The One Piece anime will take a significant break in 2026, and its release schedule will be adjusted afterward.
As a huge One Piece fan, I know the show is seriously long – it’s one of the all-time greats, even if Sazae-san has been running even longer! Because it’s such a massive series, it’s not surprising when they need to pause production sometimes. They just had a two-week break starting on October 5th, which I totally get – everyone needs a breather!
Okay, so if you’re like me and following One Piece, you probably already know what’s going on, but just in case: Season 21 has been wild! Luffy’s currently battling the Five Elders during the Egghead Island arc. It’s been an insane ride so far!
Toei Animation has announced that the popular anime series One Piece will pause production for three months beginning in early 2026.
One Piece is going on a three month hiatus in January 2026
That’s right, One Piece will be taking a break from January to March 2026. Toei Animation revealed this on their One Piece YouTube channel on October 28th, as part of a larger update about the series.
Recently, viewers have become annoyed with the show because it’s been including episodes that either rehash old events or don’t advance the story – seemingly to make things simpler for the animation team.
The break in 2026 will allow the creators to avoid filler episodes, which have been underwhelming, especially now that the One Piece anime is adapting the exciting Elbaph arc from the manga.
What’s the new One Piece release schedule?
In addition to the break, Toei Animation has announced a change to the release schedule for when One Piece returns in March. Instead of new episodes airing every week, they will now be released every other week.
This change is designed to ease the workload on the animation team and allow them to stay truer to the original manga. By avoiding the need to create filler episodes to keep up with the weekly release schedule, they can focus on a more faithful adaptation.
Even though One Piece is taking a break from weekly episodes, many fans expressed their excitement about the new release schedule during the recent YouTube livestream. One fan commented that while they’ll miss weekly updates, they’re happy to have even more impactful episodes every two weeks. Another fan shared that they appreciate the slower pace and believe it will allow them to enjoy the show more.
Not everyone was happy with the new season. One viewer bluntly said it was time to cancel the show after three decades, and another felt the story was being unnecessarily prolonged.
When is the next episode of One Piece out?
With a few months left before the show takes a break, fans have plenty of new episodes to enjoy – plus the upcoming second season of the live-action Netflix series! You can watch the next episode of One Piece on both Crunchyroll and Netflix.
One Piece Episode 1148 will be available on Crunchyroll starting November 2nd. Netflix subscribers will get the new episode a week later, on November 9th.
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2025-10-28 20:19