Toei Animation Has Finally Found Its One Piece Replacement

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Toei Animation is a major anime studio in Japan, responsible for adapting many incredibly popular series. While they’ve created countless hits like Sailor Moon and Digimon, they’re best known for two iconic titles: One Piece, a hugely successful adventure and pirate anime, and Dragon Ball, a pioneering series in the shonen genre.

For over 25 years, One Piece has been incredibly popular. However, Toei Animation may be changing its priorities. Now that One Piece is moving to a seasonal release schedule, Toei has announced two new Dragon Ball projects, signaling a potential shift towards featuring its other major franchise more prominently, perhaps even alternating with One Piece.

One Piece’s Anime Has Switched From Weekly To Seasonal Release

  • One Piece now receives half the episodes
  • New release schedule aims to improve quality

One Piece is a hugely popular anime that’s been running for over 25 years! It started as a manga created by Eiichiro Oda and was adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation in 1999. For a long time, new episodes aired every week, but recently, the studio has started to move away from that consistent schedule.

For years, One Piece has been one of the few anime series airing new episodes every week. However, starting in 2026, that will change. One Piece will move from a weekly release schedule to a seasonal one. This means instead of getting a new episode each week, fans will only receive One Piece content for about half of the year, and those episodes won’t necessarily air consecutively.

Instead of the typical 40+ episodes per year, the anime One Piece will now release 26 episodes split into two parts. After each part, there will be a three-month break. This means fans will receive less content overall, and the anime will fall further behind the manga.

Despite hopes for significant improvements, the anime adaptation of One Piece doesn’t appear to be receiving a major quality boost. Unfortunately, the pacing will likely remain consistent with the recent Egghead arc. While Toei Animation promised to adapt roughly one chapter of the manga per episode, which is a positive, this is still a letdown for many fans.

After the final episode of the Egghead arc aired on December 28, 2025, One Piece entered a break. New episodes won’t be available until around April 2026, meaning fans will have to wait about three months for the story to continue.

Next, Toei Animation will release new episodes of One Piece that start the long-awaited Elbaf Arc, which fans are incredibly excited about. Since Toei often pauses One Piece between seasons, they need another show to air in the meantime. That’s where the new Dragon Ball anime comes in, giving Toei Animation two big series to focus on.

Toei Animation Announces Major Dragon Ball Projects

  • Dragon Ball Super: Beerus Remastered and Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol can help replace One Piece during its absence

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Dragon Ball recently hosted a massive event called Dragon Ball: Genkidamatsuri. Held on January 25th, 2026, the event exceeded all fan expectations.

Toei Animation, the studio behind Dragon Ball, announced two exciting new projects that particularly caught fans’ attention.

A remastered version of the Beerus arc from Dragon Ball Super is scheduled for release in late 2026. This new anime will consist of six episodes and offer fans an improved experience of the story originally aired in 2016. Early previews look fantastic!

I’m so excited! It looks like we’re finally getting more Dragon Ball Super anime! Toei just announced a new project called ‘Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol’ that will continue the story. We don’t have a release date yet, but fingers crossed for late 2027! It’s amazing to see the series moving forward, especially after losing the incredible Akira Toriyama – his passing left such a big impact, and it’s wonderful that his legacy will continue.

When One Piece Is On Break, Dragon Ball Could Be Its Replacement

Many fans feel Toei Animation is prioritizing Dragon Ball over One Piece right now. One Piece episodes are being noticeably shortened, and there haven’t been any announcements about improvements to the animation quality. Based on what’s been shown of the upcoming Elbaf arc, it seems the quality will be similar to the Egghead arc. While that’s not a negative – One Piece is already a very well-made anime – it’s still a concern for some viewers.

While Dragon Ball won’t likely surpass One Piece in popularity, it’s a great option to keep fans engaged when One Piece takes a break. Toei Animation can schedule Dragon Ball content, like ‘Dragon Ball: The Galactic Patrol,’ during One Piece’s usual three-month breaks, and ‘Dragon Ball Super: Beerus’ will air alongside new One Piece episodes. This ensures Toei always has something for its audience.

Generally, there’s a lot of overlap between fans of One Piece and Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball is a great option for One Piece fans to enjoy while waiting for new episodes or chapters to be released.

Beyond that, this might be the first time in nearly eight years that new episodes of One Piece and Dragon Ball are airing at the same time. While Dragon Ball Daima had a single episode that overlapped with One Piece, this return of Dragon Ball is generally great news for fans of shonen anime.

I’ve been following Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece for a while now, and it’s amazing to see Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat crew continue their adventure searching for the legendary treasure, the One Piece. It’s currently in its final story arc! I noticed it’s going to be featured in this week’s Weekly Shonen Jump, and Chapter 1172 is officially coming out on February 1, 2026. For those of us in Japan, it’ll be available at midnight on Monday, which translates to 11:00 AM Eastern Time or 8:00 AM Pacific Time. The best part is, you can read it for free on Manga Plus and the Shonen Jump app, which is a great way to directly support the creator.

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2026-01-27 23:41