Though this year may be nearing its close, One Piece has yet to stop celebrating its big milestones. 2019 marks the anime's 20th anniversary following the manga's anniversary the year before. With two decades worth of content under its belt, One Piece has plenty to offer fans, and they've dreaded the series' end for some time. Now, those fans have been updated on that inevitable end, and One Piece's editor is passing on a firm message from his boss.

Recently, Oricon News published an interview with the editor of One Piece. The man who helps Eiichiro Oda oversee the manga knows more about the title than any fan, and he told the magazine a surprising secret. It turns out Oda wanted his editor to inform the world the five-year march towards One Piece's end has begun.

As shared by noted fan-site Library of Ohara, One Piece's editor now believes the series will end in about five years. Of course, this timeline all depends on whether Oda chooses to add in content or cut any extra bits out. However, the editor urged fans to not overestimate the remains of One Piece and asked them to enjoy the series while they still can.

Of course, fans were a bit shocked by this reveal given an earlier comment from the editor. Not long ago, rumors surfaced that One Piece's creator was ready to head towards an ending in earnest, but the editor laughed off the idea. Now, the editor is taking back his claim after speaking with Oda in private.

As it turns out, the Wano Country arc still has more to reveal, and those revelations will tie to Gol D. Rogers and the One Piece specifically. With this information out, Oda and his editor believe One Piece could end in five years, so fans better savor every new chapter they get from here on out.

Do you think this time table will end up being accurate? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.