ramblings (and guesses) about the ending
i'm guessing the manga will "end" with the veterans retiring and the main group taking over PaB (not exactly guessing, because it seems to be the natural cycle of things, BUT, nothing is confirmed so it's just a prediction) with maybe an epilogue chapter showing them welcoming the new members, just like Iori was received, and in the best-case scenario, a time-skip chapter with the group already adults (veeeeery unlikely).
okay, getting back to the main point, in the manga's chronology, we're probably getting close to christmas, and that would only be about 4-5 months away for the veterans to retire (that is, taking into account that graduation at japanese universities is NORMALLY in march.)
of course, it took more than 10 years to get to december at the current pace, but several main plot lines are being wrapped up, and of course², the author can always create more from one moment to the next since he's the one who holds the pen. since I've been working with hypotheses so far, I can't simply rule this one out, however, with the material available so far, it's impossible to conclude that it's not heading towards a natural conclusion.
off the top of my head, I can only remember arcs that still need to happen, such as the veterans' retirement cruise (i'd guess that's the second-to-last or even the last major arc), and the rangiroa trip (also, great potential for a final arc, and it doesn't seem that far off...), taking into account that grand blue, in its longest arc, didn't even reach 10 chapters, i'd guess that the two together should amount to maybe 15 or 16 chapters at most, and with perhaps some mini-arcs embedded with extras and more "common" chapters, it could be rounded up to another 30-35 chapters in the most optimistic scenario, which would take less than 3 years to finish, if the author Not taking too much of a gap, of course, considering the likely gaps, maybe 3 and a half years.
well, it's definitely a journey, and even though I'd like this manga to continue as long as the author can write in a healthy way, I'm also eager to read the ending.
and what about you guys? What stage do you think we're at in the manga? do you think the end is near, or is it just nonsense?