Oda seriously deserves it. Out of all the anime series based off of manga, Oda is the most dedicated when it comes to getting involved. I mean, how many mangakas can say they helped write/create an entire movie based off of there work?
Only now, after Oda has already stepped in and done this, are Mangakas actually taking a little more initiative. Like in Bleach, Tite Kubo is actually helping out with the latest filler arc, and for a change it's actually very good, unlike the overall slow and boring filler arcs that came before it. I know in Yu-Gi-Oh Takahashi at least has some involvement with the new movie coming out. I'm not sure about Naruto. Either way, it was still Oda who started it all.
But I am surprised at just HOW successful this movie was. I mean I was expecting it to be highly anticipated, but to not only earn 14.7 million in two days, beating out Harry Potter, but to actually raise the sales on his Manga volumes and put EVERY VOLUME in the top 200 manga… that's just freaking insanity. When I see stuff like this, it makes me ponder how there are people out there who can hate OP so much. :blink:
EDIT: In a recent Manga SBS I recall Oda saying he was starting to want to end the story, but he couldn't just end it like that. Still, I have a feeling this war with Whitebeard in the current manga arc is going to change the entire pacing of the story into something else entirely different.
There's also that random quote "Enjoy Luffy's last battle as a 17 year old!" which peaks my curiosity. I know there won't be any massive time jumps, but it's possible it will jump ahead a little bit to when Luffy reunites with the crew... I'm not really sure what to expect.