One Piece is currently one of the biggest and most significant mangas in the world. The story of Luffy and his friends is nearing its end. Many fans hope that there will be an exciting finale. However, according to the mangaka Eiichiro Oda, this could be an immense strain on his body.
Why is his body suffering? Oda revealed that he has his best ideas when he is overtired and hungry. He uses overwork to stimulate his brain and receive creative insights:
The only way I can come up with a new idea is to think about it a lot without sleeping or eating. That’s the only way I know, because a person can only really develop new ideas when he pushes his limits. So every time I finish my manuscript, I am completely exhausted.
Eiichiro Oda, Interview with Viz Media
To get a grand idea for the big finale of One Piece, Oda will probably forgo sleep and food intake. This could lead to a major health problem if the mangaka pushes himself too far.
There are also other examples: Akira Toriyama, the mangaka of Dragon Ball, had the habit of going to sleep for new ideas.
Here sings the opening theme for the Egghead arc:
Eiichiro Oda had health problems in the past
Why is this so concerning? As a mangaka, the body is already under enough stress. The tough deadlines force authors to push themselves to their limits. There are mangaka who only sleep two hours a night.
In recent years, Oda has repeatedly made fans worry about his health status:
- The probably least serious was his eye surgery, which caused the manga to pause for four weeks. (via Weekly Shonen Jump News on X)
- The mangaka allegedly only slept three hours a day and thus already suffered from chronic sleep deprivation. At least that’s according to FandomWire. His sleeping times in 2012 were from 02:00 to 05:00 in the morning.
- Oda, according to sandman_AP on X, has to send his doctor his blood pressure daily because it is too high.
- The author knows himself that he is demanding too much from his body. After the death of his mentor, he took a break because he was “worried about his own health.” (via SupaChronicles on X)
We can only hope that Oda takes his health seriously and cares for his body. This way, we will also have many more years of him, even if the story of One Piece should end soon.
When is One Piece supposed to end? The mangaka has postponed the end of One Piece several times. Two groups of characters are partly to blame for the long story. On the other hand, Oda can’t do anything about it because the characters are so lively. He would otherwise have to shorten the boss fights.
Most recently, Oda stated in 2019 (via Oricon) that the manga would end in about five years. At the moment, it doesn’t look like the story of Luffy will end this year. Therefore, we assume that the author will postpone his deadline once again and that we will only see the end in the coming years.
There could be major problems for the mangaka in the grand finale: One Piece: The mangaka can’t draw one thing – This could stand in the way of the grand finale
