One Piece Hits Pause After the Egghead Arc — How Long Will the Wait Be?
One Piece is barreling toward the end of the Egghead arc—just three episodes remain in the first phase of its final saga—before the anime hits a long hiatus.
One Piece just flipped the sign to Almost Done on Egghead. The latest episode basically made it official: three episodes to go, then a long pit stop before the next island-sized chapter kicks off. And yes, the anime is ditching its weekly grind for something very different.
Where Egghead lands
Egghead is the first phase of the final saga, and it wraps by the end of 2025. There are three episodes left, rolling out on Sundays, closing the arc and the year at the same time.
It caps a busy stretch. One Piece came back from a six-month break in April 2025 and then ran for more than ten months with new episodes every Sunday, plus occasional recaps. Great for momentum, not so great for pacing and animation consistency in spots, which even Toei seems to admit.
Why the break, and how long?
After Egghead ends, the anime goes quiet for three months. Think of January through March 2026 as a recharge period for the staff. The idea is to shore up the production, tighten pacing, and work out the kinks that pop up when you sprint every week for almost a year.
This plan came out in a recent livestream and an official post from the One Piece staff account on October 28, 2025. The pause is not just a breather. It is the runway for a new way of releasing the show.
The big change: seasonal One Piece
Starting with Elbaph in April 2026, One Piece is dropping its weekly schedule and going seasonal. Toei will produce up to 26 episodes per year, released as a split-cour: 13 episodes, a break, then 13 more later in the year. The other headline change: the anime will adapt roughly one manga chapter per episode for Elbaph, which should help the pacing and keep the show comfortably behind the manga without all the stretching.
"From April 2026, the Elbaph arc begins. To let you enjoy one manga chapter per anime episode, next year the TV anime will air up to 26 episodes. January to March is a recharge period."
- ONE PIECE staff account, Oct 28, 2025
Fans are split on the shift, naturally. Personally, I would rather wait a little and get cleaner animation, steadier pacing, and fewer wheel-spinning scenes than watch the team burn out trying to hit 52 Sundays a year.
What to expect next
Elbaph is the second phase of the final saga. The new schedule means Toei can plan the season as a season, not a weekly treadmill. They even rolled out a new key visual and fresh Straw Hat character designs with the announcement, which tells you they are treating this like a proper relaunch.
- Final Egghead episodes: three left, airing Sundays through December 2025
- Hiatus: January to March 2026
- Return: April 2026 with the Elbaph arc
- Release model: seasonal, split-cour, up to 26 episodes per year (13 + 13)
- Adaptation pace: about one manga chapter per episode starting with Elbaph
- Weekly schedule: dropped in favor of seasonal batches
- Extras: new key visual and updated Straw Hat designs shown alongside the announcement
- Where to watch: One Piece is streaming on Crunchyroll