Some details about what’s to come for the One Piece TV anime in 2026 have been revealed.
First, the series is going on a break in January and will only resume in April. Its return will mark not just the beginning of the “Elbaph Arc,” but a new schedule that involves a total of 26 episodes a year. The English announcement says that that the episodes will be grouped and delivered in two blocks.
According to the announcement, the new format will allow the long-running TV anime (it’s been around since 1999) “to dive even deeper into the heart of the ONE PIECE world — incorporating more content, tempo, and pacing of the original manga.” The Japanese version alludes to having one episode contain a chapter’s worth of material.
A visual that offers a tease of the upcoming arc was also released.
Image source: @ToeiAnimation
Last year brought its own changes for One Piece, with the anime leaving the Sunday 9:30 AM JST slot it had occupied since 2006 to become an 11:15 PM JST show. Additionally, the role of Franky was passed on from Kazuki Yao to Subaru Kimura.
One Piece is based on the pirate-themed action-adventure manga by Eiichiro Oda, which debuted in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 and previously inspired a 1997 Production I.G-produced OVA before the current Toei Animation-produced TV series adaptation and movies. VIZ Media describes the premise as such:
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…
Coming in the future are a second live-action season, the One Piece Heroines anime, and a WIT STUDIO-produced remake titled The One Piece. The manga will get its 113th volume on November 4, 2025 JST.
Sources: @ToeiAnimation, @Eiichiro_Staff
