'One Piece' Rumors: Golden Week Preempts Weekly Shounen Jump; Next Chapter Coming May 8
Japan will be celebrating a string of national holidays in the coming week, which essentially preempts the release of the new issue of Weekly Shounen Jump magazine. Unfortunately, this also means that fans waiting for the continuation of the ongoing battle between Big Mom and Luffy's crew will have to wait another week for the next installment.
This celebratory week is widely known as the Golden Week, which gives many Japanese workers a week-long rest from around the end of April to the beginning of May. The celebrations kick off with Showa Day on Saturday, April 29, which celebrates the birthday of the late Emperor Showa. Then, on Wednesday, May 3 is Constitution Memorial Day and the week is capped off by Children's Day on Friday, May 5.
Some companies also give their employees a day off on May Day, which is celebrated on the first day of May. And since May 4 is in-between two holidays, it has also been designated as a national holiday.
To commemorate this week, Weekly Shounen Jump magazine will be taking a break and is due back with a new release on Monday, May 8. This means that "One Piece" chapter 864, which is expected to pick up where the previous chapter left off, is still a long way coming.
The end of chapter 863 saw the Big Mom Assassination Plot in full swing as Luffy and his crew crashed into Sanji and Pudding's wedding through Brûlée's Mirror World. And one crucial event that has made fans so eager for the next installment was the momentous shattering of Mother Caramel's portrait courtesy of the Soul King, Brook, disguised as Luffy.
Big Mom is expected to be so devastated by the sight of this that she becomes momentarily weakened and vulnerable to cuts on her usually impenetrable skin. And as per Capone's plan, this will also be the exact moment when he's supposed to come in and execute the Yonkou pirate.
However, things may not go as smoothly as planned, and chapter 864 may just find Luffy, Capone and their combined crews in a pinch. Some fans have even speculated a major showdown between Big Mom and Brook coming up, while others think that should the plan actually work, it may only end up in Big Mom showing them her true and stronger form.
The next chapter of "One Piece" comes out on the May 8 issue of Weekly Shounen Jump magazine.