One Piece’s final saga is playing out both in the pages of the shonen franchise’s manga and its anime adaptation, with fans wondering what surprises lie in wait for the Straw Hat Pirates. Unfortunately, manga readers are going to be waiting a little bit longer to dive into the next chapter of the shonen series thanks to a recent update. Weekly Shonen Jump has released an official update that creator Eiichiro Oda has been dealing with health issues and thus, the next chapter will be delayed. Needless to say, this statement is one that has Straw Hat fans worried for Luffy’s creator.
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The official statement was released from the Shonen Jump Editorial department this week, confirming the troubles that Oda was facing in the background: “To our beloved readers, thank you very much for always reading One Piece. Due to the author’s poor health, One Piece will be on break this issue. We deeply apologize to all readers who were looking forward to it. Also, although this issue’s postcards and contents list show One Piece as being published, the correction could not be made in time for the printing process. We sincerely apologize once again. The continuation is scheduled to resume in issue forty-six, on sale October 14th. We kindly ask for your continued support of One Piece.”
Eiichiro Oda’s Health Issues
The specific health issues facing One Piece’s creator remain a mystery, though the fact that the shonen series is only missing one week in Weekly Shonen Jump should alleviate the fears of Straw Hat fans. Oda’s legendary work schedule has long been a wild attribute of the manga artist, as Eiichiro would routinely spend most of his waking hours working on the Grand Line. Unfortunately, this work schedule also means that he’s run into health complications in the past.
Last year, Weekly Shonen Jump confirmed that One Piece would need to go on hiatus for several weeks due to unspecified health issues Oda ran into. Even though this latest arc has been billed as the shonen’s grand finale, there could potentially still be years of stories set for the Straw Hats, meaning that fans are rooting for Eiichiro now more than ever before to finish out his legendary shonen. Of course, the One Piece manga isn’t the only work that Oda has had on his plate in recent years.
Next year, Netflix will release the second season of the live-action One Piece series. For this project, Eiichiro Oda has played a huge role thanks to playing the part of Executive Producer. With many of the decisions made regarding the live-action adaptation needing Oda’s approval, we have to imagine that this added quite a bit of work to the creator’s already full plate. Fingers crossed that the One Piece artist gets the time he needs to recover, and that he stays in good health as Luffy’s final journey on the Grand Line continues.
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