One Piece is slowing down: early 2026 anime hiatus will lead to a new schedule with a "maximum" of 26 episodes a year to better match the pacing of Eiichiro Oda's manga

A close-up of Luffy holding his fist during the anime One Piece. — (Image credit: Toei Animation/Crunchyroll)

The One Piece anime will see major changes to its release schedule, studio Toei Animation has announced, scaling back to a more condensed format after more than 25 years of consistent weekly episodes.

The official Japanese One Piece YouTube channel ran a whole news broadcast to share the details, and an English press release from Toei reiterates that One Piece will now be "capped to maximum 26 episodes per year starting in 2026."

This new release schedule will follow a three-month production hiatus spanning January through March 2026. The One Piece anime will return in April to kick off the Elbaph arc, now divided into two cours, "totaling up to 26 new episodes in 2026 and thereafter."

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Alongside a smattering of character profiles, a new teaser illustration for the Elbaph arc was also released today:

One Piece anime teaser art of Luffy in a red cloak in a snowfield — (Image credit: Toei Animation)

With this shift, One Piece will fall more in line with traditional seasonal anime – a significant change after decades as a weekly staple.

Beloved and inventive as it is, the One Piece anime has not entirely avoided the filler episodes, tedious recaps, and other pacing dips endemic to long-running anime, particularly those adapting manga. Its weekly format has also undoubtedly ratcheted up the pressure on the production team.

It seems Toei wants to improve the flow of the anime by giving it more room to breathe, and by better adhering to One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda's manga. Series producer Ryūta 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," Toei adds. "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."

On Twitter, Toei says this will support ways "to dive even deeper into the heart of the ONE PIECE world."

"Don't worry, Nakama - you'll have a chance to gear up for the next adventure," the studio says. "Stay tuned for exciting surprises during the series’ break!"

The One Piece anime remake in the works at Attack on Titan's Wit Studio seems unaffected by this news.

Netflix's One Piece season 2 finally has a release date after weeks of new location reveals and character teases.

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.