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This marks the conclusion of a long-standing era for long-running series, with the production studio revealing a revised release plan for One Piece, which has been airing for over a quarter-century and included numerous non-canon storylines. Starting in the new year, once the current storyline concludes, the animated series will take a quarterly hiatus until spring, when the next major arc begins.

New Release Strategy

Going forward, the series will produce two seasons every year for a maximum of 26 episodes. Toei explains this will help the anime to “dive even deeper into the heart of the ONE PIECE world — including more material, tempo, and pacing of the original manga.” However, producers conclude by hinting at “exciting surprises” during the series' break, which means more One Piece content, such as the upcoming live-action adaptation, set to premiere in the interim.

Previous Hiatus Benefits

The One Piece anime had a half-year pause that started in October 2024 and concluded in April 2025. The hiatus was for the animators to improve the visuals and let the manga to build a lead to avoid a faster anime pace and repetitive summaries. The show greatly benefited from this break, and it has managed to supply fans with countless fight scenes, high-quality animation, and less filler than previously.

Adopting Modern Trends

Although a few summary installments sprouted up during this season, the positive effects of this new production schedule far surpass the occasional interruption in the story. This additionally allows the manga, which is currently in the middle of the Elbaph arc, to extend its lead on the anime. Per the announcement, this may lead to a single installment of the anime adapting one chapter, with some alternatively covering more material or more to compensate for scheduling.

This concludes of a generation for Japanese animation, as One Piece is the last big series to ditch the traditional method of creation, which focused on being on air for almost the entire year. It's the reason why classics such as Bleach, and naturally One Piece have so many side stories, and the standard of the art can change drastically between one episode and the next. Today, anime production is organized in seasons, with a couple at most releasing each year, enabling better quality and more faithfulness to the source material.