@Big:
I hope I don't get reprimanded for posting in this thread. The last post was only 3 months ago so I don't think this counts as reviving a very old thread.
Quality over quantity. Plenty of the islands early on in the Grand Line (mainly in the Alabasta saga) are largely unmemorable and only served to build-up future plot threads. This stage of the game in the second act of the series is a lot more intense with all of these plot threads finally starting to converge, and thus need bigger arcs without as much open-ended freedom in possibility. I might be a bit disappointing, but it's also exciting to finally focus on islands that have been teased for so long since pre-timeskip like Wano Country and Elbaf.
And like Strooger said, I doubt that we're JUST going to have Wano, Elbaf, and Raftel to encompass the rest of the New World. I don't expect many more islands, but at least a couple more besides them. Mainly some sort of Vegapunk-centric arc, and we might possibly see the island all the way at the end of the New World even though it is no longer essential for finding Raftel (you have to admit that after years of thinking that was where Raftel was, it would be a bit cheap to not at least see what would have been there. Especially since it is supposed to reveal the existence of the Poneglyphs). Also, we have to return to Fishman Island at some point due to Shirley's prophecy, although that might be in the Final War or after Raftel (but when Raftel will take place in relation to the Final War is up for much debate in general).
I definitely hope that we get another arc that feels a bit more standalone while still somewhat connected to the main narrative like Skypiea was, like you already mentioned. Elbaf might fill in that quota, especially since it doesn't seem to be affiliated with any of the Yonko (but if it is, I bet it would be Shanks). It would be pretty awesome if that was a Skypiea-esque arc and all eleven Straw Hats were fully formed by that point to allow for a memorable solo pirate adventure that gives the whole cast signature moments and bonding time before the finale. Although we can't even have a Zou-length arc that is COMPLETELY displaced from the main One Piece narrative at this point, especially after Luffy defeats Kaido (which will probably have HUGE consequences across the world). And we still don't know where the fourth Road Poneglyph is. We're most likely going to have somewhere around 1200-1500 chapters for One Piece's overall manga length, so we should have more faith in Oda.
@Strooger:
Judging from the information we have on the upcoming arcs, what's next will be Reverie, then Wano. Nothing is carved in stone yet concerning Elbaf, we'll most likely get something before that.
It's funny that you mention nothing is carved in stone for Elbaf yet when, for all we know, the fourth Road Poneglyph might be there lol.
I strongly doubt they'll immediately head for Raftel after Wano and some transition arc, Elbaf or not. We'll probably have numerous new locations and storylines introduced to us up until that point.
Agreed.
I do agree that a lot of the New World storyline could have been used in a better way. All 3 of the first arcs were in need of having some of it's fat trimmed. But not for the sake of introducing New Islands in shorters arcs. If the New World had the Strawhats wander around on smaller islands to just goof around or handle minor Yonko-related objectives, the pacing would feel disoriented. And I don't see any inherent value in the Strawhats going to different places to fill some sort of Island Quota. But I think you can rest easy, we undoubtely have more islands than Wano, Elbaf and Raftel.
I also agree with this. Fishman Island having the length that it does despite the New Fishman Pirates mainly being mooks designated to show off the Straw Hat's impressive timeskip abilities still irks me. And if anything, Dressrosa needed even MORE length to give proper screen time to the plot threads it had or be split up into separate islands (I remember Oda saying that he originally planned for the Dwarves to have their own separate arc. And the coliseum could have been its own exclusive arc, sort of like the tournament arcs in Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho).
I see what you mean, we sort of need a break from all this Yonko business at some point, but a Skypiea style arc being slabbed in-between say Wholecake and Wano would be an unbearably obnoxious turn-off. I can imagine an arc not being strictly Yonko related at some point, but it would have to be after Wano, but it would still have to play a role in the overarching plotline.
Yeah, before Wano would be impossible lol.
It's not really just Oda. Most series and stories start off with characters working around this monster of the week ( or island, in the case of One Piece ) formula, only to eventually culminate into something bigger. And in the case of the Whiskey Peak and Little Garden, I would say they serve that purpose for Alabasta specifically.
See, I knew that I wasn't alone in thinking this.
@Kaido:
Don't forget the fourth Road Poneglyph, which likely won't be associated with Yonko. I'm hoping it's on the moon.
I can't really see a space arc happening, even though it is inevitable for Enel to return and the aliens' connection to the Ancient Kingdom/Void Century to be revealed (and the D clan is PROBABLY descended from aliens like the Skypieans/Shandians are as one of the reasons why they're so special. Which would mean Luffy is).
