One Piece by Eiichiro Oda is one of those manga series you expect to go on forever. You fully expect the Straw Hat Pirates to continue on their global voyage for eternity, whether in manga or anime form, with Oda making his usual regular weekly updates to the story the entire time. Alas though, even the greatest of manga artists need some time to themselves to relax. Whether for health reasons or just personal reasons in general. It certainly explains why Oda will be taking a break from his fantasy pirate story for a bit. Just for a bit though.
Eiichiro Oda Taking Break from One Piece: Details
The official One Piece staff Twitter account recently posted a Tweet revealing that Eiichiro Oda will be going on a break. According to a translation of the Japanese text, it reveals that said break will start with Issue 18 of Weekly Shonen Jump, which will make its debut on April 1, 2024 in Japan. This break will last for three weeks, with Oda resuming his manga on Issue 21 of the same magazine starting on April 22, 2024.
As for why Eiichiro Oda is taking a break? Well, the clue is in that letter above. Apparently, the Tweet contains a handwritten and handdrawn (well, hand-doodled) letter from Oda explaining the situation. A translation of the title and the opening paragraph from Crunchyroll of that letter reveals:
I’m taking a break!!
It’ll last around three weeks. It’s not an illness or anything, as I know you all have been worried about my health after the news of Toriyama-sensei. It’s just my physicality. Think about this as some maintenance. I will be thinking about what One Piece actually is. I am very busy after all!
So basically, it seems like Eiichiro Oda was spooked by the recent passing of Akira Toriyama. Thus, he wants to take a break in order to improve his health, and think about where he wants to take the story of One Piece. Honestly, it’s a perfectly understandable reaction there. Mangaka don’t typically drop dead at a relatively young age, after all. I would rather have Oda-sensei around for a very long time rather than need a new chapter every week.
Fortunately, the good news here is that we in the NA region are still on track to receive the next chapter of One Piece this week on March 24, 2024. That will have to tide us over until then.
Tune back in to THS to find out more about One Piece and Eiichiro Oda when we hear about them.
Source: Twitter, Crunchyroll News
