‘One Piece’ will take a three-month hiatus, and when it returns, there will be a revolution in the series

The adventures of Luffy and company are taking a break: Toei Animation has confirmed a three-month hiatus for ‘One Piece’ starting in January 2026. The series will resume broadcasting in April with the start of the highly anticipated Elbaf Arc, one of the great milestones and a moment that has been eagerly awaited for many years. The announcement comes with another significant development: starting in 2026, the anime will adopt a “seasonal” schedule, with a maximum of 26 episodes per year divided into two parts (two cours), a change designed to bring the pace and tone closer to the manga and ensure a more refined production.

The move breaks with a quarter of a century of almost uninterrupted weekly broadcasts. The idea, according to press releases, is to gain creative and technical leeway: fewer episodes, but better planned, with episodes that are more faithful to the tempo of the original and avoid artificial stretching. In practice, that means compact blocks of 10–13 episodes, a break, and then another batch until the annual limit of 26 is reached.

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The change can be interpreted in several ways. The first is industrial: limiting the series to 26 episodes per year, with two broadcast windows, brings One Piece closer to the standard season length for modern anime and should facilitate more ambitious peaks in animation quality at key moments. The second is narrative: if the goal is to adapt the manga with less filler and greater density per episode, fans can expect more sustained progress without sacrificing staging. The third is strategic: a predictable schedule helps coordinate global campaigns (dubbing, platforms) and turn each return into a small event. In any case, it’s a revolution after so many years of the classic pace and endless fillers.

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