One Piece chapter 1196 was officially released on October 18, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 47. This chapter was entirely focused on the exciting battle between Sanji, the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates, and Saint Killingham, one of the Holy Knights who are currently terrorizing the land of Elbaf.

As this battle heats up and edges closer to its end, Eiichiro Oda is continually expanding upon Sanji's character, who is largely believed to be one of his best-written characters of all time, alongside the protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. By expanding Sanji's story, Eiichiro Oda has finally explained his inner turmoil to us in great detail and revealed key details pertaining to his dangerously low self-esteem and the intention to give his life up for the sake of those he loves. In essence, Sanji has now been confirmed to be the only Straw Hat closest to death in One Piece, but this fatal flaw of his is finally being fixed.

On October 18, 2026, Eiichiro Oda released a chapter that was largely considered to be phenomenal for the character of Sanji. Ever since the beginning of One Piece, Sanji has been on the receiving end of some of the best character writing from the author of the series. In the post-timeskip, this treatment has only been getting more prominent. Sanji has already received phenomenal character moments in the post-timeskip, especially across arcs like Whole Cake Island, Wano Country, Egghead, and now Elbaf.

Eiichiro Oda has taken his time to flesh out his inner turmoil, and now he has finally confirmed to us that Sanji has always valued his life too little.

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