One Piece is now in the works on a new anime spinoff all about its heroines, and with it has revealed the first look at Nami and Robin’s new makeovers for the occasion. One Piece is about to kick off a whole new era in 2026. Not only is the live-action Netflix series returning for new episodes next year, but the anime is entering a whole new kind of release schedule moving forward. It’s going to be a great year to be a fan of the franchise, and helping matters in that regard is a new spinoff anime coming our way too.
One Piece: Heroines is a brand new anime project adapting the light novel of the same name. This novel takes place within the official timeline of the series, and highlights smaller stories from many of the series’ fan-favorite heroines from across the franchise’s history. This new anime will feature a style all of its own, and that’s especially apparent with the reveal of Nami and Robin’s new makeovers for the spinoff. You can check it out in action below.
What Is One Piece: Heroines?
Courtesy of Shueisha
One Piece: Heroines will be based on the novel originally written by Jun Esaka with illustrations provided by Sayaka Suwa. The spinoff tells a few stories focused on Nami, Nico Robin, Nefertari Vivi, and Perona that weren’t seen in Eiichiro Oda’s original manga series. The new anime project will be directed by Haruka Kamatami for Toei Animation with Takashi Kojima handling the character designs and Momoka Toyoda handling the scripts. But as of the time of this reveal, no release date or window information has been revealed for the new anime project as of this time.
It’s also yet to be revealed what form this new spinoff anime will take. Because it’s only based on a single novel, it could be anything ranging from its own special series, to OVA projects, to even a special anime episode released in place of the TV anime like fans saw with One Piece Fan Letter last year. Either way, it’s promising a whole new kind of look at One Piece‘s world, and seeing it through a different lens has garnered some major success in the past with other kinds of projects. There’s a hope that this will do the same.
What’s Next for the One Piece Anime?
Courtesy of Toei Animation
One Piece’s anime is about to undergo a massive change next year. The team at Toei Animation announced that when the Egghead Arc comes to an end later this year, the anime will then be going on a three month break. Returning in April 2026 with the start of the Elbaph Arc, One Piece will be moving onto a seasonal release schedule for its episodes moving forward. Rather than dropping every week of the year, the series is now planning to only stick around for two cours of episodes a year moving forward.
One Piece‘s anime team have confirmed that the anime will now only be releasing 26 episodes a year from now on. While this means there will be less episodes of the anime per year compared to seasons past, they do confirm that the pace of the series will be speeding up as well. They will be adapting a chapter per episode, and even include more material that they weren’t able to before. Ultimately, it’s an exciting change for the anime’s future.
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