A One Punch Man manga hiatus has been announced by One Punch Man manga artist Yusuke Murata.
The reason for the OPM hiatus was not specified. It could simply be to allow time to plan out the adaptation of the next major story arc. Neither Murata nor original creator ONE are known for having serious health problems, although ONE was hospitalized back in 2019 due to a viral infection.
The announcement of the One Punch Man hiatus was made shortly after One Punch Man Chapter 170 was released in Japan. Minutes before, the One Punch Man Season 3 anime was also announced. (See below for more details.)
The One Punch Man Chapter 171 release date hasn’t been specified, but the mangaka will take a break for “about a month” to prepare for the future.
However, Murata said that they will “announce the scheduled publication date of the new chapters as soon as it is decided.” Therefore, it’s possible that One Punch Man 171 will come out in late September 2022 or October 2022.
One Punch Man Chapter 171 to start the Psychic Sisters story arc
The One Punch Man manga series is being created by writer ONE and illustrator Yusuke Murata. As of June 4, 2022, the manga was up to One Punch Man Volume 26, which includes up through Chapter 131.
Viz Media licensed the official English translation of the One Punch Man manga series. As of November 1, 2022, the English version will be up to Volume 24.
The story of the manga itself is a little unusual in comparison to the average manga since it began in July 2009 as a work self-published on a website called Nitosha. Released as the One Punch Man webcomic, it was written and illustrated entirely by ONE, who is also well-known for producing the Mob Psycho 100 manga series (the Mob Psycho 100 Season 3 release date is confirmed to be coming up soon). Murata then began working with ONE to adapt the webcomic with new art and even entirely new story arcs.
One Punch Man 169 and 170 adapted the last webcomic chapter of the long Monster Association Arc, which was webcomic Chapters 53 through 94. The official OPM manga greatly expanded on this story arc since it was 92 chapters in total. One Punch Man 170 finally finished the Monster Association Arc, which also means the Human Monster Saga is over, as well.
Murata also confirmed that One Punch Man Chapter 171 will be “starting a new saga next time”, which means that One Punch Man 171 will begin adapting the Psychic Sisters arc of the Neo Heroes Saga. To put things in perspective, the Neo Heroes Saga already has 5 story arcs.
One Punch Man Season 3 anime confirmed
Before the One Punch Man hiatus was announced, Murata teased fans by stating, “We also have a big announcement.” The announcement of the One Punch Man hiatus was made shortly after the One Punch Man Season 3 anime production decision was publicly announced, so it’s not clear if Murata was referring to the OPM Season announcement, the OPM hiatus, or both.
Regardless, the announcement of the third season was scheduled to coincide with the One Punch Man 170 release date at noon JST on August 18, 2022 (which was 11 PM EST on August 17, 2022).
Let’s just hope the hiatus is only a month long and the One Punch Man Chapter 171 release date is in late September 2022. Stay tuned!