One Piece Elbaph Arc’s New Pacing Is Raising Serious Concerns

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Published Apr 6, 2026, 9:01 PM EDT

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The One Piece anime is officially back with the highly anticipated Elbaph arc, and Toei Animation is definitely living up to fans' expectations. By finally treating Eiichiro Oda’s original manga to the high-end production value it always deserved, it really seems like moving to a seasonal release schedule was exactly what the franchise needed all along. However, even though this massive format change was specifically designed to leave the series' famously terrible pacing issues behind, the latest premiere still felt a bit odd.

While Episode #1156 managed to avoid the worst parts of the new one-to-one chapter adaptation drag, the next few releases probably will not be quite as lucky. The truth is that this current stretch of manga chapters does not have enough dense material to carry a full twenty-minute anime episode on its own. Because of that lack of story content, it really seems like Toei’s celebrated new seasonal approach is about to run into its very first major hurdle.

One Piece Episode 1156 Proves A 1:1 Adaptation Is Still A Major Struggle

One Piece Episode #1156 delivered absolutely everything fans have been asking for over the years, checking all the boxes with significantly improved pacing, fluid animation, and crisp new sound effects. However, it is worth noting that this premiere did not just strictly adapt the events of chapter #1125, as the studio mixed in quite a few anime-original moments. While these extra filler scenes blended in perfectly and arguably made the latest episode a lot better, their inclusion still points to a pretty massive problem.

The Ultimate · Straw Hat Challenge Set Sail for Trivia “I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!”

⚕CrewNakama!

🌊SeasEast Blue

🍋Devil FruitsGomu Gomu!

☠VillainsFear the sea

🏆DreamsOne Piece!

SET SAIL →

Monkey D. Luffy accidentally ate a Devil Fruit as a child, giving him rubber-like abilities. What is the name of that fruit?

AFlame-Flame Fruit BChop-Chop Fruit CGum-Gum Fruit DSmoke-Smoke Fruit

✓ Correct! The Gum-Gum Fruit (Gomu Gomu no Mi) turned Luffy’s body into rubber. He ate it from Shanks’ treasure chest as a kid, gaining stretchy powers but losing the ability to swim forever.

✗ Overboard! The answer is the Gum-Gum Fruit. The Chop-Chop Fruit belongs to Buggy, the Flame-Flame Fruit to Ace, and the Smoke-Smoke Fruit to Captain Smoker — but Luffy’s rubber powers come from the Gomu Gomu no Mi.

Luffy’s iconic straw hat was given to him as a child by a famous pirate who inspired his dream. Who gave Luffy the hat?

AGold Roger BMonkey D. Garp CDracule Mihawk DRed-Haired Shanks

✓ Correct! Red-Haired Shanks entrusted his straw hat to young Luffy in Foosha Village, telling him to return it when he becomes a great pirate. That promise drives Luffy’s entire journey.

✗ Overboard! The answer is Red-Haired Shanks. While Gold Roger originally wore the hat, it was Shanks who passed it down to Luffy after saving his life from a Sea King — a defining moment in the series.

Before joining the Straw Hats, Sanji works as a sous chef at a floating restaurant on the ocean. What is the name of this restaurant?

AThe Galley-La BThe Baratie CThe Sea Rat DMakino’s Tavern

✓ Correct! The Baratie is the ocean-going restaurant run by Chef Zeff, Sanji’s mentor. In the live-action series, it’s one of the most stunning sets — a fully realized ship-restaurant on the open sea.

✗ Overboard! The answer is The Baratie. Run by the legendary pirate-turned-chef “Red Leg” Zeff, this floating restaurant is where Luffy recruits Sanji as the Straw Hats’ cook.

Roronoa Zoro is famous for his unique sword-fighting technique. How many swords does he wield in his signature style?

AOne BTwo CThree DFour

✓ Correct! Zoro uses Three-Sword Style (Santoryu), wielding one sword in each hand and a third in his mouth. His dream is to become the world’s greatest swordsman by defeating Dracule Mihawk.

✗ Overboard! The answer is three. Zoro’s iconic Three-Sword Style places one blade in each hand and a third clenched between his teeth — a fighting technique unique to him in the One Piece world.

Each Straw Hat crew member has a personal dream. What is Nami’s ultimate goal that drives her journey?

ATo find the One Piece treasure BTo become the greatest navigator CTo draw a complete map of the world DTo defeat every pirate on the Grand Line

✓ Correct! Nami’s dream is to draw a map of the entire world. Her cartography skills and navigation talent make her indispensable to the crew, and her passion for mapmaking was nurtured by her adoptive mother Bell-mère.

