, according to One Piece mangaka Eiichiro Oda.
According to a prominent Twitter fan account for the pirate franchise, Oda explained despite statements about the long-running series entering its final story arc, there are no plans to actually wrap up One Piece anytime in the near future. Fans and readers responded to this news with a massive sigh of relief and enthusiastic joy, posting memes to share their excitement.
One Piece Is an Ongoing Masterpiece
The One Piece mega multimedia franchise kicked off in 1997 with the publication of the first chapter of Oda’s beloved manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump. The ongoing series has gone on to produce well over 1,000 individual chapters and inspire an equally popular anime adaptation by Toei Animation, as well as a myriad of tie-in movies, video games, art books, collectibles and theme park attractions. The story follows the adventures of Luffy, a young pirate captain with a body made out of rubber and a dream to be the next King of the Pirates. As he sails across the Grand Line in search of the titular treasure, he recruits a colorful crew of characters that includes a money- and tangerine-obsessed navigator and a living skeleton.
With over 516 million copies in circulation worldwide, One Piece towers over all others as the best-selling manga in history. Oda’s masterpiece has also received recognition from notable institutions in the manga industry, including winning the Grand Prize at the Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 2012. Moreover, in 2021, it claimed the top spot in TV Asahi’s Most Favorite Manga poll, garnering the highest number of votes from the contest’s 150,000 participants.
While Oda has seemingly confirmed that plenty of new content in terms of the One Piece manga is on the way, there have also been recent developments in other parts of the large franchise. Notably, several brands and companies have released new One Piece merchandise in time for the holiday season. Lush, for example, is now selling Devil Fruit-inspired bath bombs, and Bandai revealed a line of Chopper-themed Tamagotchis.
One Piece fans also continue to make impressive and imaginative fan works. A former artist for Riot Games recently uploaded a 3D rendering of Crocodile, the former Warlord of the Sea, and cosplayer Tsukiko Ichinose posted a video of them rocking out in an Uta costume.
VIZ Media distributes the One Piece manga in North America.
Source: Twitter
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