One Piece Anime to Go on Hiatus Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic

One Piece recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary, and during this extended tenure it has rarely [...]

By Nick Valdez

One Piece recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary, and during this extended tenure it has rarely taken time off for its weekly release schedule. Unfortunately like many of the anime during this season, Toei Animation has announced that production on the One Piece anime will be suspended for the foreseeable future amidst the coronavirus pandemic. After a report cropped up earlier this week noting that this might be the case, it was officially confirmed through an official statement from Toei Animation themselves in which they broke the bad news to fans.

Toei Animation's statement reads as such, "Due to the state of emergency in Japan caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have carefully considered the safety measures for the spread and have decided to suspend the simulcast and Japanese broadcasting of both "One Piece" & our new series, "Digimon Adventure:" for the time being. Updates on the return of both series will be provided as soon as we know. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. Please stay safe and healthy."

Given that the weekly schedule of the anime would likely to be impossible to maintain as people around the world tighten their social distancing and quarantine practices, this hiatus was unfortunately expected. This probably won't be the last anime to be suspended at this time, but it's definitely one that's going to hit fans pretty hard considering the anime is now making its way through the second act of the Wano Country arc.

But with that being said, fans would undoubtedly prefer the team behind One Piece and those at Toei Animation keep themselves safe and healthy throughout this troubled time as well. So while this hiatus will definitely hurt, it's for the greater good as it means that even fewer people will be at risk of contracting the COVID-19 disease.

While there is currently no concrete date set for its return, ComicBook.com will be here to share any major updates for the production of the One Piece anime as they arrive. How do you feel about One Piece going on hiatus? Will you use this time to catch up on the 900 plus episode anime aired thus far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!

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