The new season of Netflix’s One Piece will premiere on March 10. But if you think this season might get Monkey D. Luffy and his band of misfits much closer to finding the titular treasure, maybe go back to thinking school. The manga, which has never once rebooted or started over, has continued apace since 1997. Still no One Piece finding. But mangaka Eiichiro Oda wants you all to know the One Piece does exist. He knows what it is and where it is, in-universe. He has never written it down, however, until now. But good luck finding it. Oda sunk it to the bottom of the ocean.
This video from Shonen Jump (the magazine in which One Piece has run for nearly 30 years) tells us that Oda has ensured the answer to his manga’s biggest mystery will remain secret until after the story ends. The secret rests in an envelope inside a treasure chest inside a pressurized, waterproof container thing, anchored 651 meters beneath the surface. Is this extravagant? Yes it is. Is it necessary? Unquestionably not. Will this tantalize fans for the next several years? You bet your sweet bippy.
I suppose in a world in which writers (*cough* George R.R. Martin *cough*) can string readers along for decades with no end in sight, it’s nice that Oda has pledged both an answer and an end. The problem is, of course, that he doesn’t plan to finish One Piece until around volume 1,350, which should be roughly around 2030-2032. Still about five years away. This also somewhat implies the story won’t end with the discovery of the One Piece, or at least without letting readers know what it is. I hope this whole thing doesn’t lead to fans trying to deep-sea dive the entire Pacific Ocean trying to find this weird little beacon. But, I guess that’s what treasure hunting’s all about.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.