Why the Great War will begin after Elbaf

One piece is more exciting than ever, and the last few chapters have confirmed that the Elbaf/Elbaph arc is probably setting up the story for the endgame. If some fans once thought that Imu was introduced before it was necessary, One piece Chapters 1178-1179 just explained why Oda needed to introduce him so early in the manga.

But what comes after Elbaf? Is Oda already preparing the ground for war? Even though Elbaf is set to end this year, he still has time to flesh out a few more plot points before moving on to the next arc. Still, at this point it seems more likely that the next arc will feature the long-awaited Final War.

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Oda has been preparing One Piece's Ending for years

Image via Toei Animation.

It's been years, maybe more than a decade, since Oda started talking about wanting to “end the series soon.” He gave many interviews about trying to finish the series “in a few years”, but as the story progressed, fans began to take those comments less and less seriously. However, things changed once the Egghead arc began serialization, as Oda made it clear that this was the first arc of the Final Saga. Egghead was clearly a transition arc, so fans had higher expectations once the Elbaf arc came along.

While Elbaf was expected to be the main arc, most fans believed that there would still be many arcs after it, including a potential Laugh Tale arc since Laugh Tale is the last island on the Grand Line. Laugh Tale is not only an island where only Roger's crew and Joy Boy were, but also a key location to the mystery of the Poneglyphs. But Lodestar, the penultimate island, will likely also be a major location on this final journey. So it's clear that even if the next arc isn't a Great War, the stakes will be high and the story is really building up to the final events.

The stakes are still making their way into the manga

In a sense, Elbaf differs from most story arcs in that no clear villain was introduced from the beginning. While characters like Fingarland Shamrock and Mankamayer Gunko were introduced and explored the lore of the World Nobles and Holy Knights of God, it was unclear if they would serve as the main antagonists in this arc. But then, in the final chapters (Chapter 1178), Oda made a bold move: he brought Saint Ima Nero, the real ruler of the World Government and the presumed main villain of the series, to Elbaf.

Imu is unlikely to be defeated in Elbaf, but his arrival on the island is likely to cause a great deal of conflict. The way the Straw Hats are going, it would make sense for the war to start soon after this arc wraps up. In fact, there is a chance that the end of the Elbaf Arc would mean the beginning of war. The battle for the last Road Poneglyph in the Lodestar could set the stage for the breakthrough war that Oda has been promising for the past few years. Maybe it makes more sense that there's a big war in Lodestar and the Straw Hats go to Laugh Tale after it and finally find the treasure that Joy Boy left behind. Instead of two arcs, Lodestar and Laugh Tale could be part of the same arc.

The Final Arc will feature the greatest war of all time

In any case, it's now hard to imagine a scenario where Imu's appearance on Elbafa doesn't spark a major conflict. While Imu was introduced some time ago, no one expected him to make such a move. So there is a good chance that Elbaf is the penultimate arc and its purpose is to stage a final, global war. From this perspective, it makes more sense that no one was introduced as the main antagonist in the arc; it was all in preparation for the introduction of who the Straw Hats would face in their fight against world government.

Oda has already confirmed that Final War will be massive. Summit War of Marineford will look like child's play. Considering how much fans have been waiting for this moment, the stakes should be high to live up to their hype. Plus, it wouldn't make sense for the end of the story to feature anything less impressive than Marineford, especially after so many improvements were introduced. And for some Straw Hats like Nami, there's still time to unlock Haki.

Could there have been another arc before the war?

There is a chance that the next arc will be a transition between the Elbaf arc and the Great War, with both the Straw Hats and the World Government forming an alliance or Luffy's primary focus being on finding One Piece. However, given how high the stakes are, especially now that Imu has appeared on Elbaf, that seems highly unlikely.

However, the current arc is not over. Oda has announced that it will end this year, but it could still be months away. So just as the last chapter surprised everyone, the next development could also shock readers and take the story in a whole new direction.

The Elbaf Arc is now streaming on Netflix and Crunchyroll

Just as the manga seems to be building towards the climax of Elbaf, the anime is now starting to cover the events of that arc. New episodes are released from April to June on Netflix and Crunchyroll, but so far they are subscription only. After this batch finishes airing, more episodes will hit streaming platforms later this year, probably around September or October.

This arc started in 2024 s One Piece Chapter 1126. Therefore, Elbaf now has more than 50 chapters; while this may seem like a huge amount, the animation is usually able to cover a lot of events in one episode to keep the action moving. That being said, this installment will likely take several years to adapt, especially since the series is seemingly moving to seasonal releases.

Release date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imayomura, Yashiôhiro Mayuū Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Writers

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)