Fans ask "what is happening to One Piece" after MangaPlus's sudden break mishap

Modified Nov 13, 2024 01:44 GMT

Fans ask "what is happening to One Piece" after Oda — Fans ask "what is happening to One Piece" after MangaPlus's sudden break mishap (Image via Toei Animation)

Monday, November 11, 2024 was expected to mark the start of the spoiler week for One Piece chapter 1132, with the first news set to confirm the release schedule for chapter 1133 likewise. However, MANGA Plus's English translation page instead revealed that the manga would be entering a sudden two-week hiatus for unknown reasons.

Understandably, a vast majority of the One Piece fandom’s reaction to this news was to express their concern for mangaka Eiichiro Oda’s health and safety, especially considering his intense work schedule. However, (add the other language part here). MANGA Plus has since corrected the English release date as well, which suggests a mistake on their part rather than a sudden break from Oda.

Nevertheless, there are some who are wrongly taking this opportunity to question the state of the franchise, asserting that there must be something “happening to” it. This even rings true in the wake of the updated timing from MANGA Plus, which now claims there will be no break week for the series prior to chapter 1132's official release.

Oda’s break likely indicative of nothing beyond needed rest to maintain One Piece manga’s quality

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This aforementioned sentiment has become incredibly prevalent in the last year-plus, coinciding with the One Piece Live Action Netflix series’ release and pre-release promotion. Likewise, many who assert that Oda’s hiatuses in that time suggest something is “happening to” the franchise will quickly blame the live-action series first and foremost. While not everyone is directly referencing the Netflix series, there are many expressing concern for the franchise.

Yet in reality, these are overreactions that don’t consider the full context of Oda’s workload as it relates to his flagship franchise, which also arguably holds the title for publisher Shueisha.

Typically speaking, Oda spends roughly 20 hours a day working on the series in various forms and capacities. This information was confirmed as recently as October 2016, and as of this article’s writing, there’s no evidence to suggest it had changed regularly.

Like Luffy, Oda also pushes his body to its limits to produce the series, and deserves as much rest as he wants, whenever he wants it (Image via Toei Animation)

Likewise, this break is surely as simple as Oda needing more rest than he thought. In no way, shape, or form does it suggest that the larger One Piece franchise, let alone the manga series specifically, is in any danger. Moreover, there’s little doubt that Oda would allow outside projects like the live-action series and the anime to take away from his mainline manga story.

With all of this in mind, reactions that questioningly imply there is something wrong with the series are done in bad faith. There is simply no information to suggest the manga or franchise overall is in any danger of ceasing to exist whatsoever. Oda’s manga is too big to go anywhere at this point, and while breaks are frustrating, any reaction to them other than wishing Oda well as he gets to rest in his time off is done in bad faith.

Fan reaction

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As mentioned above, sentiment is largely focused on fans urging Oda to take all the time he needs away from the series. While there are those criticizing the choice like in the post seen directly above, a vast majority of the community is generally unbothered in the sense of the state of the franchise. Instead, concern is focused primarily on Oda’s health and well-being:

“I hope it’s not health problems,” wished one reader.

“Hopefully Oda is ok, he deserves every break he can get considering how much he achieved so far!,” proclaimed another.

Some are even able to reconcile their reaction to the series’ sudden hiatus with their concern for Oda in a very mature way:

“Have we not suffered enought.

But in all honesty, I hope nothings wrong with Oda,” jokingly shared one fan.

In any case, it’s clear that a vast majority of the fanbase is only concerned with Oda’s health. Likewise, the community is prepared to give Oda as much time as he needs to rest before One Piece returns.