Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga has become extremely intense in 2026, with the long-awaited Elbaph arc reaching its climax in recent weeks. With the stakes continuing to rise after the end of the Elbaph flashback, Monkey D. Luffy and Loki have taken center stage, and Imu has stepped up as the main antagonist of the arc. Unfortunately, this exciting ride will have to be stopped for a short while as the manga goes on a two-week hiatus. Eiichiro Oda's story will not be featured in the issue after WSJ #19, but the return date of the manga has already been confirmed, much to the delight of all fans.
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April 5th will be the final manga release in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #19
In recent years, One Piece have experienced many breaks. While some of them are sudden, due to unexpected health issues for Oda, others are scheduled and anticipated by fans. The upcoming hiatus on April 5, 2026 is one that most fans saw coming from a mile away, as it fits into Oda's regular hiatus schedule. This means that April 5, 2026 will be the last chapter of One Piece before a quick hiatus, and it will be released in Weekly Shonen Jump issue #19. Oda will leave the story at One Piece chapter 1179 for two weeks, before eventually making a comeback. This hiatus has definitely come at the worst time, with an exciting cliffhanger left by Oda.
Eiichiro Oda's manga returns with chapter 1180 on April 19
A hiatus is always disappointing to see for readers of Eiichiro Oda's story, especially when the likes of Imu are involved. Nevertheless, since the hiatus starting on April 5th is no different from the regular Oda hiatus, the One Piece manga will quickly return after two weeks. One Piece will not appear in Weekly Shonen Jump on April 12, but will return on April 19, 2026, with chapter 1180, which may just be the most anticipated release in recent years.
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Breaking down the release schedule after the hiatus
One Piece hiatuses are always hard to get through, especially when Oda leaves things on the most exciting cliffhangers. However, with the story set to return in two weeks, the expectation is that the manga will continue a solid run right after. The good news is that unless unexpected events occur, there won't be another manga hiatus until a few weeks after 1179. After One Piece returns on April 19, Oda is expected to release three chapters in a row before going on another hiatus.
April should not contain any more break weeks after chapter 1179, which means the next batch of chapters will contain chapters 1180, 1181, and 1182. Breaks can be frustrating, especially when they happen often, but Oda needs rest between every two chapters to regain strength and continue this story.
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Assesses the major events to explore after the return of the Elbaf Arc
The One Piece story in the Elbaf Arc has been an insanely exciting ride. Even at the beginning of the arc, Oda delivered major character and lore reveals, with the Harley Mural, and the introduction of Shamrock and Loki. That said, the story has only gotten better, as hard as it is to believe, and that's because Oda has exceeded every fan's expectations.
While most fans thought that Gunko-Imu would be the main enemy of the arc, Imu herself has now decided to appear in the Land of Giants. With that, the chapters after the break are definitely going to be some exciting ones, with insane stakes at hand. Imu's arrival will be a historic moment for the One Piece manga as the final antagonist in the story makes a real move after their introduction 7 years ago in Reverie.
There are still quite a few possibilities up in the air, including the defeat of the Straw Hat Pirates and the fall of Elbaph. In general, this arc has been hard to predict, as it doesn't fit the usual structure followed by Eiichiro Oda, but that's exactly what makes it so exciting, and after the break, Oda will raise the intensity and deliver a fantastic climax.
One Piece chapter 1179 will be available to read on Manga Plus on April 5, 2026. The manga will go on a two-week hiatus immediately after.
One Piece
- Release date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Author
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
