Eiichiro Oda One piece manga began on July 18, 1997 in Shueisha's Weekly Shounen Jump Issue #34. The story has since been adapted into various media, including an anime by Toei Animation that began on October 20, 1999, just two years later. Toei's anime has been going on for 27 years and will continue for the foreseeable future until it concludes the story of Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Pirates.
That said, Toei's anime fails to live up to Eiichiro Oda's masterpiece due to various flaws apparent in the story's 1,168 episodes. However, it is right now One piece will finally become the biggest anime series of all time thanks to a new anime adaptation from Wit Studio that officially starts in February 2027.
The new adaptation of One Piece by director Masashi Koizuka at studio Wit makes it the biggest anime
At Jump Festa 2024 on December 17, 2023, Wit Studio's anime remake of “The One Piece” was officially announced. Back then, the project was in very early stages and pre-production hadn't even started. More progress was made on the project in the following years. Work on it began over a year ago, and today this incredibly amazing anime adaptation is coming to life. At the Annecy International Film Festival 2026 on June 23, 2026, we were treated to a first look at this anime, and it's clear to see that this adaptation is in a league of its own.
“The reason why we decided to make a One Piece anime remake was the reasoning of the original author, Eiichiro Oda. He emphasized that the work is very long and rich in details. It has been a long time since it started, but the new generation, accustomed to modern production, does not necessarily feel the same enthusiasm for the older animations. He felt a certain regret that he could follow this story, and he wanted me to be able to follow this story. recreate this legendary story with modern techniques adapted to today's audience,” — George Wada, CEO of Wit Studio, explains why One Piece got a remake
Finally, One piece gets the adaptation it deserves and fixes the biggest problems of the original anime from Toei Animation. This new project is led by Masashi Koizuka, who is the director of the anime series. At the same time, Kyoji Asano is handling the character designs, Yuki Hayashi is handling the music, and Masafumi Mima is in charge of the sound design. Other notable names include Takatoshi Honda as Chief Animation Director and Hideaki Abe as Assistant Director. Finally, Mayumi Tanaka returns to voice Monkey D. Luffy, as officially confirmed on June 23, 2026. With this incredible staff bursting with talent and a brand new direction modernizing One Piece in a way never seen before, we're finally getting the anime adaptation the series deserves.
One Piece officially reveals the new Devil Fruit from Hell
The new Devil Fruit straight from Hell has been officially revealed in the latest One Piece Elbaf arc.
Why One Piece Anime Wit Studio Fixed Toei Anime's Biggest Flaws
For years, One piece the manga series had a subpar anime adaptation, and that wasn't particularly due to Toei Animation's decisions. While the studio has its faults, the adaptation they delivered is quite stunning and at times absolutely breathtaking. The biggest issues that come with the original series are the pacing and the lack of modern animation methods from years ago. Pace for One piece anime is absolutely terrible and in modern times it is only adapted to one chapter per episode and sometimes less.
This pace is very slow and an average episode should accommodate at least three chapters per episode. Even in the final arcs One piece that makes sense, two chapters per episode would have significantly better pacing. This poor pacing is one of the biggest problems with the original anime series, which the new One Piece anime officially fixes.
“We watched Oda-sensei's art over and over again. After two full months of studying his style thoroughly, we finally reached a level of quality that even the director was very happy with.” — Kyoji Asano, One Piece Character Designer
Besides, there are many One piece arcs in the original version of the Toei Animation series that are poorly adapted. The vast majority of old One piece does not contain any breathtaking animation. The action is quite disappointing, and even with great direction, hardly any scene manages to move the fans. The early parts of the series shine in terms of direction, occasional composition and character design, but everything else falls flat.
What's more, as the story progresses, the pacing deteriorates and the animation quality drops significantly across arcs like Marineford, Fishman Island, Punk Hazard, and especially Dressrosa. Only from Wano onwards One piece anime from Toei Animation is picking up in quality again, but pacing issues plague the series to this day. Taking all these things into account, One Piece totally deserved a new anime adaptation from Wit Studio, which after 29 long years is officially on its way to correcting all the biggest flaws of the old anime series.
“When One Piece first started serializing, I remember feeling like 'I wonder what's going to happen next' washed over me every week, much like Luffy setting out across the open sea, filled with the excitement of the unknown. I would be so happy if kids all over the world could relive the same excitement I felt back then. As for me, I approached it with the goal of moving every time I created new footage.” — Masashi Koizuka explains the approach taken to make The One Piece a success
With a new anime adaptation, One Piece can finally dominate the anime department
As for the manga, One piece is already the biggest series of all time. Eiichiro Oda's story managed to collect over 600 million sales as of March 4, 2026, making him one of the best-selling authors worldwide, not just in Japan. No other mangaka has achieved this level of fame and is a testament to its immense quality and popularity One piece all over the world. Unfortunately, One Piece manga has no counterpart in anime of the same quality, and that's exactly what anime Wit Studio is going to fix by providing quality of the absolute highest order, filled to the brim with life and vigor. One piece world.
This anime adaptation will bring the manga to life in a way never seen before and give it the adaptation it deserves. Just as the manga is the best selling series of all time, the anime will finally cement its dominance as the best anime series of all time and blow away the competition. We can only hope that this project continues until the very end and Masashi Koizuka leads this great team at Wit Studio to deliver the best adaptation possible One piece there may be.
Wit Studio's “The One Piece” will stream exclusively on Netflix in February 2027.
