One Piece chapter 1121 confirmed to be manga's last release in July

Modified Jul 16, 2024 06:17 GMT

One Piece chapter 1121 confirmed to be manga's last release in July (Image via Toei Animation)

On Monday, July 15, 2024, the first unofficial spoilers for the upcoming One Piece chapter 1121 were released by X (formerly Twitter) user and reputable series leaker, @pewpiece (Pew). Per Pew’s post, there will indeed be a break week after the official release of chapter 1121, which is currently slated for Monday, July 22, 2024, at 12 am Japanese Standard Time (JST).

This confirms that One Piece chapter 1121 will be the manga's last release in July 2024, as Monday, July 29, is the last possible day for the series to publish an issue. However, with the confirmation of a break week following chapter 1121, this will clearly not be the case.

Unexpected break week after One Piece chapter 1121 puts series’ August release schedule in doubt

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The news of a break week following One Piece chapter 1121’s release is also somewhat shocking for fans, given the upcoming publication opportunities for the series. For example, many assumed chapter 1122 would close out the manga’s July publications since it would be the third issue since author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s last break. Oda typically plays into this three-on-one-off pattern when he can, so fans naturally assumed that’d be the case here.

This would also give Oda an extended break week, as releasing a chapter on July 29 and taking the break week after would give him an extra off week heading into the Obon Holiday. This would then turn into a two-week rest period for him, as Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump manga magazine will be on a publication break for the holiday. However, this new schedule suggests that Oda will release chapter 1122 just before the Obon Holiday publication break.

That being said, there is a chance Oda does plan to take an additional break week just prior to the Obon Holiday publication break. This would result in Chapter 1122 being released on Monday, August 19, 2024, in Japan. However, since that issue of Weekly Shonen Jump would be a double issue, this would also force a publication break the week after. In other words, chapter 1122 could be the manga's only release in August 2024.

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However, this is wholly speculative and unconfirmed as of this article’s writing, with the manga’s schedule beyond chapter 1121’s release and the subsequent break week unknown in any capacity. That being said, both of the above routes are the most likely to occur, and fans would see in either scenario two chapters released during the month of August at most.

One Piece chapter 1121 is expected to mark the beginning of the end for the ongoing Egghead arc, which is the first in the manga’s Final Saga. It is expected to start the highly anticipated Elbaf arc later this year, once Egghead is fully concluded.