One Piece is following a new format starting in 2026, with only 26 episodes released per year. This was a surprising change, as fans had become accustomed to the series airing weekly on Sundays, with occasional breaks. The series’ run this year came to an end with the summer season, and it still has a long wait before returning.
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That said, the Fall 2026 season is thriving on its own, with many new series. While dozens of anime offer a variety of elements, three series in particular could fill the void left by One Piece‘s absence. These include an anime adaptation of a classic manga, a long-running shonen series, and one that is essentially One Piece‘s replacement this season.
3) Psyren
Psyren is one of the season’s most surprising entries, adapting a manga that came to a premature end after just 100 chapters in Fall 2010. It is a cancelled manga that many fans had lost hope of ever seeing animated. However, 2026 has proven to be a revival era for such series, with Black Torch arriving in the Summer season and proving why cancelled shonen series deserve their own anime adaptations. As a late 2000s manga, Psyren is one of the few series that captures the retro vibe of classics such as One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto.
The anime studio in charge of adapting the series also perfectly captures the retro vibe one would expect from such a manga. With a protagonist like Ageha Yoshina, who embodies the same rebellious and freedom-seeking spirit as Luffy, it is a shonen anime that incorporates the genre’s elements at their best. The unique aspect of this anime is its game-like narrative structure set in an apocalyptic world, keeping viewers engaged as it gradually unveils its mysteries.
2) Black Clover Season 2
What makes One Piece unique is that it is one of the longest-running shonen series, and replacing its vibe requires an anime that follows a similar structure. With Black Clover being one of the biggest shonen series around, the anime’s second season airing this fall is the perfect choice to fill the void left by One Piece. Black Clover‘s second season is also likely to be one of the series’ final seasons, bringing the narrative that began almost a decade ago to an end. Asta is regarded as one of the most classic shonen protagonists, bringing the same energy that fans love about the genre.
With the second season building toward its climax, the series is giving its main characters new power upgrades, with Asta representing the best of this development. The second season will showcase two different arcs, bringing the narrative to a close across its 26 episodes, likely sometime next year. Honestly, there is no anime better than Black Clover at capturing the vibe of One Piece, as it releases weekly this fall, providing fans with their shonen dopamine fix as it gradually concludes its narrative.
1) Dragon Ball Super: Beerus
There cannot be a better replacement for One Piece this fall than Dragon Ball‘s new anime, Dragon Ball Super: Beerus. The anime is a remake of the 2015 Dragon Ball Super series, featuring enhanced animation and other improvements that bring its visual quality up to modern standards. What makes this anime a replacement for One Piece is that both series come from the same studio, and the caliber that One Piece has established can only be matched, if not surpassed, by Dragon Ball.
What makes this anime a true replacement for One Piece is that it has also taken over its TV time slot, the same one One Piece used to occupy. With its legacy and fanbase, Dragon Ball Super is the anime fans can turn to for the nostalgia and long-running appeal that One Piece has always provided this Fall 2026.
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