Eiichiro Oda's Editor knows the truth of the "One Piece"

Saturday, January 13, 2024, saw X (formerly Twitter) user and reputable One Piece series leaker @pewpiece share some exciting, albeit expected, news regarding the original manga series. According to @pewpiece’s latest post, it seems that the current editor for author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s manga series, Kaito Anayama, has confirmed that they know what the titular treasure is.

Anayama, who joined Shueisha overall in 2022, has seemingly been the editor for the One Piece manga series since roughly mid-February 2023, based on reports from other sources. In other words, Anayama has reportedly earned the trust of Oda and Shueisha despite being with the former for less than a year and the latter for two years at most.

While this may be shocking on the surface, it’s fairly standard protocol for Oda to share with the editors of his One Piece series what exactly the titular treasure is. In fact, the process has been like this for several years now, with editor interviews as far back as 2017 and earlier confirming as much.

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One Piece’s editors are privy to what’s likely the best-kept secret of the modern manga world

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While it may seem shocking, it is indeed true that One Piece’s editors are typically told what the ending of the series is and what the titular treasure is once they join the production team. Although likely perplexing to some, there are actually two logically sound reasons that support taking such an approach to the divulging of the series’ story.

The former is obviously out of concern for Oda’s health, with his rigorous work schedule having been well-documented in the past. Generally speaking, Oda typically only gets around a maximum of four hours of sleep each night of his own admission. The rest of the time is spent working on the series and enjoying what he can of his daily life with his remaining free time.

Unsurprisingly, such a lifestyle takes a physical toll on his body, and while Oda has yet to have any truly serious or threatening medical occurrences, his lifestyle creates such opportunities. Having his editors know the endpoint of the series and what needs to happen en route to that destination ensures that the series will be completed as Oda wanted it to be.

There’s also the fact that, by knowing what the titular treasure is and how the series is supposed to end, editors can perform their roles better and advise Oda on how to write the story. If they weren’t knowledgeable of the ultimate destination of the series, it would make assisting Oda in structuring the arcs that come before it much more difficult. With this in mind, it is understandable why Oda’s editors are typically told this information.

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Be sure to keep up with all One Piece anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2024 progresses.