Ask Me One Piece - October 2021

Hi! This is a very common question, though I’m not sure how commonly I’ve answered my feelings on it, but basically, I think that on one hand, Shueisha and Toei will certainly want to milk One Piece even beyond its end, but on the other, I don’t think that will happen much in-canon. What I mean is that I feel confident we will likely get things like a remastered version of the anime, collaboration projects, spin offs kinda like the Ace novels, and even a bunch of merchandise. But at the same time, I just don’t see Oda approving of the idea of having something like “Two Piece Buffy: Next Generations”. Oda is MASSIVELY protective of his creation, he mentioned in an SBS that he wants to feel like he came up with this entire world on his own (which is why he rejected the idea of holding a contest where fans could make designs that would make it into the manga). Obviously this statement is somewhat relative, considering that Oda factually hasn’t come up with everything, as his editors also have contributed ideas and stuff, but I think he still wants to feel like this is mostly his work, something that came through his efforts. We’ve seen him being a bit more lax with stuff like the Ace and Law novels, which tell canon events we just never saw on screen, but something as big as a full on sequel that follows the events after the main story, I just can’t see him compromising. Obviously, it would be much more profitable to just keep milking the series just like Dragon Ball or Naruto have, but I think Oda would much rather see his story end as a hero than seeing it go long enough to become just another milkable brand. And Oda absolutely has enough power within Jump to do so, there’s literally nothing canon they can do without his full permission, so if he is against it, then it won’t happen. But who knows, maybe I’m wrong and he’s totally cool with it, we’ll see! If it came down to me, I’d avoid a sequel personally. I think the story will conclude with a massive party that will feel like the culmination of everything up until that point, and honestly I think showing what comes afterward would sort of sully that image. Don’t get me wrong, I kinda want to see a timeskip of like 10 years and see where everyone is up to after the series ends and the world is unified, for both main characters and even the side characters (Chimney/Aisa/O-Tama all grown up, what are the Skyfolk up to, the Fishmen, etc. etc.), but I’d like to see that somehow integrated in the story, as long as it is possible (and I hope Oda takes his time with the ending and doesn’t just do a rushed 1 final chapter timeskip like every other managaka, I hate that). What I would suggest though, would be something like a prequel. I’d legitimately love to see a prequel manga on the Roger pirates, following their entire journey from the very start when Roger first met Rayleigh, to all their crewmates joining and following them on their journey till the end. I think that would make for a wonderful series!

Hi Artur I hope you find this well, In my opinion when it's all said and done and the Strawhats' adventure have ended Shonen Jump will want to make some sort of sequel like Boruto or DB: Super because the franchise just makes too much money to drop. My question is what are your thoughts on this? Would you want the story to end and not bog down with potentially subpar sequels? Or would you want to stay in this world we all love so much? (I think a fair assumption would be Oda would supervise everything but someone else would do most of the drawing and writing) Also, if SJ came to you and asked what you think would be the most interesting story to tell in the world for a sequel what would you pick? (P.S. 1 dollar a month is more than worth all the great content you've provided us fans throughout the years.)

Bikrant