One Piece’s manga will reportedly go on a three-week hiatus, returning in January 2023.

According to the reputable Twitter account Anime News And Facts (@AniNewsAndFacts), the popular manga will take a break for the next three weeks and return on Jan. 1, 2023. They gave no reason for the hiatus. However, when the manga returns, it will be with chapter 1070.

One Piece’s History of Hiatuses

This break is one of many One Piece has taken over the last few years. Back in February 2020, the manga took a temporary sabbatical in consideration of creator Eiichiro Oda’s health. In June 2022, the One Piece manga once again took a break so that Oda could finish preparing for the series’ final saga. The manga isn’t the only part of the One Piece franchise to occasionally go on hiatus. In fact, in March of this year, Toei Animation put the breaks on One Piece and Digimon Ghost Game due to a hacking incident, forcing them to broadcast reruns indefinitely.

It isn’t uncommon for manga series to go on hiatus while its creators take a break. In 2022 alone, publishers put numerous manga on hold because their creators or illustrations need a break. Blue Period’s manga artist Tsubasa Yamaguchi tested positive for COVID-19 in January, putting the series on hold until he recovered. Tokyo Revengers also went on an indefinite hiatus due to the number of COVID-19 cases around its creator Ken Wakui. However, once the reason behind the break gets resolved, the manga typically resumes publication. For example, Tokyo Revengers ended its 5-year run in November, although fans received the ending with mixed feelings.

Created, written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a manga series serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1997. The story follows Monkey D. Luffy, a young man whose body has rubber-like properties after eating a Devil Fruit. Inspired by his childhood idol, the pirate Red-Haired Shanks, Luffy sets off on a journey with his gang of pirates, known as the Straw Hats, to find the mystical One Piece treasure. Along the way, Luffy and his friends experience wild adventures, run into eclectic groups of people, including bounty hunters and secret agents and make life-long friendships.

One Piece’s manga is available to read on the VIZ Manga app, which is currently up to chapter 1068 at the time of writing.

Source: Twitter