One-Punch Man fans have been hit with more unfortunate news, as the manga has been confirmed to be going on quite a long hiatus. While this delay, on top of the fact the manga has not progressed story-wise for quite a while, might be very disheartening, this hiatus might prove to be exactly what the manga needs to sort out all its issues and finally move forward with the plot. The manga’s return might seem far off, but it could just be what it always needs.
As confirmed by Yusuke Murata himself, the illustrator of the manga, One-Punch Man‘s next chapter will be published on July 17th, 2025, delaying the manga by two months. No real reason was given for this hiatus, but Murata alluded to various circumstances and apologized for the delay. Fans were obviously not pleased, as it is like rubbing salt in the wound given the number of redraws they had to endure the past two years. In fact, the Ninja Village arc has already been redrawn twice, with Murata recently starting the process again for the third time, and rendering most of the progress in 2024 moot and wasted.
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One-Punch Man Takes a Long Break With Fans Craving More Neo Heroes Chapters
One Punch Man follows Saitama, a seemingly average man who becomes a superhero for fun. After intense training, he gains overwhelming power, defeating any opponent with a single punch. Despite his strength, Saitama feels bored and unfulfilled, as no fight poses a real challenge. He joins the Hero Association to find purpose and meaning. Along the way, he meets allies like Genos, a cyborg disciple, and battles monsters, villains, and fellow heroes in a satirical take on superhero tropes.
The story has recently concluded the Ninja Village arc, and fortunately, the second revision was better than the first for the most part, aside from an underwhelming ending for Empty Void’s fight. It saw Saitama finally acknowledged for his heroic feats and invited to the fight against God by Blast, who was thankful to him for freeing Void. The manga did previously explore the Neo Heroes organization, but given the recent retcons, it is very likely that Murata will once again draw the arc from scratch. Although it is unfortunate, the manga is still early into the arc and not much progress will be lost. For fans eager to see the series officially tread into the outwardly optimistic Neo Heroes who attract high-ranking Hero Association defectors with the intent to replace the flawed organization. However, as the story soon unfolds, fans know all too well that the Neo Heroes are not what they seem to be, with even their charismatic headliner members concealing the sinister methods taken by their leaders, and the prices paid for power in One-Punch Man.
This two-month break is enough time for ONE and Murata to sort out the story’s adaptation and plan ahead to ensure there will be no more redraws for the foreseeable future. Murata might not have given a specific reason why the manga is going into such a long hiatus, but the reason could be that he needs more time to prepare a draft of the plot so that he will be satisfied enough not to return to redraw again. Given how many fans have let him know just how much they are infuriated by the redraws and the lack of progress, there is a possibility this two-month break was decided upon to let Murata plan out the future and save the manga.
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