To many fans’ disbelief, the creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, has confirmed that the anime has entered its final arc. The manga has already been in this arc for nearly two years, but many fans who only watch the anime are finally able to experience the first several episodes of the final arc, which basically began in 2024. If we can take the last arc (Wano Kuni) as an indicator, there is still four to six years left in the One Piece anime, but this news is still a huge disappointment to fans who thought that One Piece would reach the 2000 episode and/or the 30+ years of production mark. So, what does this mean and what can fans expect in this final arc of One Piece?

It is no secret that this final arc will be the best arc that One Piece has ever seen. Between wrapping up the Straw Hat Crews’ goals to discovering the One Piece and everything else that comes with it, there will be no shortage of great episodes in the very near future. Unfortunately, there are more questions about the final arc than we have answers to, even with the context from the manga which is a year and a half ahead of the anime. Here are some of the questions fans can expect to have answered about the final arc in the future:

  • Who is the last crewmate in Luffy’s crew? Not including himself, Luffy expressly said that his crew would have 10 people on it in the beginning of the show.
  • Will each of the characters fulfill their personal goals? Each character has their own goal outside of Luffy’s, like Sanji finding the All Blue, so will they all be fulfilled?
  • What is the One Piece? We know it’s real.
  • What is Luffy’s final goal? Finding the One Piece is only a means to Luffy’s end goal. All we know about it is that Luffy must have the One Piece to achieve his final goal.
  • How long do we have to wait until we find out each of four questions above?

Each question above is extremely important to the story but will also take a lot of time to answer. That being said, the final arc, Future Island Egghead, has already revealed the answer to one question that is not mentioned above – who are the final bosses of One Piece? We have long foreseen Blackbeard as the final boss that Luffy will have to beat to obtain the One Piece, but a new final boss, potentially even more powerful than Blackbeard, was revealed to fans at the very beginning of the final arc. This enemy is the secret ruler of the entire world, with the power to erase people and places from history, the tall, slender figure from episode 1089 of the anime. This final boss’ name, Imu, is only known because the manga is so far ahead, everything else about this figure is shrouded in mystery.

To recap, there are at least two major boss fights to be fought, at least 11 character goals to be fulfilled, and the voyage to the One Piece to be had, not including all the surprises Eiichiro Oda has in store for fans to create the most epic arc of One Piece ever.

Here is what this all means for you. Anyone who is caught up with One Piece should endeavor to catch up within the next few years because once the One Piece is discovered, the entire internet will be talking about it, just like what happened when Luffy reached Gear 5 in 2023. If anyone has not yet started watching One Piece or were intrigued by the live action, I would highly recommend starting right now. Over 1000 episodes have already been dubbed in the English language, so you don’t have to read subtitles to experience it. One Piece will be remembered in history as one of the most iconic stories of our time, so you don’t want to miss out on it.

Finally, the ending of One Piece has the possibility of being so great that it could influence how all other forms of entertainment across the world tell their own stories; just like how the ancient epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, created the basis of the formula that 99.9% of stories told use to this day, called the Hero’s Journey. If One Piece even has the chance to be as influential on storytelling as the epics of old, you will want to experience it while it is still being produced because the end One Piece will mark the beginning a new storytelling era.