Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1997, and since then, the story has released over 1100 chapters. The main story is currently in its Final Saga, even though it will be years before the story wraps up. For almost three decades, One Piece has gained massive popularity across the world, even to the point of becoming the best-selling manga series of all time. Thanks to the popularity of the story, there have been many spin-off novels by different authors who take a new approach to the beautiful world created by Oda. One Piece: Heroines is one such spin-off novel that takes place in the same worldbuilding as the original manga and follows the original characters, all the while having a unique tone to the story.
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The novel written by Jun Esaka and illustrated by Sayaka Suwa was released in two volumes, and it’s getting an anime adaptation and will broadcast on July 5th, 2026. The official X handle of One Piece confirmed the release date along with a gorgeous visual of Nami standing at the center of the crowd. Even though the focus is meant to be on Nami, Robin is seen standing on her left. So far, the anime hasn’t released its trailer, although we can expect a major reveal during the Spring 2026 anime season.
What Is One Piece: Heroines About?
Each volume of the spin-off novel has four chapters and an extra chapter focusing on the beloved One Piece girls. Each of the main chapters is dedicated to one heroine, while the volume extra focuses on Nami and Robin. The main chapters center around Nami, Robin, Vivi, Perona, Hancock, Tashigi, Reiju, and Uta. While the novel follows many characters and their adventures, the anime production is rather limited. It won’t be a one-on-one adaptation, considering how it’s planning to include some original scenes as well.
The anime will adapt Nami’s story from the novel, where she goes to a designer shoe store and finds a pair of beautiful but uncomfortable shoes. The store employee helps her with the fitting, receiving praise from Nami and encouragement to follow her own path instead of working for another designer. In Nami’s chapter, Robin doesn’t originally make an appearance, but the anime will introduce her as well since the chapter centering around the crew’s archaeologist isn’t going to be adapted.
One Piece’s Original Anime Is All Set For Its Return in April
While the spin-off is surely an exciting project to look forward to, the main story will resume before the broadcast of One Piece: Heroines. In December last year, One Piece took a three-month hiatus after concluding the Egghead Incident Arc. The anime is set to return on April 5th, 2026, commencing the highly anticipated Elbaph Arc of the manga. Instead of resuming a weekly schedule, the anime will now be seasonal, releasing no more than 26 episodes each year.
The Straw Hats travel all the way to Elbaph after a major battle in Egghead, and they’re all set to face new challenges in the fabled land of the Giants. The Elbaph Arc is still ongoing in the manga, and it has introduced several new characters, featured a crucial backstory, and dropped many secrets of Nika so far.
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