For decades, One Piece’s anime adaptation has released weekly episodes almost like clockwork. While the animators at Toei Animation have taken breaks and even remastered old arcs to lighten the load of their workload, it seems that a major change is being made for next year, 2026, to give them more of a break. As part of a new livestream that aired in Japan, Toei has announced that the episode schedule will be a little different next year and beyond. While this news might be good for the animators, it will be interesting to see how the anime-loving population takes the Grand Line change.
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As part of the recent livestream, which revealed some major news surrounding One Piece, Toei Animation revealed that moving forward, the anime adaptation will only be releasing twenty-six episodes per year. This makes for a big departure from the release schedule of years past, wherein Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates would regularly receive a new episode each week. However, there have been complaints from the anime community in the past when it comes to how often the series would either replay old footage or pad out certain storylines from the source material. While episodes will still release weekly for the remainder of this year, fans need to prepare to receive less Straw Hat Pirate action when 2026 rolls around.
One Piece’s Animation Team Speaks
In an official press release sent from Toei Animation itself, here’s how the animation studio describes the upcoming change, “During the global stream on the official ONE PIECE YouTube channel, Ryūta Koike, series producer for ONE PIECE at Toei Animation, revealed that beginning this January, the series’ broadcast will be divided into two cours (“parts”) per year — totaling up to 26 new episodes in 2026 and thereafter. While this reduction in total episodes annually as in prior years, Koike explained that this change was a strategic decision to support the advancement and evolution of the anime series. The anime is based on the manga, and historically, 11 – 12 episodes would encompass 4-5 volumes of the manga. Going forward, under the two cours structure, new episodes will incorporate more content, tempo, and pacing of the manga while continuing to leverage the unique storytelling that is only possible with animation.”
Unfortunately for fans, Toei also announced that the One Piece anime will be taking a break from January through March of next year, stating, “The new “ONE PIECE” episodic production schedule and broadcast of Cour 1 for 2026 will commence in April 2026, following a three-month production hiatus from January through March. During this series’ break, there will be numerous opportunities for fans to enjoy “World of ONE PIECE.”
Following Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates’ fight against the World Government on Future Island, the Thousand Sunny is set to land in Elbaf, the island of the giants. With this new arc, the Straw Hats themselves are getting new outfits to celebrate the occasion, while finally arriving at a locale that has been talked about for quite some time. Unfortunately, anime viewers will be waiting a little longer than usual to see this adventure unfurl.
What do you think of this major Grand Line shift? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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