One Piece: Everything We Know About Laugh Tale (So Far)

"One Piece" has a remarkable legacy and a big reputation for rewarding readers and viewers with an epic adventure. No other anime or manga has quite the level of worldbuilding "One Piece" has, where every story arc takes place in a unique, fully fleshed out location and tells a story in an entirely different tone and genre — from a Scooby-Doo-style ghost thriller to an Indiana Jones-esque adventure in the jungle. Likewise, the "One Piece" universe has expanded exponentially over time, going from a small scale tale of a young boy wanting to be king of the pirates to an epic involving dozens of storylines, revolutions, conspiracies, and a vast history of conflicts spanning several centuries.

The biggest drawback of Eiichiro Oda's "One Piece," of course, is its episode count. Out of all the popular action shonen anime with high episode counts, this one requires by far the biggest time commitment. Still, "One Piece" is a story that only improves and deepens as it goes along, gaining new layers and introducing ideas that make what came before even better.

Take, for example, the idea of the One Piece itself, i.e. the legendary treasure left behind by the Kind of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, on an island only his crew has reached before. Across over 1,100 anime episodes and manga chapters, we have slowly learned about the history, importance, and location of the One Piece, though we don't yet know exactly what the treasure is. We know it's located on Laugh Tale, a mythical island that was first mentioned early on in the saga and is only now becoming crucial to the story. But what is Laugh Tale, and why does it matter? Most importantly, when will we actually go there? Set sail with us and find out!

Laugh Tale is, simply put, the final island in the Grand Line, the ocean route that wraps around the entire planet.

The island was first mentioned all the way back in "One Piece" episode 63, at which point Crocus (later revealed to have been the Roger Pirates' doctor) told the Straw Hats about the legendary last island on the Grand Line. Curiously, at the time, the island was referred to as Raftale in both fan and official translations. It wasn't until the release of "One Piece: Stampede," one of the best movies in the franchise, 18 years later that the correct spelling of the name was revealed to be "Laugh Tale," the origin of which was later explained during the Wano story arc.

Not much is known about the island or its geography, although we have gotten brief glimpses of the steep cliffs surrounding the island and what might even be buildings somewhere on it. We also know the island was visited by someone prior to Gol D. Roger and his crew 25 years before the current timeline of the story. That's because Joy Boy, the first man to be called a pirate in all of history left behind some kind of treasure on Laugh Tale — a treasure that we know as the One Piece, the greatest treasure in the world.

Again, while we currently have no idea what that treasure is, it apparently contains the truth about the ancient past of the "One Piece" universe and the meaning of the middle initial D. Furthermore, upon discovering the treasure, Roger and his crew supposedly laughed. In fact, Roger considered it such a funny story that he decided to dub the treasure's resting place "Laugh Tale."

Laugh Tale is important for a couple of reasons. Being the very last island on the Grand Line, it would be an achievement for any pirate to reach it, seeing as they would've had to have successfully circumnavigated the "One Piece" world.

More importantly, Laugh Tale is home to the legendary treasure known as — once more with feeling — the One Piece. Though it presumably contains actual riches, the One Piece is most definitely also the source of some hugely important knowledge or perhaps even a weapon. The biggest clue we have to the importance of Laugh Tale is that the news of Roger reaching the island spread across the world, only for the newly crowned King of the Pirates to respond by saying, "We were just too early." What that means remains to be seen, but it's clear that Roger could not access the treasure's full power or potential. We also know now that the world of "One Piece" is sinking and that the mermaid princess Shirahoshi of the Ryugu Kingdom was prophesied to play an important role in world history (although she had yet to be born back in Roger's time).

Given that "One Piece" is almost certainly building up to a massive showdown with Imu, the secret leader of the World Government who can literally erase entire islands from existence with a single blast, it makes sense for the One Piece to potentially be some sort of weapon. And yet, based on Roger's reaction, it stands to reason that there is also knowledge to be found in Laugh Tale, as Roger learned the truth of the world there. It's likely that this island also holds the key to all the mysteries of "One Piece," right where X marks the spot.

Laugh Tale is clearly the place where "One Piece" protagonist Monkey D. Luffy will finally find the titular treasure and become King of the Pirates. So, when will we get there? The story's in its final saga now, so the ending is coming sooner than later.

However, before we get to Laugh Tale, we still have some things to do. First up, Luffy and the Straw Hats need to reach Lodestar Island, the penultimate island in the Grand Line. It is said that those who reach this place will also find their way to the ancient Great Kingdom hiding the location of Laugh Tale, as well as the poneglyphs that point to its location. The Straw Hats currently have three out of the four poneglyphs needed to learn the route to Laugh Tale, and we know the final poneglyph was stolen long ago by a man marked by flame, who may yet become the best "One Piece" character ever (if history is anything to judge by). That said, the individual has yet to be revealed in either the franchise's anime or manga.

But all that could change very soon.

At an annual manga event in late 2025, Oda released a message (via Twitter/X) thanking "One Piece" fans for their support and teasing the future of the property. Specifically, he hinted that the Straw Hats will "get to the island that only [the] King of the Pirates had previously reached" and that the mysterious man with the burn scar will finally appear. That means we'll either make it all the way to Laugh Tale this year or, if nothing else, learn how to get there by the time 2026 is over.