After what felt like an absolutely brutal stretch of breaks thanks to Golden Week and Oda’s personal schedule, One Piece is finally coming back — and when it does, it’s not just coming back quietly. May 24, 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most significant release days for One Piece fans in a long while, and if you’ve been sleeping on what’s actually happening this week, let me catch you up.
The Wait Is Finally Over
May was rough for One Piece fans. Golden Week hit at the start of the month and took down the entire Weekly Shonen Jump lineup with it — that wasn’t on Oda personally. But then, right after One Piece Chapter 1182 dropped on May 10 and completely flipped everyone’s brain with the debut of Rain God Zaza, Oda went on his own break immediately after. That timing was genuinely brutal. You get one of the biggest character debuts in recent memory, and then the manga goes dark for two weeks. The fandom was going through it.
But now, with Issue #26 of Weekly Shonen Jump scheduled for May 24, 2026, the wait is done. And Oda isn’t just returning with a new chapter — he’s coming back loaded.
Chapter 1183 Gets the Lead Cover
First things first — One Piece is getting the lead cover for Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #26. That alone is already a big deal. Lead covers aren’t handed out every week, and when One Piece gets one, Oda typically goes all out with the illustration.
Given where the story currently stands deep in the Elbaph arc, the characters most likely to feature on this cover are ones directly involved in what’s happening on the island right now. That means we could be looking at Luffy front and center — as is tradition — but also potentially Loki, and if Oda is feeling bold, maybe even Nerona Imu himself. That last possibility is the one that has the fandom genuinely buzzing, because the implications of seeing Imu on a lead cover go way beyond just a cool image.
The Color Spread Everyone Is Talking About
On top of the lead cover, Chapter 1183 is also getting a brand-new color spread drawn by Oda. Color spreads are always a massive event in One Piece because Oda gets complete creative freedom to put whatever he wants on the page. No plot obligations, no story constraints — just Oda doing art because he loves it. They’re consistently some of the most beautiful pages in manga, and fans treasure them.
But this particular color spread is carrying some extra weight because of one name: Nerona Imu.
Here’s the deal — Imu currently has no confirmed color scheme. For a character who has been built up as the most powerful figure in the entire One Piece world, the sovereign who sits on the Empty Throne, we genuinely don’t know something as basic as what color his skin is, what his hair looks like, or what colors make up the intricate tattoos that cover his body. That might sound like a small thing, but in a manga that’s been running since 1997, the color scheme of a major character is legitimately important information. It shapes how fans visualize the character, how the anime will eventually depict him, and in Imu’s case, it could confirm or deny some major fan theories.
The biggest one is the Lunarian theory. Fans have been speculating for a long time that Imu might share a connection to the Lunarian race — the same lineage as King from the Beasts Pirates and the Seraphim clones. If Imu shows up in this color spread with dark skin and white hair similar to what we’ve seen from other Lunarians, that would be one of the most significant lore confirmations in the manga in years. Fans are also paying close attention to see if Imu’s tattoo colors carry any symbolic meaning, which in One Piece’s dense lore system, they almost certainly would.
Rain God Zaza Could Show Up Too
Another character who’s immediately on the radar for this color spread is Rain God Zaza, who made her debut just two weeks ago in Chapter 1182. Zaza is already generating huge excitement — Toei Animation music composer Kohei Tanaka has confirmed that Oda is personally thrilled about how she’ll translate to the anime, which is a strong signal that she’s going to be a major presence going forward. A god-themed color spread featuring Zaza alongside Imu and potentially other divine figures from the Elbaph arc would be absolutely insane. That’s the dream scenario for a lot of fans right now.
Of course, Oda could also just draw the Straw Hat crew hanging out looking cool and everyone would still love it. He defaults to that more often than not, and honestly, a gorgeous Straw Hat group illustration is never a bad thing. But the setup of the current arc makes this one of the rare moments where a thematic color spread around Elbaph’s central characters feels genuinely likely.
No More Breaks on the Horizon
Here’s some more good news — according to Shueisha’s release schedule and Oda’s personal calendar, One Piece should not be taking any more breaks in the immediate weeks following Chapter 1183’s release. The next scheduled break isn’t expected until roughly three weeks after Chapter 1183 drops, barring any surprise announcements. After the rough stop-start rhythm of May, that’s exactly what the fandom needs to hear. Three straight weeks of One Piece in the middle of the Elbaph arc, with what’s building narratively right now, is going to be wild.
Why This Moment Feels Big
One Piece has been running since 1997. Nearly three decades. And right now, in 2026, it’s in the middle of what many fans are calling one of its most significant arcs ever. Elbaph has been teased since the Arlong Park arc in the late 90s — this isn’t an exaggeration, Oda has been building toward this for almost 30 years. Imu descending on Elbaph, Zaza debuting, the mysteries of the Void Century coming into clearer focus — the story is accelerating in ways that feel genuinely historic for the series.
A lead cover and color spread on the return week isn’t just fan service. It’s Oda and Shueisha signaling that One Piece is in a major moment and they want the whole world paying attention. May 24 is going to be a big day.
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