One Piece anime might have to take the Boruto route after the latest hiatus

Modified Oct 13, 2024 22:00 GMT

One Piece anime might have to take the Boruto route after the latest hiatus (Image via Toei Animation and Studio Pierrot) — One Piece anime might have to take the Boruto route after the latest hiatus (Images via Toei Animation and Studio Pierrot)

The One Piece anime recently announced a six-month break, effective until April 2025. While the actual reasons for the break have not been stated, the immense strain on the production team due to the movie-like animation quality of recent episodes, along with the anime catching up to the manga, are expected to be the primary concerns.

Anime catching up to the manga's storyline has long been a dreaded issue in the industry, with the original Naruto and Bleach series being notable victims of this situation. Recently, the producers of Boruto also expressed that switching to a seasonal format would benefit the overall quality of the anime and help address the shortage of source material for adaptation.

Since the current storyline of the One Piece anime is very close to the manga, this could necessitate the series adopting a seasonal format to prevent the need for another filler arc.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Boruto and One Piece series and reflects the author's opinions.

One Piece anime might benefit by becoming a seasonal anime

Luffy as shown in the One Piece anime. (Image via Toei Animation)

The One Piece anime has been the epitome of production in recent times, except the Jujutsu Kaisen anime and the overall hype surrounding its production decisions. While the production of Eiichiro Oda's anime and the overall "movie-like" production quality in its episodes has left little to be desired, the recently announced long break for the anime might just address One Piece's most prominent downside.

A similar break situation previously occurred with Boruto, which was being adapted by Studio Pierrot. Both the Bleach and Naruto series suffered from numerous filler episodes due to the anime catching up dangerously close to the manga. Still, the success of Bleach TYBW anime in both production and reception after adopting a seasonal format may have indicated fans' preference for a well-made seasonal anime.

Boruto as shown in the anime. (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The producers of Boruto also clarified that adopting a seasonal format would reduce pacing issues since there weren’t enough chapters of the series to support a long-running anime. One Piece's pacing issues could potentially be resolved altogether if the studio adopts a seasonal format.

Since the manga will continue its serialization, the break would give Eiichiro Oda enough time to create a comfortable gap between the anime and the manga, giving the studio more room to adjust the pacing that has long plagued the series.

Garp as shown in One Piece anime episode 1122 (Image via Toei Animation)

The arcs within One Piece are some of the longest ever seen in manga, often spanning multiple years. Although arcs like these will be difficult to adapt into a seasonal format, it can be done by splitting the arcs into multiple seasons, which would help prevent many pacing issues.

A seasonal format would also increase the production quality while giving the producers more time to space out the action and animation heavy sequences. A seasonal format would also improve production quality while giving the producers more time to pace the action and animation-heavy sequences

Final Thoughts

One Piece episode 1122 is the latest episode of the series and will be the last episode until April 2025. The episode adapted Chapter 1088 of the manga. The next episode, which was supposed to adapt Kizaru and Saturn approaching Marijoa, will possibly air when the anime returns in April 2025. The manga will continue its serialization, and One Piece Chapter 1130 will be released on October 30, 2024.