My Hero Academia joins Naruto and Dragon Ball's ranks as One Piece mangaka bids the series goodbye

Modified Jul 29, 2024 22:27 GMT

My Hero Academia joins Naruto and Dragon Ball's ranks as One Piece mangaka bids the series goodbye (Images via BONES, Toei Animation)

With author and illustrator Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia manga series set to end this week, fellow mangaka Eiichiro Oda is allegedly set to pay tribute in One Piece’s upcoming release. With Oda’s series having run for 25 years, he’s paid similar respects to series like Naruto when it ended, as well as the late Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball after the mangaka’s tragic and untimely passing in March 2024.

The news of the alleged My Hero Academia tribute comes from a reputable X (formerly Twitter) user and reputable leaker for Oda’s series, @pewpiece (Pew). Oda has also paid tribute to other manga series beyond his contemporary Weekly Shonen Jump peers, such as Osamu Akimoto’s KochiKame manga series and Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond.

One Piece is the first Weekly Shonen Jump manga confirmed to pay tribute to My Hero Academia’s end

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Unfortunately, there isn’t much more confirmed information regarding One Piece’s upcoming tribute beyond the confirmation of the tribute in and of itself. However, Pew’s post contained both a photo of some of the most central characters in Horikoshi’s manga and a sketch of the character Smoker, which Horikoshi drew as a teenager.

The sketch was submitted by Horikoshi in 2002 when he was 15 years old, with the artwork originally being featured as a part of volume 23’s Usopp Gallery Pirates segment.

The artwork reappeared in the volume 77 SBS question corner, where Oda explained the artwork was from Horikoshi, who had since begun serializing his manga mentioned above series. At the time, the manga had been in serialization for less than a full year.

Pew’s inclusion of the sketch here likely suggests that Smoker is involved in the tribute cover in some way, shape, or form, which is further supported by hints from other leakers. More specifically, fellow X user and reputable series leaker @Mugiwara_23 (Redon) posted a GIF of Smoker as a part of the hints portion of the series’ spoiler process.

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While fans initially suspected Smoker of being involved in the chapter, his appearance will instead likely come in the tribute to Horikoshi’s manga, considering the fanart he made and submitted in 2002. While unconfirmed as of this article’s writing, it’s a speculative guess, which is likely accurate considering the significance of Smoker in the context of Oda and Horikoshi’s relationship.

My Hero Academia began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in July 2014 and will officially end on Monday, August 5, 2024, after 430 chapters.

Oda’s manga series predates Horikoshi’s by nearly 20 years, having begun its serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in July 1997. However, One Piece isn’t far behind Horikoshi’s series in its end, as the manga is currently progressing through its Final Saga and should end sometime in the next few years.