No, One Piece is not ending. Nor is this wiki. And no, I'm not leaving *everyone groans* I'm thinking that this year is THE YEAR...the year that the Dressrosa Arc ends. Provided Oda doesn't take a shitload of hiatuses, things could very well "wrap up." Diamante 'n Pica will most likely be defeated in the next 2-4 chapters, which leaves Luffy vs. Bellamy, which will be 1-2 chapters max, and finally, the main event: Luffy (and Law still, maybe)'s battle with Doflamingo, coupled with the final destruction of the SMILE Factory (and probably a chapter or two where Jora tries to make Mansherry rebuild the SMILE Factory), which will probably be 10-20 chapters. Then, 5-10 chapters of falling action. So at most, this would be around 35 chapters, which if Oda is on his usual hiatus track may mean that the Dressrosa Arc will end near the end of 2015!
But what will happen after the arc ends? The scale of this story arc is one of the biggest in terms of story development, next to Marineford and Alabasta. So when the next story arc ensues, many things could happen. Here are my thoughts, which you can scroll through at your leisure.
Big Mom[]
Honestly, I'm not really complaining about the fact that we haven't seen half the Straw Hats in over a year. The Dressrosa Arc, as stated before, is more of an epic expositional piece where the action is the main focus rather than character development. And the character development that has happened in this arc is not any of the Straw Hats, but rather Law and Doflamingo. The spotlight is not on them right now. Anyways, back on track. I'm guessing that we will be filled in on what has happened to the Sunny crew shortly after everything returns to normal in Dressrosa, and we will see what happens to the Sunny crew after the action between them and the Big Mom Pirates has already ensued. This would be to save time and as a plot device, because if you think about it, only two things could naturally happen to the Sunny crew, and both could easily be explained.
The two possible outcomes are:
- The Straw Hats escape. Just escape. They could not possibly defeat a Yonko's crew at this point in the series, especially since the strongest among them (Sanji) got bitched by Doflamingo. Do the math.
- The Straw Hats get captured.
Both outcomes would definitely serve their purposes. If the Straw Hats were to escape, then the plot could resume at a natural pace, with the Straw Hat and the Heart Pirates uniting (more on that later) and also Kin'emon, Momonosuke, and Kanjuro's much-awaited return to Wano Country. Plus, if the Straw Hats escaped Big Mom, that would only make her more mad at them, setting up the eventual conflict without rushing into it. As for Caesar, that would be tricky, but I think if this were to happen, he'd either escape, turn good, get arrested, or even...be captured by Big Mom? (I won't go more into that)
Now, it would certainly be quite the plot development were the Straw Hats to get captured. This would make the most sense for Caesar's story, as he would meet the fate that everyone is wondering about. Were the Straw Hats to get captured, the conflict with Big Mom would most likely move forward a large distance. Luffy, the other Straw Hats, the Samurai, and maybe even the Heart Pirates would certainly go on a rescue mission to rescue everyone, which basically means declaring open war on Big Mom. I'm not saying the Straw Hats will fight Big Mom soon if this happens, but the battle will certainly come closer, and they are nowhere near ready to take on a Yonko. What will happen...
Doflamingo and Kaido's Wrath[]
We already have a Yonko in the equation, but it's been known since 100+ chapters ago that another Yonko may be involved: The King of the Beasts himself, Kaido. Now, Kaido's role in this will be unpredictable. Law has admitted that his goal to bring down Kaido was just a MacGuffin, but if the SMILE Factory is destroyed, Kaido will certainly be involved in some way, since he was the factory's #1 customer. What he does will likely be dependent on how the destruction of the SMILE Factory is attributed. If the Straw Hats manage to avoid the spotlight, then his wrath will most likely be focused on Doflamingo. But as I thought about this, I realized we don't know what's going to happen to him. Well, he's going to be defeated obviously. But what will happen to him after he gets defeated? I came up with three possible outcomes:
- He's captured by Issho and the other Marines and taken to Impel Down, like Crocodile was. This makes sense, as Issho is right on hand to capture him, and I'm pretty sure turning a country into your personal dollhouse and doing that other Doflamingo shit is a Level 6 worthy offense
- Kaido will somehow find him before justice can be administered and go apeshit on him. Pretty unlikely though.
- He'll commit suicide. When I thought about this possibility, it made sense for many reasons. We know that Doffy is mentally disturbed, and has put his entire mental process into his plan to destroy the world. We saw how apeshit he went when SAD was destroyed; this is literally all he's living for. If EVERYTHING came crashing down, and Doflamingo found himself hounded by both angry Marines and an angry Yonko. What would be the purpose of living then, for a guy of this thought process? I think this is actually a valid idea that would bring Doflamingo's childhood full circle
So if Options 1, 3, or something else happened to Doffy, where would that leave Kaido? He would obviously be pissed, but wouldn't be able to hurt Doffy. So what if he focused on the Straw Hats? They already have a Yonko who hates them. I legitimately can't tell what would happen in this case. All I'm hoping for is that Kaido and Big Mom fight each other, because that would be really cool.
Law and the Samurai[]
I'm putting these guys in one section since I don't have too much to say about them.
First, Law. The guy who's been thrashed by a Shichibukai AND an admiral, been shot three times, and had his arm ripped off, IN ONE DAY. Yes, believe it or not, the Dressrosa Arc takes place during one day. Only in Shonen Manga. Now, Law's soul hasn't been broken...yet.
Right now I hope that Law doesn't die, because it's just the beginning of the New World. However, I would feel ambivalent if he actually died, because it would at least make a little sense. D's are supposed to shake the world, and bringing down Doffy at the cost of his life would certainly shake things up. Plus, bringing down his worst enemy would certainly give Law cause to smile. But I hope he doesn't die.
As for the samurai, not much to say. It's only a question of when they will reach Wano Country.
Revolutionaries[]
This is unpredictable. We could see the Revolutionaries take a major role after this, or fade back into the shadows like Dragon did after Chapter 100
I personally hope we find out more about them, as something's messed up when we're 775 chapters in and the first line of their article is, "Little is known about the Revolutionary Army forces so far." However, I think their is a good chance of them taking more of a spotlight, because of one event: Sabo taking on Fujitora. Of course, Fuji could be his usual spazzy self and ignore their battle, but if not...the marines might be retaliatin'. F THANK YOU, SABO!
Of course, the Revolutionaries themselves could take the initiative, like at the reverie...coming up next.
Reverie[]
Not much to say...it's already been said.
That's all the thoughts I have. Leave your post dressrosa thoughts in the comments now don't you. But before I go, one final poll: