User blog comment:San&Ashitaka/Ending ( everyone dead plan off, welcome bittersweet!! )/@comment-179280-20131227194450

I don't think it's because of fan pressure. It's the natural process of writing a long story. Every writer that takes this long to complete their work changes things along the way and may possibly end with a very different thing from what they had planned at the start. Just take look at the draft he presented to the Weekly Shounen Jump lol.