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After taking a three-month break, the One Piece anime made a strong comeback with episode 1156. This episode finally gave fans everything that they have been wanting from Toei Animation for years. The animation received a clear upgrade, and the pacing finally felt just like the original manga. The studio even fixed the old sound effects and made sure to hide major spoilers in the opening theme. It really felt like Toei was finally listening to the viewers.
Unfortunately, all that effort lasted only for the big return episode. The anime recently enjoyed a solid six-episode streak of 9.0+ ratings on IMDb. However, that streak ended when episodes 1157 and 1158 crashed to a 7.2 rating. The series hasn’t seen a score this low since episode 1042, which aired about four years ago. This drop is not the result of any internet fan war artificially lowering the score.
Viewers are genuinely unhappy with how the Elbaph arc is being handled in the anime. Once again, fans are criticizing the studio for its most well-known problem. No matter what Toei Animation tries to do, the dragged-out pacing always starts a new controversy. It is clear that even after all these years, the studio still cannot fix this frustrating flaw.
Toei’s Decision To Drag Out A Minor Story Killed One Piece’s Big Return
Even though viewers loved the big return of One Piece in episode 1156, the episodes that followed felt disappointing. Surprisingly, this loss of hype is not completely Toei Animation’s fault. Instead, it comes down to mismatched expectations. The Elbaph arc is one of the most highly anticipated storylines in the series. With the stakes being higher than ever, viewers were ready to see epic moments. Instead, the quirky “Legoland” storyline happened at the worst possible time for the anime.
This brief detour actually worked perfectly in Eiichiro Oda’s original manga. Following the heavy action on Egghead Island, readers needed a quick break to take in all the huge reveals. The manga timed this change in pace flawlessly. However, anime viewers just had a three-month break to rest. Fans were eagerly waiting for the real Elbaph story to begin.
Starting the new arc at a snail’s pace after such a long hiatus ruined the excitement. Toei Animation should have fit this whole segment into one single episode rather than stretching it across two. The series recently switched to a seasonal format with a limited number of episodes. Choosing to drag out a minor story when the episode count is already restricted was not a smart decision by the studio.
The “LEGO” Detour Is Finally Ending So The Real Elbaph Arc Can Begin
The good news for viewers is that the current “LEGO” section is finally ending with this week’s episode. The One Piece anime is about to drop the playful mood and switch to a much more serious tone. Moving forward, fans will finally get to see the real Elbaph arc that everyone has been talking about. This epic storyline has set up some truly lofty expectations given how well the manga’s original arc has been received.
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.
Once the true story begins, viewers will finally get answers to their biggest questions, with the upcoming episodes set to feature some of the biggest reveals in the series so far. Compared to other arcs, Elbaph already stands out as a masterpiece, even though the story isn’t finished yet in the manga. Viewers who were disappointed by the recent slow episodes have a lot to look forward to. The upcoming episodes are guaranteed to be some of the greatest in all of One Piece.
- Release Date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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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
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
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Umair Nakade
Almontather Rassoul
