Bad and good news, One Piece fans: the anime is taking a break from its current arc until next spring. But itâs making up for that long break by going back to its past with some fancy new new visuals.
Toei Animation revealed itâs pausing production and airing new episodes of the present âEggheadâ saga after todayâs episode. The show wonât be coming back until April 2025, where itâll have a brand new timeslot going forward. As for when itâll return specifically, Toei said itâll reveal that airdate on Sunday, December 22 at Jump Festa 2025.
But just because âEggheadâ is on ice doesnât mean One Pieceâs anime is going away completely. Next week on October 20, thereâll be a special 25th anniversary episode centering on the Straw Hats reuniting after spending two years apart. The twist? Theyâll be explored through the eyes of several NPCs (non-pirate characters), including a young girl thatâs a big fan of navigator Nami. Then on October 27, a re-edited cut of the âFish-Man Island Sagaâ (aka, episodes 517-541, then 543-574) will run from then until Sunday, March 30, 2025. This condensed, âspecial 21-episode cutdownâ will feature re-shot scenes and wholly new animation scenes, plus a new opening (âWe Go!â by Kitadani Hiroshi) and ending (âSailingâ by BE:FIRST) done in the showâs current visual style.
Despite being a shortened version of the original animeâs lengthy saga, the âFish-Manâ re-edit appears to be completely disconnected from WIT Studioâs upcoming One Piece remake in the works over at Netflix. That show is also meant to offer a shortened retelling of this massive, 1,122-episode story, though WIT hasnât broken down how itâll go about condensing. Still, at least thereâll be some One Piece to watch between now and the showâs full-on return in April.
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