One Piece manga half-finished for the first time in its history and Eiichiro Oda worries fans

We began to suspect that something was wrong with chapter 1097. It was only 13 pages long and one of the three shortest chapters in the One Piece manga. However, none of us thought that things would get so bad in 1098, where for the first time in the entire history of the manga, Eiichiro Oda left a chapter half-finished. “I couldn’t finish drawing in time. Sorry,” the mangaka wrote.

Incomplete pages, empty vignettes, drawings that are little more than a sketch? Although the chapter will be published as if nothing had happened in next week’s Weekly Shonen Jump and will be available on Manga Plus this Sunday, November 12, most of its errors will not be corrected until the publication of volume 108, scheduled for early 2024. This is not the first time something like this has happened in the history of the magazine, but it is the first time it has happened with One Piece, and the news has greatly concerned the nakamas that Eiichiro Oda has spread around the world (including us, of course).

Is the end of One Piece in danger?

No one wants the pressure of a weekly delivery date to lead the mangaka into health problems like those of Yoshihiro Togashi, who had to stop ‘Hunter x Hunter’ for four years; like those of Tite Kubo, who rushed the end of ‘Bleach’; or like those of Takehiko Inoue, who gave up to continue ‘Vagabond’. In addition, the quality of the art has plummeted, and although it was first blamed on Eiichiro Oda’s eye surgery, it seems to have gone beyond that.

Furthermore, the manga has had a challenging summer. It seems to have been pushed aside by the live-action of One Piece on Netflix (of which we already have news about the second season) and suffered from one hiatus after another, which broke the rhythm and did not let us enjoy Egghead for what it is, one of the best arcs of the whole manga.

On top of that, there are many who demand that since we are in the final part of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda should release only one chapter per month, but more extensive and careful than usual. This would also save us from having to rush things or release them unfinished, as is the case now. Now we have to convince the author, who is unwilling to change his working method after 25 years. At the moment, ‘One Piece’ is taking another break and chapter 1099 will be released in two weeks. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that everything will stay scary.