Hello there, my wonderful One Piece fans!
I'm back, and this week, I've got some very important news for you. While I usually love a good break to recharge and catch up on my sleep, it turns out there will be
no break this week!
Why, you ask? Well, it's all thanks to the passion of Sanji's voice actor, Hiroaki Hirata. My editors called me up and told me he's been "passionately looking after my wife," and honestly, I found that so incredibly inspiring that I immediately canceled my vacation. I need to channel that raw, untouched energy directly into the manga to truly do the
Goon Valley, Pirate Simpocalypse Incident justice. It's a tale of love, loss, and a whole lot of weird stuff—the
NTR of All Authors, you could say—and I need all the "passion" I can get to draw it correctly.
And, of course, I know that you, my dedicated readers, need me to keep drawing more and more about Shanks. Every day, I get thousands of letters begging me to reaffirm that he's the "god king" and "definitely not a rat." Honestly, it's exhausting, but I get it. Your faith in the character must be constantly rewarded. So, don't worry, I've got some new panels ready that will once again prove that he's the best pirate in the world and that all those little hints I've dropped that he's a shady character are just... artistic choices.
Also, I've been having some very... specific visions lately. It turns out that Imu, the World's Greatest Gooner, is coming, and to properly convey the majesty and terror of their power, I'm going to need to draw a whole lot more possessed Gunko panties. It's a key part of the narrative and a very important artistic decision that I'm sure you'll all appreciate.
And let's not forget,
JIKA IS COMING. You've been waiting for it, and I've been cooking it up. The wait will be so worth it.
Stay tuned, and thanks for all your... passionate support!
— Eiichiro Oda


