One Piece Delays Next Volume Due to COVID-19

One Piece is currently giving us one of the best story arcs of the anime franchise created by Eiichiro Oda in the Wano Country Arc, showing Luffy and his pirates attempting to free the isolated nation, but it looks like fans are going to have to wait for the next volume of the manga that compiles chapters due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the anime itself being delayed as a result of COVID-19, it seems that Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates’ journey to defeat both Kaido, his Beast Pirates, and the evil Shogun of Wano, Orochi.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected a number of different anime franchises in a variety of ways, with anime series such as Pokemon Journeys, Digimon, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and many more having to delay as a result of COVID-19. Though a return date for One Piece’s anime has yet to be revealed, Eiichiro Oda has been giving fans updates as to the work being done behind the scenes on both the anime and the manga. While this delay means that the volume that compiles the chapters of One Piece into one book, it doesn’t mean that the chapters themselves that are released through Viz Media are delayed!

Twitter User SoulstormOP highlighted the news that Volume 97 of One Piece will be delayed with a release of this fall, featuring a Straw Hat Pirate Party cover and collecting the latest chapters of the manga that feature Luffy and company attempting to bring the war directly to Kaido and the Beast Pirates:

In the manga, Luffy is now joined by the vassals of Oden and members of the Worst Generation, sneaking into Kaido’s base of operations within Wano in a bid to go undercover and stop the rule of the Beast Pirates over the country of Wano. With the series recently giving us the story of the origins of Oden, the franchise has definitely showed fans why it is so important that the isolated nation frees itself from the influence of the evil Kaido and the sinister Shogun known as Orochi.

Are you disheartened to hear about this One Piece delay? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Grand Line!