It’s been 26 years since Eiichiro Oda’s manga began being published, and 24 years since the weekly anime release. Now, One Piece has reached the milestone of 1100 chapters and more than 1000 episodes released. Although Oda recently mentioned that his brainchild will end in three years, predictions about the series’ length have always been considered “far from over”, considering the plot. profound still exists.
The story of Monkey D. Luffy, who ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi devil fruit and his dream of becoming Pirate King has fascinated many generations. Luffy’s journey includes adventures on several islands, clashes with the Navy and World Government, as well as clashes with the always exciting Four Emperors of the Sea.
Members of That Vu Hai
Initially, Oda intended One Piece only lasts 5 years. However, the plot expanded beyond what was expected due to the appearance of the Shichibukai, a group of important characters in the story. Before facing characters like Kaido and Big Mom, two powerful Four Emperors in the New World, Luffy had to deal with Shichibukai “sub-bosses”, which were not part of the plan.
Shichibukai are pirates who were pardoned for their crimes and serve the World Government. The members of this group change throughout the series, but always maintain a total of seven members. What’s interesting is that the inclusion of the Shichibukai into the plot was a later addition by Oda, making the story last longer than originally planned.
Luffy fights Donquixote Doflamingo in Dressrosa
This development brought about epic clashes such as Luffy vs. Crocodile in Alabasta, Gecko Moria at Thriller Bark, and Donquixote Doflamingo in Dressrosa, among others. The additional characters not only provide many epic battle scenes, but also strengthen Luffy’s development and enrich the series’ universe. At the same time, significantly lengthens the length One Piece.
Oda admitted that One Piece was originally conceived as a five-year story, with the main focus being on fighting the Four Emperors. However, the Shichibukai that appeared spontaneously in the plot are the main reason why the series has not ended yet. Oda admitted that he should have limited this group to 2 – 5 members, instead of 7. The author expressed some regret.
The presence of the Shichibukai was introduced at the beginning of the series, during the Baratie arc, where Sanji joined the Straw Hats and Dracule Mihawk was introduced. Oda initially did not predict how many members this group would have, unintentionally ending up expanding the scale of the organization.
Despite this, the existence of the Shichibukai also brought positive elements, such as the inclusion of Jinbei in the Straw Hat crew and the appearance of some of the series’ most memorable villains.
