Chapter 1113 of One Piece, “Stalemate,” changed the world of One Piece for good. It was a single-sentence lore drop of tremendous proportions—all the more pronounced because it was a reveal no one expected. We were all the Navy grunt in the penultimate panel of the chapter, simply asking, “Huh?”
That lore drop also provided one hell of a cliffhanger. Vegapunk’s broadcast has started, and for all his dawdling around wanting coffee and inventing the Keurig in minutes flat so that he could have coffee, he certainly cut to the case once the countdown was over. You assume that chapter 1114 will give him the time to explain himself. There’s a lot to chew on, but we all definitely want more information.
But when will chapter 1114 actually be released?
Vegapunk’s got some explaining to do
Chapter 1114 was the second chapter in a row after One Piece went on a big three-week break. Mangaka Eiichiro Oda is a notoriously hard worker, and so this marks only the fourth time in One Piece‘s 27-year history that Oda took a break over two weeks long. In a letter to fans, Oda said the cause was essentially to take some time for his own well-being after the sudden, tragic loss of his mentor, Akira Toriyama. Any break for Oda would be justified, but this one especially so.
Now that One Piece has returned from that long break, you would expect a new chapter next week. After all, Oda has been cultivating a “three weeks on, one week off” schedule in recent years, and chapter 1113 was only the second “on” week.
However, this doesn’t take into account a Japanese holiday: Golden Week. In Japan, Golden Week is a stretch that contains four different national holidays, culminating in Children’s Day (and Monkey D. Luffy’s birthday) on May 5. Because there are so many holidays in such a short time, schools and workplaces alike take the whole week off. It’s a huge week for traveling and tourism, incidentally. Don’t visit Japan during Golden Week if you can help it. Trust me on that one.
This is relevant because every year, the entirety of Shounen Jump takes Golden Week off. There’s not even an issue next week. Which means that Luffy gets his birthday off after all! I hope he eats plenty of meat.
Since there’s no Shounen Jump at all next week, One Piece will be off until the following week. That means chapter 1114 will be released on Sunday, May 12. It usually drops on the Shounen Jump app around 11 am Eastern Time.
While chapter 1113 gave us one hell of a cliffhanger to wait for, it also gave us a lot to chew on. No better time to re-read Water Seven and Enies Lobby, eh?
(image credit: Shueisha)
