One Piece Author Explains Month-Long Hiatus

Eiichiro Oda, the writer and illustrator of One Piece, has explains why the iconic manga will be entering a one-month hiatus.

It was previously reported that the One Piece manga would pause publication after the March 25 release of Chapter 1111 in the "Egghead" story arc. At the time, no explanation was provided as to why the series was temporarily ceasing activities. However, Oda has now released a public statement as to why he's taking a break from One Piece.

The Death of Dragon Ball's Akira Toriyama Deeply Impacted One Piece's Eiichiro Oda

In a message shared by One Piece fan account @/pewpiece, Oda cites the recent passing of Akira Toriyama in his reason for taking a break. "I'm taking a break!!" Oda wrote. "And it'll be three weeks. Because of the news of Toriyama-sensei. So, I've been excessively worried about my health. It's not an illness, BTW. But I thought I wanted to take a break to do some self-maintenance on myself. And maybe took some time to think about what is One Piece. After all, I'm a busy person!"

After his heartfelt message, Oda advised his fans -- both new and old -- to check out other One Piece media, such as the live-action Netflix series and Monsters, an anime one-shot story on Netflix that takes place in the same universe as One Piece. Interestingly, when Oda brought up the 24/7 One Piece marathon currently taking place on YouTube in celebration of the anime's eighth anniversary, he said that TikTok would start streaming the series as well on March 23. However, as the One Piece marathon on YouTube is region-locked for Japanese viewers, the upcoming TikTok streaming may be as well.

The sudden loss of Toriyama took many within the anime and manga industry by surprise. Among those who honored the legendary artist, Oda released a statement expressing his grief and gratitude to the Dragon Ball creator. Given the incredible influence the Dragon Ball series has had on One Piece and Oda's past public statements regarding his poor health, it makes sense for Oda to use this opportunity to re-evaluate his physical condition.

Oda's comments about wanting to set aside time to figure out what One Piece is all about is another indication that the popular Shonen Jump series is truly nearing its end. The shocking revelation found in Chapter 1110 could likely only happen if the endgame was within reach, although, Oda has also previously admitted that his projection of ending One Piece in 2024 would be off.