It’s Officially The End Of An Era For Anime

Anime, as a medium, is hardly one that remains stagnant in its practices; as the needs and standards for both fans and producers evolve, the industry has also changed how it handles things over the years, whether it’s improving visuals or reducing filler arcs that were once a staple of manga adaptations.

The biggest change to the anime industry, however, is the slow death of anime running continuously for years, as seasonal runs are becoming increasingly common for both maintaining quality and keeping the staff in good health. It’s now rare for an anime to even get 50 consecutive episodes, and after 2025, the idea might be completely over and done with.

How One Piece Just Changed The Anime Industry Forever

Even as most anime shifted to seasonal formats, One Piece was one of the few anime to stick to the once-common model of an anime running without rest, and while that pattern was broken when it took a hiatus from fall 2024 to spring 2025, it seemed like it would be business as usual after its return.

However, to everyone’s surprise, it was recently announced that not only would One Piece go on hiatus again after the Egghead arc before starting the Elbaph arc in spring 2026, but once it did, One Piece would officially switch to a seasonal format, with the anime only airing around 26 episodes a year, at most.

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After 26 Years, Today Marks the Biggest End of an Era for the Anime Industry

With how inconsistent the One Piece anime’s visuals and pacing can be, people have talked about it switching to a seasonal format for years. However, the fact that it’s actually happening is still unexpected, so if even One Piece needs to be seasonal to maintain consistent quality, then it could mean the eventual end of long-running anime as a whole.

Are Long-Running Anime Actually Dead?

With 2025 marking the end of One Piece running continuously, it would be easy enough to see it as the end of long-running anime; seasonal anime have already become the norm for years, so if the staff behind One Piece also sees it as the ideal way of maintaining quality, the format could very well be over and done with.

That being said, while anime like Gundam and Bleach have also switched to seasonal formats, other famous long-running anime like Pokémon, Detective Conan, and Sazae-san haven’t changed their formats in the slightest, and while that could change in time, it still proves that not every studio wants or needs to adopt a seasonal model.

One Piece becoming a seasonal anime won’t mean every anime will, but not only does it emphasize how much long-running anime are dying, but it also makes it clear that the years of One Piece being a constant in the world of anime are over, and for anyone who grew up with that, it’s an undeniably bittersweet realization to face.