One Piece’s Greatest Mistake Is Now the Biggest Threat to Its Ending

Difficult as it may be to believe, One Piece‘s latest arcs have proved that the series has truly entered its final saga. After over twenty-five years and countless unkept promises of when the series would end, Eiichiro Oda has finally set One Piece’s story into high gear, and the end is finally in sight, even if it might take a few more years to get there.

The Elbaph Arc, in particular, has truly emphasized the feeling that One Piece’s endgame is near with Imu’s descent from the Holy Land and the full God Valley flashback. That said, some aspects of One Piece’s final saga have not been as well-received as Oda may have hoped, and they could only get worse towards the end.

One Piece’s Elbaph Arc Faces Criticism From Japanese Fans

Volume 113, the latest issue of One Piece, recently hit shelves in Japan, and the reception from fans has been mixed, to say the least. From the paneling and artwork to the direction of the plot itself, the Elbaph Arc has received harsh criticism from Japanese fans, with one such fan of the series even going as far as to speculate that perhaps One Piece’s editor isn’t being straightforward with Oda anymore.

It looks like the editor isn’t functioning anymore. Paneling and artwork that fail to convey even a single image from the author’s mind to the readers. Is it that Mr. Oda has been so overly deified that no one can say anything?

The comment in question comes from a post on X by @sugoi_kaizen, which has garnered over 7.5 million views in the few days since the latest volume was released. Albeit harsh, the comments under the post are full of similar criticism from Japanese fans, and, unfortunately, they may be right in their critique of the series and the latest arc.

One Piece’s Manga Has Lost Its Simplistic Charm

The most common complaint among fans seems to be about the manga’s paneling, which has definitely changed greatly over the years. It’s clear from a single glimpse of the earlier volumes and the latest ones that One Piece’s artwork has gotten a lot more detailed compared to when the series initially started out.

This change is most noticeable around the Marineford Arc and the time skip, though as of late, it seems like One Piece’s artwork and paneling have lost a lot of their initial clarity and readability. Many fans in the comments under the X post have pointed out how there’s almost no “white space” in One Piece’s manga anymore.

While this isn’t true of every single manga panel and every chapter, white space in One Piece’s manga has definitely become more scarce. More often than not, every panel seems to be crammed with as many characters as possible while also making the background very detailed.

As one fan notes in the comments under the X post, “I still love One Piece so much even now, but starting around Fish-Man Island, there’s absolutely no “white space” at all!!” While detail isn’t a bad thing in itself, these empty white spaces were a defining trait of One Piece and helped readers focus on what was most important in any given panel.

More importantly, this white space also made it so that a character’s actions were clearly discernible at a glance, making fights in particular very easy to follow. This simplicity is also something that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama has been praised for, as another fan points out in a comment, “One Piece has such cluttered artwork that it’s hard to read. Mr. Akira Toriyama is truly amazing, after all.”

One Piece Does Not Feel Like A Pirate Adventure Anymore

Custom Image by Megan Peters

That said, artwork and paneling aside, One Piece’s final saga has one much more pressing problem, and it’s an issue that has only gotten worse with the latest arcs. The issue is that One Piece does not feel like a pirate manga anymore.

One particular comment that really stands out from under the previously discussed X post points out this very issue, stating, “It’s really awful right now, isn’t it? The pointless dialogue and sound effects are all jumbled together, the backgrounds are over-detailed, the characters have no charm, and even Luffy on the cover isn’t wearing his straw hat. It’s not even a pirate manga anymore; it’s turned into something like a magic war. It’s so sad because it’s a work I truly loved.”

Fans have been pointing this out ever since Gear Five made its debut back during Wano, and since then, the series has gone on to introduce even more fantastical powers. In the case of Imu in particular, these powers border on magical, with many even drawing comparisons to Black Clover when Imu first appeared on Elbaph.

Especially as One Piece heads into its Final Saga, it’s becoming clear that a huge war is on the horizon, just as many have speculated for years. However, with Imu’s powers being the way they are, grimoire and all, One Piece’s final war does seem like it’s going to be a magic war, or at least a battle between gods, namely the Sun God Nika, embodied by Luffy, and whichever god from the Harley texts Imu ends up being.

It also doesn’t help that in the last twenty-five years, One Piece has had barely any naval warfare despite being a series about pirates. Granted, One Piece isn’t the only shonen series whose plot completely spiraled out of control towards the end, with Naruto being an infamous example.

All that said, the views of a few Japanese fans do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the fandom as a whole. There are undoubtedly those who are enjoying One Piece’s Elbaph Arc immensely.

Despite the criticism, One Piece’s latest volume is selling quite well in Japan, and the release is sure to be met with equal enthusiasm when the localized version makes its way to fans worldwide.