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‘One Piece’ Closed Out Its Year With a Near-Perfect Episode, and Now Fans Face a Painful Wait

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For 27 years, ‘One Piece‘ was the anime that never seemed to stop, but this year the Straw Hats’ weekly voyage finally found a new rhythm. Toei has moved the series to roughly 26 episodes a year in seasonal blocks, a major shift from the weekly grind of 40 to 50 episodes that had run since 1999. The upside, as many fans have noticed, is pacing that sits much closer to Eiichiro Oda’s original manga.

That new structure defined this year’s run. The anime went on hiatus from January through March, then returned on April 5 to kick off the Elbaph Arc. Each episode since has pushed the Giants of Elbaph deeper into trouble, building toward a season finale that fans had circled on their calendars for weeks.

That finale arrived on September 27 with Episode 1180, titled “Elbaph in Despair – Diabolical Covenant, ‘Domi Reversi.'” According to Anime Spotlight, the episode has debuted with an IMDb rating of 9.9/10, which the account called the highest-rated episode in the history of the series.

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‘One Piece’ Leaves Elbaph on a Brutal Cliffhanger as the Anime Heads Into a Long Break

To put that in perspective, some of the most celebrated episodes in the anime’s history sit just below that mark. The episode adapting the manga’s 1000th chapter, “Straw Hat Luffy! The Man Who Will Become the King of the Pirates!”, currently holds a 9.7 on IMDb, while “Believe in Momo – Luffy’s Final Powerful Technique!”, the climactic clash between Luffy and Kaido, holds a 9.5.

The episode picks up the fallout from Imu seizing control of Gunko, leaving the Giants of Elbaph in an even more desperate position than fans expected. It closes the first season of the Elbaph Arc, stopping right where Imu appears after possessing Saint Manmeyer Gunko, just as she is about to remember her life with Brook.

Critics and fans alike have noted it ends on a massive cliffhanger, which helps explain the fevered reaction. The episode is streaming on Crunchyroll now, with a Netflix release set to follow the following week. The finale also introduced some notable voices. Yuichi Nakamura was revealed as the voice of Loki, making his debut in the Elbaph Arc alongside the cast for the Knights of God.

The run leading up to the finale kept the stakes high as well. The previous week’s Episode 1179, “A Life-or-Death Second! Gaban vs. the Knights of God,” adapted Chapter 1149 and set the stage for the dramatic conclusion.

The bittersweet part of this achievement is that it marks the end of the road for now. ‘One Piece’ has confirmed via its social media that Episode 1180 is the finale, and the anime will return for new episodes in 2027, though no exact date has been announced.

The next batch of episodes is expected to pick up from Chapter 1151, “I Get the Idea!!”, continuing the Elbaph storyline. Some reports suggest a return in the first half of next year, but Toei has yet to lock anything in.

Thankfully, fans won’t be totally starved. A LEGO ‘One Piece’ special is set for September 29, while WIT Studio’s remake anime, ‘The One Piece’, is slated to premiere in February 2027. Season 3 of the live-action series is also on the way, having recently revealed its Alabasta cast.

On top of that, ‘One Piece Film: God Valley’, described as the first fully canon ‘One Piece’ film, is expected to arrive in the summer. The Straw Hats may be docking for a while, but the franchise itself is sailing into a very busy stretch.

Do you think One Piece Episode 1180 deserves to be called the greatest episode yet?

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