This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Egghead arc.
The One Piece anime is undergoing a major shift, and after the anime took a 6-month-long break last year, it seems more changes are in store. Recently, a major One Piece live event took place, and some big reveals about the anime were made.
A Shonen Series Even Bigger Than One Piece Is Returning In 2026
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While the information revealed is certainly massive, it's not necessarily great news. It’s now officially been revealed that the One Piece anime will be going on an extended break following the conclusion of the Egghead arc. This break will span from January to the end of March, but that's not all. The One Piece anime will reportedly only have 26 episodes a year moving forward. This is terrible news for many avid anime watchers. On the flip side, this could also mean some improvements on the quality side of things.
The One Piece Anime Is Going on Another Extended Break
The Anime Will Go on Hiatus Between January and April 2026
In late 2024, all the way to April 2025, the One Piece anime went on quite a long break, spanning over 6 months. This break came out of nowhere, and fans weren't too pleased with it. Ever since this break, fans of the One Piece anime have had one major concern to deal with frequently, and that's more anime breaks. It seems that the worst fear of all One Piece fans is now real, as it's officially been confirmed that One Piece will be going on an extended break.
Earlier today, there was a One Piece NEWS press conference held by the official One Piece account, and some major news has been revealed. The biggest among them has to do with the anime, and a new break is coming.
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Indeed, it has just been revealed that the One Piece anime will be going on break again, starting January 2026. This break will extend until the end of March, and span over 3 months in total. Once this break is over, the long-awaited Elbaf arc will start in the anime.
The Anime Breaks Will Become A Norm
- The Anime Will Have Only 26 Episodes A Year
- Equivalent to a Seasonal Anime
While the One Piece anime’s next big break is confirmed, it isn’t the last one to expect. Among everything else that was revealed, the One Piece account also confirmed that following the break, fans should now only expect 26 episodes in a year. In other words, a 6-month break will be a yearly occurrence.
When I was a kid, I thought to myself: man I would love to draw a manga with the most hyped final stage! I wonder if I'm up to it! Now, we have only a tiny bit of Wano arc left, the preparations are almost done. Took me 25 years lol. That said, it's fine if you start reading from this point on. Because from this point on...it'll be... The ONE PIECE!! The mysteries of this world, I'll be drawing all of them! It'll be super interesting! Fasten your seatbelt! And please stay with me for a bit longer! — Eiichiro Oda, Author of One Piece, 2022
It has also been confirmed that the One Piece anime will be split into two parts of 13 episodes each, spread across the year. In other words, there will likely be another break once the first batch of 13 episodes finishes airing. Many are unhappy, especially as the pacing of the anime will stay unchanged, and this has now officially been confirmed. Fans hope, at the very least, that this break will improve the quality of the series.
The One Piece series can be found in its entirety to watch on Crunchyroll, with the next One Piece episode coming in one week on Sunday as scheduled.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
