One Piece is perhaps the worst kept secret in Shonen Jump. Having had consistent, commercial success across its decades-spanning run, One Piece has entered every shelf and DVD player within Japan and has spread almost as healthily across the rest of the world. Its pirate adventure has never ceased to entertain its fans, and loyal readers still eagerly await for every ensuing chapter.

RELATED: 10 Ways One Piece Has Changed Since Day One

However, having lasted as long as it has, it's always a haunting question of when exactly is the giant going to end or, in the worst case, fall. The series will have to end at some point, and it's only a matter of when. This list will be going through a few reasons for why it should be soon and a few for why it should be much later.

Write for us! Do you have proven online publishing experience? Click HERE and Join our Team!

10 End Soon: Eiichiro Oda's Health

One of the biggest concerns within the manga industry is the health and livelihood of its hardworking mangaka. With the ultimate goal being weekly syndication, mangaka struggle with tight deadlines to reach consistent releases. This has had an adverse effect on their health and has even put quite a few in the hospital.

This is no different for One Piece's creator, Eiichiro Oda, who only sleeps 3 hours a night and has just one day off a week. It's not easy being a mangaka; and in hopes of making that journey a little easier, One Piece could afford to end a little sooner. It would be better to end on a high note than a dimly, low one.

9 Keep Going: Loose Ends

One thing that's natural for a long, overarching story is the variety of details and stories that can fly by as the central cast continues with their own tale. These are often referred to as "loose ends," or snippets of the story that will always hang as underdeveloped to the audience until they are resolved.

RELATED: One Piece: 10 Storylines That Were Never Resolved

One Piece is host to quite a few given its various mysteries, such as the adventures of different pirates, the prosperity of kingdoms, and all of the details of the Void Century. With 20 years' worth of base material, clearing up all these loose ends would essentially require just as much time.

8 End Soon: Length

young luffy

One of the most staggering things for new and old readers alike is One Piece's overwhelming page count. That 20-year run is not filled with hiatuses or filler. It's pure, unending content that is currently nearing its 1000th chapter and episode.

While this may look good from an industry standpoint, it only looks like a chore to the regular consumer and can often take away from having a fully cohesive story. To make things easier on all parties, it would probably be a good idea for One Piece to not have too many chapters.

7 Keep Going: Commercial Success

While One Piece may be a chore to some readers, it is definitely a job for its creator. All that work isn't for nothing, as Oda currently ranks as one of the highest-earning mangakas of all time. One Piece has been taking funds from quite a few pockets, whether its from theaters, television studios, toy manufacturers, or even towel companies.

It is a cash giant that somehow prints more money than volumes, and it constantly offers its creator, artists, editors, and producers plenty of reasons to keep going whenever a loyal fan buys another DVD or book.

6 End Soon: Shonen Jump's Decline

Monkey D. Luffy exclaiming at something off-screen during One Piece's Wano arc

A major factor that not many may suspect may lead to One Piece's downfall is Shonen Jump's own success. The manga industry has been in decline for a while; and with piracy and digital mediums taking precedence, it's becoming harder and harder for Jump to profit.

While its end may be far away as a time tested, industry giant, it may be in One Piece's better interest to end during the magazine's better years than be a remnant of its final release.

5 Keep Going: The Last Of The Shonen

Dragon Ball One Piece feature

With that being said, it's not as if Shonen Jump isn't trying as hard as it can to remain relevant to its readers. Within recent years, it's adopted a greater variety of stories beyond just battle series, and this has resulted in one of its most diverse lineups to date.

Series like The Promised Neverland or Dr. Stone have shown plenty of potential in more cerebral stories, whereas Chainsaw Man is garnering attention for a much darker, more surreal series. While My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer are holding up well, One Piece is still a standard-bearer for a dying era and could do well to uphold that legacy for a little while longer.

4 End Soon: Make Way For New Series

While being the last of the Shonen isn't too shabby of a legacy, it may take away from the new startups addressed above. Shonen Jump is trying to create a new mark in the industry, and that means giving way to the fresh and innovative stories of fresh artists. However, when they're constantly competing for space against a series like One Piece, they can often be left in the dark for some readers.

RELATED: Top 10 Shonen Jump Series of the Modern Generation

If Jump really is committed to giving its new writers the reigns to the industry, they'll need to make some space. One Piece has already had plenty of time to enjoy that space.

3 Keep Going: More Detailed Story

While One Piece may be long, it's not exactly twiddling its thumbs with its story. Every arc, character, nook, and cranny is filled with detail and given plenty of space to breathe. A lot of that fine-tuning is due to the incredible amount of freedom and time that Oda has.

If One Piece were to be finished sooner, that may have the adverse effect of rushing his vision and compressing certain elements of his story, leaving out key details and sacrificing plenty of the heart that fuels the series.

2 End Soon: Making New Fans

Given its incredible length and continuation, One Piece has sort of settled in as of late to its core readers and is pretty much just fueled by their loyalty. While having a dedicated fan base isn't bad by any means, especially one that is able to span generations like One Piece's, that innately means that there's a cap in both its audience and the series' growth.

One Piece is a lot of things, but it was never meant to be an exclusive, alienating experience. If to just salvage a few new readers within a dying market, One Piece should make it a little easier for new fans to jump in.

1 Keep Going: Making History

Batman Superman feature

One Piece is the most successful franchise in all of Shonen Jump history. It has easily surpassed the manga sales of Dragon Ball and Naruto and has consistently dominated the manga sales charts for the last couple of decades. One of its greatest claims to fame is its Guinness World Record for having the most copies published of a single series.

RELATED: The 10 Most Expensive Anime Of The Decade (& How Much They Cost To Make)

However, there is one other landmark it could reach to really solidify its monumental success, and that's for lifetime sales of a series. The only two graphic novels that are currently ahead of One Piece's sales of Batman and Superman, two of the most popular, comic book franchises of all time. If One Piece is able to surpass their legacies, it would give Eiichiro Oda an eternal placement among the all-time greats and give a major shout out to all Japanese media.

NEXT: One Piece: 10 Theories That Were Proven Right