Despite the end of author and illustrator Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia manga series this week, fellow mangaka Eiichiro Oda is rumored to honor it in the upcoming release of One Piece. Oda has a long-running series of 25 years, and has previously paid tribute to other series such as Naruto and Dragon Ball, as well as the late Akira Toriyama who passed away in March 2024.
The reported tribute to My Hero Academia was first shared by a reliable source, formerly known as Twitter user X, who is also a trustworthy leaker for Oda’s work. In addition to paying homage to his fellow Weekly Shonen Jump artists, Oda has also honored other manga series such as Osamu Akimoto’s KochiKame and Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond.
One Piece is the first Weekly Shonen Jump manga confirmed to pay tribute to My Hero Academia’s end
Regrettably, there is not much additional confirmed information regarding the upcoming tribute for One Piece besides the confirmation itself. Nonetheless, Pew’s post did include a picture of the main characters from Horikoshi’s manga and a sketch of Smoker, which Horikoshi had created during his teenage years.
At the age of 15, Horikoshi submitted his sketch in 2002, which was featured in volume 23’s Usopp Gallery Pirates segment. The artwork was later seen again in the volume 77 SBS question corner, where Oda disclosed that it was from Horikoshi, who had just started serializing his manga series. At that point, the manga had been running for less than a year.
Pew’s decision to feature the sketch here implies that Smoker is likely connected to the tribute cover in some capacity, which is also supported by information from other leakers. This is reinforced by a GIF shared by fellow X user and trustworthy series leaker @Mugiwara_23 (Redon), which includes Smoker in the hints section of the series’ spoiler reveal.
Despite initial fan speculation that Smoker would play a role in the chapter, it is expected that his appearance will instead be a tribute to Horikoshi’s manga. This assumption is based on a fanart submission made by Smoker in 2002, which holds significance in the context of Oda and Horikoshi’s relationship. While there is currently no confirmation, it is a likely and logical guess.
“Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine began serializing My Hero Academia in July 2014 and the series will officially conclude on Monday, August 5, 2024 after 430 chapters. Oda’s One Piece, which has been in publication since July 1997, predates Horikoshi’s series by almost 20 years. Despite this, One Piece is not far from ending as it is currently in its Final Saga and is expected to conclude within the next few years.”
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- Horikoshi might give My Hero Academia ending the Attack on Titan twist
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