One Piece Anime Goes on Hiatus After Episode 1180, Returns in 2027

The Thousand Sunny has docked for a while. The One Piece anime has aired its final episode of 2026, and the next episode is scheduled for 2027, according to a statement from the official Eiichiro Oda staff account. After nearly 1,200 episodes and more than 25 years of broadcasts, the pause will become one of the longest breaks in the series' history.

Episode 1180 Closes the Elbaph Arc

The announcement followed the release of Episode 1180, which aired on Japanese TV on September 27, closing out the Elbaph Arc that had been running since April 2026. The official staff account confirmed the final TV anime broadcast of 2026 had aired and that the next episode would arrive in 2027 — but did not announce an exact return date, leaving the series off the schedule for at least three months.

The 26-Episode Model

The hiatus follows a production change announced in 2025, when the anime moved away from its long-running weekly format and adopted a schedule capped at 26 episodes per year starting in 2026. Toei Animation has said the new two-cour structure would allow future episodes to include more manga content and a different pace while preserving storytelling elements that work specifically in animation. The show had already taken a break from January through March 2026, along with a six-month pause from October 2024 to April 2025 — so fans have had practice waiting.

What Fills the Gap

Fans won't be entirely without new One Piece. A separate movie, One Piece: God Valley, is planned for summer 2027, giving the fandom new content during the wider wait. And the timing is no accident: just as the TV anime went dark, Netflix dropped the two-part LEGO One Piece special on September 29, retelling the live-action seasons through Usopp's narration. Between the bricks, the movie, and the manga's final arc still unfolding in Weekly Shonen Jump, the Grand Line stays busy — even if the weekly anime is taking its longest voyage yet into uncharted waters.

A Franchise That Never Sleeps

Even with the TV anime dark, the One Piece machine keeps moving. The manga — serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump for over 28 years and currently in its final arc — continues its march toward the ending Eiichiro Oda has been building toward for decades. Crunchyroll is expanding the anime catalog across Southeast Asia, with Episodes 1–325 already available and Episodes 326–746 arriving October 25, and the Elbaph Arc's second cour is expected to return in 2027. Add the God Valley movie slated for summer 2027, and the hiatus starts to look less like a goodbye and more like a deep breath before the final saga.