The official Twitter/X account of the long-running One Piece TV anime series has announced the addition of two new cast members for the “Elbaph Arc” storyline. The anime series will broadcast in Japan on April 5, 2026, following an extended hiatus that began earlier this January.
Voice actress Ayane Sakura has been cast as the character Gerd (left), while Ryota Takeuchi will voice the character Road (right).
They join a main voice cast that stars:
- • Mayumi Tanaka as Monkey D. Luffy
- • Kazuya Nakai as Roronoa Zoro
- • Akemi Okamura as Nami
- • Hiroaki Hirata as Sanji
- • Ikue Otani as Tony Tony Chopper
- • Kappei Yamaguchi as Usopp
- • Yuriko Yamaguchi as Nico Robin
- • Subaru Kimura as Franky
- • Cho as Brook
- • Katsuhisa Hoki as Jinbe
It was announced last October that the One Piece TV anime series would enter a three-month break and will have a new release schedule that consists of 26 total episodes per year. Crunchyroll and Netflix currently stream the TV anime series in select countries and territories worldwide.
The original One Piece manga series by Eiichiro Oda began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on July 22, 1997. A total of 114 tankobon volumes have been released as of March 2025. VIZ Media releases the manga series in English.
In addition to Toei Animation’s TV anime adaptation, the manga inspired a 1999 OVA from Production I.G and numerous anime films, stage plays, video games, drama CDs, card games, art and guidebooks, and more. An anime adaptation of One Piece Heroines will debut on July 5, 2026.
The series also inspired a live-action TV series from Netflix, which debuted its first season in August 2023. The second season was released on Netflix on March 10, 2026, while a third season is in production.
© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
VIZ Media describes the main premise of the One Piece manga as:
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer “Red-Haired” Shanks. But his life changed when Luffy accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber…at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure…one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…
Sources: One Piece Official Japanese Twitter, Crunchyroll News
