Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I was reading an interview with a author about her serialized story
『やが』も佳境といいますか、最終章と呼んでいいところまで到達しました。最後まで見届けていただけると……って、こんな「もうすぐ終わり」みたいな雰囲気を出してしまっていいのかな？（笑）。
So, in my opinion, I think it makes more sense if 章 refers to a story arc in this comment (the last one) rather than chapter, but when looking in the dictionary, the only meaning for 章 is "chapter" or "section". Does it really mean chapter in this context or can this word also be used to say "arc"?
Thanks
When technical correctness matters, 章 normally means "chapter", something smaller than 部 ("part") and bigger than 節 ("section"). But 最終章 in this context just vaguely refers to "the final part" or "climax" of the entire series, and you should not try to analyze it too strictly. Perhaps even the author does not know exactly when the 最終章 started. 最終章 can be used more or less idiomatically (e.g. 人生の最終章). It could have been 最終節 or 最終盤.
