One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has confirmed that the acclaimed manga will soon be coming to a close, with an advertisement for the 35th issue stating that the series is "headed toward the upcoming final saga." While fans have known for some time that the manga would soon be drawing to an end, this confirmation has put a clear timeframe on how long it will take for the story to wrap up.
Serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 1997, the series follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy (aka Straw Hat), whose dream is to become the Pirate King as a means to gaining total freedom, along with his crew of infamous One Piece pirates. The show is popular for its extensive world, lovable characters, and amazing fights, all of which will soon be coming to a head.
While its creator has expressed firm plans to draw the series to a close, fans of the manga shouldn't despair, as Oda has explained that he plans to end the story over the next four or five years. Speaking on the Arashi band's a la tubo variety program, Eiichiro Oda explained that the manga's ending has already been decided, with an editor confirming that they too know the ending in advance. Oda's comments seem to suggest that he has had the ending in mind for a long time, as he observed that he has had to explain it to multiple different editors.
Oda's comments echo earlier forecasts on the ending of the series. In 2019, Oda claimed that he wanted One Piece to end within five years, while in 2018 he claimed that he was 80% finished with his vision of the story. COVID-19 has delayed publication of three One Piece publications over September, so it's possible that production of the manga - the holder of a Guinness World Record for most copies of the same comic published by a single author - may take slightly longer than forecast, but it seems safe to say that the story itself is slowly nearing resolution. Oda went on to express that he has no existing plans to draw another manga after One Piece's conclusion, which - along with his earlier comments relating to the story - suggests that the series is coming to a close as part of the natural conclusion of the narrative rather than due to commercial or financial reasons. Oda also stated that he's looking forward to drawing many of One Piece's remaining scenes, suggesting that the final saga will be one of the series' best. One Piece's dedicated fanbase will doubtless be glued to the manga as it moves towards completion.
Oda's plans place the ending of the One Piece manga around 2025-2026, though fans should note that this is no reliable indication of exactly when the anime - at one point the fourteenth most popular TV show in the world, and consistently in the top five rated animated shows in Japan - will come to a close.