Dr. Stone Announces Break Due to Illustrator's Illness
Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump has launched a massive double issue for its January 4th release in [...]
Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump has launched a massive double issue for its January 4th release in Japan, and while many of the major releases have made their return with the first issue of the new decade unfortunately not all of them were able to come back. The latest issue came with the surprising announcement that Dr. Stone has gone on a brief break and missed the latest issue due to illustrator Boichi falling under a "sudden illness" that "prevented him from drawing" as noted in a report from Crunchyroll.
Crunchyroll also notes that the break most likely came late into the production cycle for the chapter as the editorial staff was unable to omit the series from the magazine's weekly surveys as they usually do when a series announces a break. But thankfully, the staff also confirmed that Dr. Stone will be back with the next issue.
Shonen Jump's editorial staff confirmed that Dr. Stone will be returning with the January 20th release, and series writer Riichiro Inagaki took to Twitter to update fans on Boichi's illness as well with the following statement, "Fortunately, I hear it's nothing too serious. We expect the series to be back in the next issue, so please be patient!"
But with Boichi's sudden illness, serious or not, fans would most likely appreciate the illustrator taking as much time as they need! Luckily there's still the anime to enjoy too. If you wanted to check out the first season of the series now that it's complete, you can currently find Dr. Stone now streaming on Crunchyroll and FunimationNow.
The series is also airing new episodes as part of Adult Swim's Toonami programming block. The series quickly confirmed that a second season of the anime is now in the works, but there's currently no concrete release date as of this writing. Originally created by Riichiro Inagaki with illustrations provided by Boichi for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 2017, and the series is officially described as such:
"Several thousand years after a mysterious phenomenon that turns all of humanity to stone, the extraordinarily intelligent, science-driven boy, Senku Ishigami, awakens. Facing a world of stone and the total collapse of civilization, Senku makes up his mind to use science to rebuild the world. Starting with his super strong childhood friend Taiju Oki, who awakened at the same time, they will begin to rebuild civilization from nothing... Depicting two million years of scientific history from the Stone Age to present day, the unprecedented crafting adventure story is about to begin!"