2017 marks the 20th anniversary of Eiichiro Oda's longest running Manga and anime series - "One Piece." It is said that Oda and his production team will be quite a handful this year as major announcements abound the franchise.
Currently, the Manga serial is on its "Totto Land" story arc with Sanji in the spotlight. As the ongoing arc draws to a close, Shonen Jump's issue seven has featured "One Piece" chapter 852 in a special colored page. Moreover, the said issue also revealed that Oda's team is planning on putting up a Portgas D' Ace spinoff, though its release date has yet to be announced, Crunchyroll reported.
The colored print also depicted Luffy sporting a samurai kabuki outfit signaling the return of the "One Piece Kabuki" special that is slated for an Oct. 6 release. The issue also noted that the publication will be having a short breather and will resume circulation on its ninth issue.
Meanwhile, Oda may well seem to have updated fans about the current progress of "One Piece's" storyline. The famed Manga artist revealed that the series is already 65 percent done with the series nearing its 30th arc that will feature the Wano Kingdom/Country, according to Comicbook.
This resulted in fans calculating on how much still remains in the series before they see the last of this beloved mythos. As of late, "One Piece" is on its 83rd volume and upon checking, fans believe that the Manga series could be wrapping up on volume 135.
However, the fate of the series will depend on Oda and his team's pacing. It was even pointed out that it took the production team at least a decade to dish out more than 50 volumes of the series. Hence, if the mangaka would keep such rate, Luffy and the rest of the crew will still be around for another decade or so.
In the interim, the next arc - Wano, is a country located somewhere in the New World. The nation is not affiliated with the World Government and is home to highly skilled and feared samurais that even the Marines dare not cross paths with.
Watch a news clip about "One Piece's" 20th anniversary: