The length of One Piece's ''Wano'' arc has long been the subject of speculation. But with the arc seemingly reaching its climax, how much is left?
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for One Piece's ''Wano Country'' arc up to Chapter 1036, "Bushido is the Way of Death," by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul, and Vanessa Satone, available in English from Viz Media.
Ever since One Piece's ''Wano Country'' arc opened with a curtain rising, the arc's parallels with that of a Kabuki play were obvious. Those parallels were compounded even further as the arc progressed, with multiple cultural allusions towards Kabuki scattered throughout the story, culminating in the conclusion of Chapter 924 where the curtain closed and readers were greeted with the caption ''Act One - End''.
It was this that led to a common consensus emerging among the One Piece fan base, namely, that the ''Wano Country'' arc would have five acts in total, the same structure as a Kabuki play. As the arc progressed, this notion seemed increasingly plausible, with Act Two ending in a way that made it seem like readers were not headed for the final act, but instead the arc's tumultuous middle chapters before the final confrontation with the arc's big bad, Kaido. At present, however, the curtain has yet to fall on Act Three, and it seems the arc is hurtling towards its climax with no act break in sight.
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