One Piece Anime Will Continue Its Greatest Straw Hat Mistake Despite Major 2026 Changes

Toei Animation took the stage at a One Piece live stream on October 28 to announce major changes for the series starting next year. However, among these changes, one design mistake involving a Straw Hat member remains persistent. During the stream, the studio revealed that the anime will be adopting a seasonal format beginning in 2026. One Piece will continue airing weekly episodes for the rest of this year, concluding the Egghead arc and starting the new Elbaph arc in April 2026, when the seasonal schedule officially begins. The studio confirmed that One Piece will release only 26 episodes per year starting next year.

These details, along with confirmation that the 26 episodes will be divided into two cours, suggest that fans will see the first cour from April to June, with the second airing in the fall, maintaining a three-month gap between seasons. Among the many announcements, teasers for the upcoming Elbaph arc were also unveiled, featuring updated character designs for the Straw Hats. Unfortunately, while the new looks are exciting, Toei Animation continues to lighten Usopp’s skin tone despite recent updates. At this point, it appears the studio still has no plans to fully reflect the creator’s original intent behind the Straw Hats and what they represent.

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Toei Animation Will Continue the Design Inconsistency With Straw Hat’s Usopp

In SBS Volume 56, Eiichiro Oda stated that in real life, Usopp would have been from Africa and was always designed to represent that culture. With the One Piece live-action series fully embracing Oda’s intent with this character, there is no doubt that Usopp is meant to have dark skin. However, while Toei Animation initially portrayed Usopp with a slightly darker complexion than the rest of the Straw Hats, his appearance has been increasingly whitewashed since the time skip. Although Nico Robin also faced a similar controversy, her redesign suggested that Toei Animation was moving closer to Oda’s original vision for her character.

Unfortunately, Usopp’s design inconsistency has only worsened, and it seems the studio has no plans to correct it, even with the major updates coming to the anime next year. What’s more concerning is that fans have pointed out how Usopp’s skin tone now appears even lighter than Zoro’s. Each time new designs are revealed, Usopp continues to spark the same controversy. It seems unlikely that Toei Animation will ever address this issue, and with even Netflix’s upcoming remake failing to acknowledge it, the One Piece anime may never allow its most culturally diverse Straw Hat to be represented authentically, even amid the biggest changes in the series’ history.

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