✗ Overboard! The answer is to draw a complete map of the world. Nami is a gifted cartographer whose dream goes beyond just sailing — she wants to chart every sea and island so no one is ever lost again.

A powerful Marine Vice Admiral is revealed to have a surprising family connection to Luffy. Who is this high-ranking Marine?

ACaptain Smoker BAdmiral Akainu CCaptain Morgan DVice Admiral Garp

✓ Correct! Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp is Luffy’s grandfather. Known as “Garp the Fist,” he’s a Marine hero who wanted Luffy to become a Marine — not a pirate. Their family dynamic is a major subplot in the live-action series.

✗ Overboard! The answer is Vice Admiral Garp. Monkey D. Garp is Luffy’s grandfather and one of the most legendary Marines alive. Despite being on opposite sides of the law, their bond runs deep.

Usopp is recruited into the Straw Hat crew after the pirates help defend his home village from Captain Kuro’s Black Cat Pirates. What is the name of Usopp’s village?

AFoosha Village BShells Town CSyrup Village DCoco Village

✓ Correct! Syrup Village is Usopp’s peaceful hometown where he was known for telling tall tales. It’s also where Kaya lives, and where the crew acquires the Going Merry from her estate.

✗ Overboard! The answer is Syrup Village. Foosha Village is Luffy’s hometown, Shells Town is where Zoro was held captive, and Coco Village (Cocoyasi) is Nami’s home — but Usopp hails from Syrup Village.

The Netflix live-action adaptation was praised for its casting. Which actor plays Monkey D. Luffy?

AMackenyu BTaz Skylar CIñaki Godoy DJacob Romero Gibson

✓ Correct! Mexican actor Iñaki Godoy won fans over with his infectious energy and earnest portrayal of Luffy. Mackenyu plays Zoro, Taz Skylar is Sanji, and Jacob Romero Gibson plays Usopp.

✗ Overboard! The answer is Iñaki Godoy. The young Mexican actor perfectly captured Luffy’s boundless enthusiasm. The other actors all play Straw Hat crew members — but Luffy is all Iñaki.

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↻ SET SAIL AGAIN

Watching Episode #1156 makes it quite obvious that stretching one single manga chapter into a full twenty-minute runtime is still a huge struggle. The only reason the strategy actually paid off here was because of the heavy emotional character moments. Watching the flashback of the Little Garden was a treat for all the fans. Unfortunately, leaning on that same trick isn't going to succeed every single week. Watching Toei Animation rely on original material just to cover up a lack of actual manga content definitely creates a serious concern for the rest of the season.

One Piece Doesn't Have Enough Manga Chapters To Speed Up

A Still From One Piece Elbaph Arc Trailer

Moving from adapting roughly 75 percent of a manga chapter up to a full one-to-one ratio is definitely a massive improvement for the One Piece anime. However, plenty of other modern anime cover significantly more content without ruining their overall pacing.

A perfect example of this is the third season of Jujutsu Kaisen, which covered almost everything from chapter #138 to chapter #181.

That is a rough total of 43 chapters, which breaks down to an average of around 3.5 chapters per episode. Yet, even while moving at that breakneck speed, the episodes never felt rushed on screen, and the studio never had to cut out any crucial plot details from the original manga.

6 Reasons To Abandon One Piece's Anime For the Manga in 2026

As the anime undergoes major production changes, switching to the manga is a great way to experience the rest of the story safely without spoilers.

The reality is that Toei Animation cannot afford to use that kind of fast production style. Trying to adapt three full chapters for every single episode would easily burn approximately 39 chapters per season, which is a practically impossible pace for a series like One Piece to maintain. As it stands, the anime adaptation is currently at chapter #1127, while the ongoing manga is sitting at chapter #1179. That leaves the studio with a remarkably tight safety net of 52 chapters to work with.

A Long-Term Hiatus Might Be The Only Real Way To Fix The Anime's Pacing

If the studio decides to adapt multiple chapters per episode, the broadcast would immediately run into a massive problem of catching up to the source material. Toei’s famously slow pacing has always been specifically designed to protect that exact gap, which is especially important these days since Eiichiro Oda has been taking quite a few publication breaks lately.

The only permanent fix for this frustrating loop would be for the anime to go on a long-term hiatus, allowing the manga to pull way ahead and establish a huge lead. Taking that route means Toei would never have to worry about running out of material again and could put all their energy into making a perfect adaptation.

Even with these concerns, it is still a little bit too early to start panicking because only one episode of this new seasonal format has dropped so far. But One Piece's pacing is definitely going to be watched incredibly closely moving forward.

Release Date October 20, 1999

Network Fuji TV

Directors Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Writers Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda