All the speculation about Oda's health and lifestyle is so weird.
It's very much a thing in Japanese culture for celebrities to be extremely private. Look at Shohei Ohtani, the most famous man in Japan, and how he didn't even announce his wife's name when he tweeted, "Oh btw I got married." Oda isn't some weird recluse; it's pretty normal for Japan. It's also pretty normal to only present oneself as attentive and hard working. I'm sure Oda sleeps less than the average person, but the strict three-hours-a-night thing has a silly faux-legendariness to it. Some people just sleep less because they're weird, and may or may not become busy people with the extra time. Some prioritize being busy and they can sleep less, so they adapt. Some can't sleep less and don't get into crazy lifestyles as a result. When Oda's staff tells that story, they're following an old Japanese script of idolizing how hard the boss works. When Oda takes a break for "health" or "research", he might just be taking a vacation, because it's taboo in Japanese culture to talk about taking random vacation time. Maybe because his doctor said, "Dude, you need a break," or maybe because Oda actually just takes his kids to Hawaii once a year or something.
We don't know.
Oh, and this he doesn't live with his family thing? Yeah, rich city people do that a lot. The breadwinner has an apartment next to the office and on weekends goes to be with the kids and homemaker outside the city in a nice house in a nice school district or whatever.
We still don't know.
And all the stats about mangaka dying young are like musicians dying at 27. Yeah, there might be something eerie and vaguely correlative about Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse, but you also get Ozzy, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards living to be old despite a 50/50 alcohol/heroin body composition.
Oda is 51 and has some sedentary 51-year-old issues. Despite Japanese work culture, the people who make obscene amounts of money off of Oda kinda just existing are going to make sure he exists as long as possible; he undoubtedly has many excellent doctors. Frequent breaks aren't proof there is some health scare we don't know about; they're just the logical actions of a guy, who is successful enough to make his own schedule, slowing down to be a healthier 51-year-old.
How many people fretting about Oda haven't really thought recently about a retired, 75-year-old relative on blood-thinners? The fact that Oda not finishing his opus would be more tragic doesn't make it more likely, it's just more tempting to obsess about.
