Signs of the final stages of Luffy and his friends’ journey in One Piece have been seen. After nearly 25 years, the final One Piece saga is finally about to begin. In order to prepare for the final saga, One Piece writer , Eiichiro Oda decided to take a month-long hiatus. Oda seems to be following the trend of mangaka taking a hiatus to prepare for the final chapter of their series. Before Oda, the writer of Black Clover , Yuki Tabata, also decided to take a hiatus to prepare for the final chapter of the series. However, Tabata’s hiatus is longer than Oda’s, which is three months.
Oda announced his decision to go on hiatus in a handwritten message. The photo of the message was uploaded on One Piece’s official Twitter account, @Eiichiro_Staff. In the message, Oda said that he was going to Africa.
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Oda says, Wano is finished and One Piece will celebrate its 25th anniversary. In addition, there will be many events related to this series. One Piece’s new film , Red , will also be released this year. The One Piece live action series is also currently being produced by Netflix.
“In preparation for all that, I will rest for a month? So, sorry, but I’m also going to Africa~!! I want to reorganize the last chapter so this can be closed as soon as possible. It’s about to start!! The holidays haven’t arrived yet. Two more episodes from now, and Jumps 30—33 for 4 weeks! Give me time to breathe!” wrote Oda.
Oda’s hiatus will begin following the release of this year’s 30th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. In Japan, the magazine will be released on June 27. One Piece’s final act will begin on July 25, when issue 34 of the magazine is released.
While the message provides official confirmation that One Piece is nearing its conclusion, fans will probably still have time with Luffy and his friends. It should be noted that the saga in this series can run for years. Currently, the series is playing the Yonko saga.
The Yonko saga began in 2016. The soon-to-be-completed Wano arc is just one of four story arcs that make up the larger saga. Wano has been running for four years with the first chapter being released in July 2018.
However, this announcement also confirms that One Piece will not be on hiatus throughout this month. Chapter 1.052 is scheduled to be released on Sunday (11/6). The chapter is expected to continue what happened in chapter 1,051. Luffy and Zoro will recuperate. Zunesha is rumored to be leaving Wano. Now, what is awaited is what the World Government’s next action will be
Despite the hiatus, Oda still has a busy schedule this summer. Apart from preparing the manga and preparing for One Piece ‘s anniversary , Oda is also busy working on the 15th film of the series. The film is titled One Piece: Red. For the film, Oda created a new character. He is Uta, a young singer who turns out to be Shanks’ son. The film will premiere in Japan on August 6. Details about the film’s international release have not been announced.
Oda is also the executive producer of the live-action One Piece adaptation on Netflix. Recently, Netflix released a new video showing the concept art of the television series. They also show a number of pirate ships, including the Going Merry, the original ship of the Straw Hat Pirates. However, the video focuses more on the restaurant ship Baratie.
Oda said, initially, he planned to go to Cape Town, South Africa, to oversee production of the series. However, he was forced to cancel the plan due to travel restrictions imposed by Japan due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Until now, Japan still enforces quite strict travel rules.
One Piece was first released in 1997. The series has become the best-selling manga of all time with half a billion copies sold worldwide. The anime was released in 1999. The series is broadcast on a number of free and paid streaming services such as iQYI and BStation. The manga can be read on MangaPlus.