It’s one hell of a time to be reading the One Piece manga. Week after week, Eiichiro Oda keeps throwing us the wildest curve balls the series has dished out in ages. Arguably ever, because people keep crashing the party in the most ridiculous, bombastic, and genuinely terrifying ways possible.
One Piece readers are eagerly awaiting the new chapters to drop every week (preferably waiting until the official release on Sunday). But in the wake of the release of chapter 1110, a new and surprising announcement from the desk of Oda himself made it clear that the manga’s timetable in the coming months will be anything but ordinary.
The release schedule for One Piece is about to get a little wonky from now until early May. After the release of chapter 1111, you’re going to mentally prepare yourself for a three-week break. And then another one-week break around the corner.
One Piece’s release schedule for March, April, and early May
One Piece has recently been vibing on a “three weeks on, one week off” schedule. But Eiichiro Oda, One Piece‘s mangaka, is rather well-known for not taking big breaks. In One Piece‘s 26-year history, he has so far only taken three breaks which were longer than two weeks long. Three breaks total. There was a four-week break in 2010 after Marineford to prepare for the time skip, a three-week break in 2022 after Wano to prepare for the final arc, and another three-week break in 2023 because Oda had to have eye surgery. That’s it.
Yet in a surprising announcement after the release of chapter 1110 on March 19, Oda’s reps said that One Piece will be taking three weeks off after chapter 1111 releases on Sunday, March 24. That means that chapter 1112 will release on April 21, 2024, with chapter 1113 coming the following week.
However, for everyone on the edge of their seat to see what the hell happens when Luffy has to fight them, there’s another unfortunate twist to the timing. Once One Piece comes back on the 21st, it’s only on for two weeks (chatpers 1112 and 1113) before all of Shounen Jump takes a break on May 5. On one hand, it’s only fitting for Luffy to take his birthday off work. But there’s another holiday in Japan at play besides Luffy’s birthday—Golden Week, which is kind of almost like the entire country getting spring break at once.
The good news is that One Piece will likely return to its regular “three weeks on, one week off” schedule upon the release of chapter 114 on May 12, 2024.
Why is One Piece taking a break?
A huge question remains unanswered—why is Eiichiro Oda taking a three-week break? Oda released a statement about a week later than he usually does following a break announcement. In that interim, the lateness of Oda’s comment, combined with how unusual it is for Oda to take long breaks, caused fans to worry and speculate about his health. But Oda assured us there’s no need for concern.
Basically, Oda is taking a break in light of the recent tragic passing of Akira Toriyama. Oda acknowledges that announcing a break so soon after the beloved mangaka’s sudden passing could create panic. “But I am not unwell,” Oda says in his letter. “And while it does have to do with my body, consider this a type of scheduled maintenance rather than anything else.”
Toriyama, who’s best known as the mangaka of Dragon Ball and the character designer for the Dragon Quest series, was also Oda’s personal mentor as he was first coming of age as a mangaka. As such, Oda and Toriyama were very close, which you can sense with heartbreaking clarity from read Oda’s obituary for Toriyama.
The intense schedules and breakneck pacing of mangaka life is well-known, and Oda in particular is an extra-hard worker. So Oda taking time to check in on himself, especially following the news about Toriyama, is incredibly wise. Everyone deserves a break, and Oda is absolutely no exception. After all, Toriyama’s passing reminded us all that the people who make these works, which to us feel larger-than-life, are simply people at the end of the day. The need for “scheduled maintenance” is something anyone can understand.
If you feel antsy with no One Piece in your life for a couple of weeks, the One Piece anime will still be airing weekly and has been excellent lately, so why not take the opportunity to catch up on that? Or, as Oda suggests, check out Netflix’s adaptation of his early-career Monsters one-shot?
Oda also jokes there’s another reason he needs to take a break: “I think it’s about time I start figuring out what the One Piece actually is! That’s going to keep me quite busy, I’ll have you know!” While Oda has said he’s known since the beginning of the series what the mythical One Piece treasure is, there’s some truth to his words. After all, One Piece is in its endgame, and it’s therefore been more ambitious than ever.
(Image credit: Toei Animation)
