'Toriko' chapter 396 spoilers: adventures in space; 'One Piece' offers some art

The 396th chapter of "Toriko" marks the end of the Japanese manga series' eight-and-a-half-year run. But while it serves as a satisfying conclusion to some fans, others are also pointing out that the series leaves quite a few loose ends untied.

Titled "Still Yet Unseen Ingredients," the final chapter of Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro's brainchild takes the legendary duo of Toriko and Komatsu to outer space in search of more gourmet-hunting adventures. One fan's theory stated that Toriko and Komatsu's next great untold adventure will center on solving the cosmic mysteries of the Gourmet Eclipse and the Furthest Lands, which was a world where all gourmet gods lived before the Gourmet Big Bang happened 13.7 billion years ago. The true form of Toriko's white demon could have also been explored if the manga series were to be continued.

Fans of "Toriko" have expressed different opinions about the manga's conclusion in Reddit's discussion forum for the final chapter. There are fans who believed that some of the characters in the series could've been fleshed out more like Toriko's wife, Rin, Don Slime, and Toriko's own White Demon. But other fans also understood the danger of over-explanation and dragging a story on too long that it eventually loses its magic.

One fan suggested that the story could've continued with a brand new space arc wherein Toriko and Komatsu's final battle would've been with the "demon king" trying to eat earth.

Other fans have also noted what looked like a "Toriko" send-off on the cover page of Eiichiro Oda's "One Piece" manga series. The two manga artists are known to be good friends, and fans quickly noted little hints hidden in the "One Piece" cover page referencing the name of the manga artist. There are also the numbers three and nine that translate to "san kyu" in Japanese, which is a commonly used pun to say "Thank you." Oda has previoulsy offered a send-off for the manga series "Naruto."

Shimabukuro's next project will reportedly be a new one-shot gag manga that's scheduled for release in the May 2017 issue of Shueisha's "Saikyō Jump" magazine that ships in April.