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After over 25 years of constantly releasing weekly episodes, One Piece is finally adapting to a new release schedule. This news was announced during a special live stream in Japan by Toei Animation. According to the news, it is confirmed that from the beginning of 2026, this anime will finally shift to a seasonal production schedule.
If we break down the details, it means that the One Piece anime will now air two cours(parts) annually. This brings us to a rough estimate of 26 episodes per year, and it would start with airing the most-awaited Elbaph arc. Before this shift takes full effect, the production house will be taking a three-month production hiatus from January through March 2026.
Since it started airing in 1999, this anime has been on a weekly schedule, but now it is good to see that the production house is openly adapting with modern production modules. This kind of release schedule is noticed in a few popular series like Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Attack on Titan.
A strategic evolution for Toei Animation
According to Koike, the production house transition does not mean the end of tradition; rather, it is a symbol of evolving. He continued to explain that Toei Animation was to keep its main focus on improving the quality of animation and pacing, to ensure the storytelling would reflect Eiichiro Oda's vision.
As someone who has been part of the fandom who feels like there are times where this anime had major pacing issues (especially during big arcs like Dressrosa), this announcement genuinely gives me hope.
For years, the One Piece anime has been infamously known to adapt 1-2 chapters per episode to make sure that it would not catch up with the manga, and it worked. But getting an episode every week makes animators get less rest. Now, even if they focus on this kind of pacing, it will not feel stretched out, as we will be getting episodes in batches.
Koike even said, “The goal is to bring the anime closer to the manga’s tempo while leveraging the strengths of animation.” Hearing that honestly made me smile because, in the end, as much as I have loved this show, I have always wanted to see Toei give it the same level of attention that studios like Ufotable give to series like Demon Slayer.
The end of the long-running era
Although it is unfair to ask fans not to be sentimental about this. For over two decades, One Piece has been that comforting constant. It has been a series that never stopped, even through production challenges, filler arcs, and a global pandemic. Now, that era is officially ending. Fans online have already started calling this “the end of long-running anime,” and they’re not wrong. One Piece was the last one holding the torch for continuous weekly anime.
Why Toei needs to keep up with the new age
Let’s be honest: the anime industry today is not what it used to be. Studios like MAPPA and Ufotable have set new standards for what fans expect from a major series. Toei, despite being a giant in the industry, can’t just rely on nostalgia anymore; it needs to compete in terms of quality.
By going seasonal, Toei is giving itself room to breathe and improve. That means more time to refine storyboards, give animators proper schedules, and ensure voice actors can bring their A-game. It also gives Oda’s manga time to stay ahead, avoiding pacing issues and rushed episodes.
Personally, I think this opens doors to something even bigger, maybe even canon movies that tie directly into the main story. For years, fans have wanted a One Piece film that actually continues the manga plot, just like Demon Slayer: Mugen Train or Jujutsu Kaisen 0. With this new production cycle, that dream suddenly feels possible.
How a canon One Piece movie could change the anime industry
Honestly, if there’s one thing I hope Toei Animation seriously considers with this new structure, it’s making a canon One Piece movie. The trend is undeniable, like anime films like Demon Slayer took the movie format for the final Infinity Castle arc. This movie did not just succeed; it redefined the anime box office by directly adapting canon material from their manga.
Even the Chainsaw Man Reze movie has followed the same path. Currently, it is one of the top-rated movies. Now, Toei has already proved with Film Red that One Piece can dominate theaters, and a canon One Piece movie, crafted under Oda’s supervision, could genuinely shatter records.
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Final thoughts
As a fan of One Piece, I can only hope to get a canon movie, as it would be a delight to watch this story on a big screen. In the end, fans are happy and supportive of the fact that the series will be Seasonal from now as this is the first step towards adapting the modern format of releasing anime, so the day we get the news for a movie might not be far.
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