Japanese portal Asahi posted an interview on Saturday, Jan 1, 2022, with Luffy‘s voice actress, Mayumi Tanaka, who revealed that One Piece anime will end in 7 to 8 years.

While answering the question about the state of the One Piece story, the 66-year old voice actress said that the anime has less than 10 years left.

“I expect the anime to end in 7-8 years. I don’t know the ending of the story either, so I want to keep on living until the final episode of the series. If I’m going to die on the way, I’m going to ask someone who knows the story ending, saying, ‘Tell me what happens at the end. I’m gonna die now’ (laughs). By the way, regarding the One Piece treasure ‘One Piece’ that will be revealed at the end, I expected it to be ‘friends’ or ‘bonds’ or something conceptual like that. However, Oda said to me, ‘It’s not like that. There is a one piece treasure’ I’m looking forward to the end of what it is like.” said the voice actress.

Tanaka claimed that it had been difficult for her to dedicate her voice to her character, Luffy, for so many years. She injured her back while working at the age of 40 and wondered how long it would be before the series ended and if she would be able to finish it.

After consulting with her son, Tanaka decided that Goku’s voice actress from the Dragon Ball franchise, Masako Nozawa (85 years old), should voice Luffy if something ever happens to her.

“Oda is still young, and if it continues for a long time, I may not be able to finish it. When I thought about it, I became anxious and consulted with Shinji Shimizu, who was the producer at the time, saying, ‘I might die inadvertently.’ If I decide on someone to ‘succeed Luffy’ as a will, everyone may be convinced. So I asked my son, ‘Who would you think would be the one to replace Luffy?’ My son said, ‘I only have Masako Nozawa in mind’ (laughs). When I told him that when I co-starred with Masako, everyone laughed and Masako said, ‘Mayumi, I’ll do it’ (laughs),” said Tanaka.

Commemorating the release of the 100th compiled book volume of the manga, a newspaper advertisement revealed a photo of Eiichiro Oda drawing at his workspace with the words, “The story is in the final stage. (物語 は 終盤 で す)” back in September 2021.

Oda previously said in an interview in August 2020 that he plans to end the story in four or five years.

The 101st volume of One Piece was released in Japan on Friday, Dec 3, 2021.

Source: Asahi via Somo Kudasai