🔗 Share this article One Piece Concludes a Quarter-Century Era in 2026 It's the end of an iconic period for ongoing anime, with the production studio announcing a revised release plan for One Piece, which has run continuously for over a quarter-century and featured numerous filler arcs. Commencing in the new year, after the Egghead Island arc wraps up, the animated series will take a quarterly hiatus until spring, when the Elbaph arc begins. Updated Production Plan From now on, One Piece will release a pair of cours every annually for a maximum of 26 episodes. Toei states this will enable the anime to “dive even deeper into the core of the ONE PIECE world — including more content, rhythm, and timing of the original manga.” Yet, producers conclude by hinting at “exciting surprises” during the hiatus period, which suggests additional One Piece content, such as Netflix's live-action season 2, set to premiere in the interim. Previous Hiatus Benefits The One Piece anime had a six-month break that started in late 2024 and ended in early 2025. The hiatus was for the production team to enhance the visuals and allow the manga to get further ahead to avoid a rushed adaptation and repetitive summaries. The anime couldn't benefit more from this respite, and it has been able to supply viewers with countless action sequences, high-quality animation, and reduced non-canon content than previously. Embracing Seasonal Format Although some recap episodes sprouted up during the recent run, the positive effects of this updated approach far surpass the occasional interruption in the action. This additionally allows the manga, which is presently in the thick of the Elbaph arc, to extend its lead on the adaptation. According to the news, this may lead to a single installment of the anime adapting one chapter, with others instead handling more material or additional to compensate for scheduling. It's the end of an era for anime, as the epic saga is the last big series to ditch the old-school way of creation, which focused on airing for almost the entire year. It's the reason why iconic series such as Bleach, and of course itself have numerous filler arcs, and the standard of the animation can change drastically between installments and the following. Today, series creation is structured in seasons, with a couple maximum releasing each annually, enabling better quality and greater accuracy to the original work.