One Piece: Elbaph Arc Reveals How Many Episodes Are Left Before Finale

September 9, 2026, 11:56am

One Piece has been working through the first phase of the Elbaph Arc since the TV anime made its return earlier this Spring, and it has revealed how many episodes are left to go before it all comes to an end. One Piece has made a major change to how it produces and releases the TV anime series after nearly 30 years of production, and fans saw the result of this new shift this year. The show has moved to a more flexible seasonal schedule, and that means a new hiatus is on the way.

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One Piece ushered in a whole new era of the anime with the start of the Elbaph Arc earlier this Spring, and through the months thus far have released 23 episodes in total (when including the official One Piece: Heroines spinoff anime special). But with only 26 episodes planned for the year overall, One Piece: Elbaph Arc will be ending its first season with the release of Episode 1180 on September 27th before going on another extended break. Which means three more episodes.

One Piece: Elbaph Arc Reveals Season Finale Date

One Piece has revealed that beginning with its return in 2026, the TV anime series will only be releasing 26 episodes a year from now on. Moving away from the previous demanding weekly episode release schedule, One Piece will instead commit to releasing 26 episodes a year with months worth of a break in between releases. With One Piece: Elbaph Arc not airing until the Spring 2026 anime season, the second phase of the arc won’t be returning until sometime in 2027 with the next batch of episodes. That also what makes things more interesting.

There are lots of questions about where this new seasonal schedule for One Piece will decide to end the first phase of the Elbaph Arc to leave fans on a proper finale cliffhanger. It needs to feel big enough to warrant the fact that the anime won’t be returning until 2027, but also needs to feel like a proper end to a seasonal anime release. It’s something One Piece has never had to deal with before, so it’s going to be very interesting for fans to see what the anime might have planned for this upcoming season finale.

When Does One Piece: Elbaph Arc Return?

No proper return date for One Piece: Elbaph Arc has yet to be revealed as of this time, but that’s likely not going to be revealed until sometime after this first season comes to an end. As for when it could be making its return, a Spring 2027 release does seem like a good fit for it unless it’s going to only take a break through the Fall and return with the Winter 2027 anime slate. That might be possible, but Toei Animation also has to plan around the release of One Piece‘s next movie.

One Piece has announced it’s coming to theaters in Japan with One Piece Film God Valley sometime in 2027. It’s the first of two new feature film projects now in the works for the franchise (with the second film hitting theaters in 2029). The God Valley flashback is revealed during the events of the Elbaph Arc of Eiichiro Oda’s original manga, but there’s no real clue as to what that means for the TV anime’s release. The TV anime might lead into the release of the movie in Japan, or it might be slotted in between. We’ll just have to see how it works out.