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This marks the conclusion of an iconic period for long-running series, with the production studio revealing a revised release plan for One Piece, which has run continuously for over a quarter-century and featured 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 kicks off.

Updated Production Plan

From now on, One Piece will produce a pair of cours every year for a maximum of 26 episodes. The studio explains this will enable the anime to “explore further into the core of the ONE PIECE world — including more material, rhythm, and timing of the original manga.” However, producers conclude by hinting at “thrilling developments” during the series' break, which means additional related projects, such as Netflix's live-action season 2, scheduled to debut during this gap.

Previous Hiatus Benefits

The One Piece anime previously took a six-month pause that began in late 2024 and ended in early 2025. The hiatus was for the animators to enhance the visuals and allow the manga to get further ahead to avoid a faster anime pace and lengthy recap episodes. The show greatly benefited from this break, and it has managed to supply viewers with numerous fight scenes, superior graphics, and less filler than ever before.

Embracing Seasonal Format

While a few summary installments sprouted up during the recent run, the positive effects of this updated approach greatly outweigh the odd pause in the story. This additionally allows the original work, which is presently in the thick of the latest arc, to gain more ground on the anime. Per the announcement, this may lead to one episode of the series covering a single manga chapter, with others alternatively handling more material or more to make up for time.

This concludes of an era for anime, as One Piece 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 classics such as Bleach, and naturally One Piece have so many side stories, and the quality of the art can change drastically between one episode and the next. Today, anime production is organized in cours, with a couple maximum coming out each year, allowing for better quality and greater accuracy to the source material.