@Kaido:
What do you mean by not enough time? As long as the story doesn't become a drag, there's no reason that One Piece can't go far beyond the 1000 chapter mark. Oda isn't the healthiest guy but is only 42 and should be fine working for at least another 20 years.
lol We are not getting twenty more years of One Piece. We'll definitely see the thirtieth anniversary of the series, but we won't get a whole other decade after that. Even Oda can only do so much unless he pulls hiatuses like Berserk's Kentaro Miura.
@Big:
Given all that I have a very strong feeling that Wano will have over 100 chapters and end around the chapter 1000 mark.
Than we're already around chapter 1000. I don't think there will be enough time for numerous new locations, as you suggest.
Like I said earlier, we're definitely getting over 1200 chapters. Possibly even around 1400-1500. Especially since One Piece's "halfway point" was arguably around Chapter 600. There's still plenty of time for a few more arcs after Wano Country.
And I extremely doubt that the "Reverie arc" will be more than ten chapters. I wouldn't even be surprised if it was around five, and then gets cut off with a cliffhanger and we see the rest of it after Wano Country ends so that the conference can react to the news of Kaido's defeat and Wano Country opening up its borders. That would be a typical Oda move with how often he leaves encounters like that with brief cliffhangers.
We also have to consider that Raftel won't be something like a short arc. Yes, you read that right.
Raftel would be the absolutely ideal place to have the "True History" flashback. The flashback, where One Piece as a whole will be heading towards since the 90s. I think people underestimate the length of this eventual flashback. I'm thinking that this will be more like an arc in itself, simply for the reason that it is the central explanation of the series overarching plot and many locations/cultures in the One Piece world with their connections to the lost 100 years will be a part of this. I believe this flashback could possibly count as an arc itself, possibly spanning 40 - 50 chapters. This means that Raftel itself will be a longer arc. And Oda himself has stated that if he would draw everything in his mind, One Piece will never come to an end. So he has Raftel as a long arc and the super-long finale of the series hanging over him. Therefore I think after Wano, we will approach endgame Raftel very fast and we simply won't have the time for any islands except Elbaf.
I think you're REALLY pushing how big a flashback like this would be. It is inevitable, and it will be the biggest flashback in the series. But it's not going to be forty-fifty chapters lol. You underestimate Oda's flashback pacing. And he is never going to have Luffy out of the story for anywhere near that long. Dressrosa had a bunch of flashbacks all over the place, and they didn't take even half that long in total. The most we've ever seen Luffy be left out of the manga is less than twenty chapters in-between his defeat by Crocodile at Alabasta (where we still saw a glimpse of Robin saving him) and however long he was swallowed by the Skypiea snake. I wouldn't expect a Void Century flashback to last much longer than Zou, which was over twenty chapters. That's already a HUGE amount of time for a flashback compared to what we're used to.
And Raftel in present time can't really be all that long since it's unlikely for anybody to still be living there (although we never know). It will probably just be the Straw Hats and maybe the Blackbeard Pirates. One Piece arcs are so ridiculously long compared to other shonen manga because of the huge island casts that Oda has to juggle. He won't have to deal with that in Raftel besides the Void Century flashback. As a series, One Piece is typically moreso about how island casts react to the Straw Hats rather than the adventure rotating around their character development in most arcs. At most, it will probably be around Punk Hazard-length in total, which is forty-fifty chapters (not counting its beginning or ending focusing on other simultaneous scenes across the world).
The Final War will definitely be bigger than Dressrosa or the Water 7 saga. Possibly over 200 chapters, but I wouldn't expect 300. Naruto's Fourth Shinobi World War took around twenty volumes, which is around 200 chapters.
@Bartholemew:
Speaking of bigger self-contained arcs I really doubt it at this point. Whereas I agree with your last sentence, the emphasis lies on partially. I for example expect Big Mom to be somehow interconnected to Elbaf - considering there's the issue of her holding some kind of grudge against giants.
However, there's another thing foreshadowed that can be done in a self-contained arc. That is, Luffy fighting against an enemy who is especially strong against the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Basically the opposite of the Luffy vs. Enel scenario.
Assuming Big Mom even lasts for that long lol. It's definitely possible, but we never know. I'm still betting on her getting taken down by the Marines in a brief couple of chapters after Totland or Wano, or even in a cover story.
And I have been waiting for that type of battle for years. Maybe the "God of Elbaf" can give Luffy a fight like that.
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