One Piece in August 2026: manga, Elbaf anime, live action and TCG

August 2026 is a pivotal month for One Piece. The anime returns to the Elbaf arc after a three-month break, the manga enters the climax of the Final Saga with two weeks off, the live-action season 2 reshuffled the deck back in March, and the card game is about to see its first ever simultaneous worldwide release. Here's the full picture, medium by medium.

The anime: Elbaf part 2 starts on 2 August

This is the event of the month. After part one of the Elbaf arc aired from 5 April to 28 June 2026, the anime returns with episode 1172, broadcast on Sunday 2 August 2026. In France it's available the same day on ADN, Crunchyroll and Disney+.

This return follows the new production model Toei adopted in 2026, and it's worth understanding so you're not caught out:

• 26 episodes per year instead of a continuous weekly broadcast
• An adaptation of one manga chapter per episode, to match the original pacing
• Broadcast in seasonal cours, with deliberate breaks between blocks

The bet is clear: fewer episodes, but greater faithfulness and sustained animation quality. In practice, no more filler episodes and three-minute still frames; in exchange, you have to accept the wait. Part one ended on the adaptation of the end of chapter 1138, and part two picks up exactly there.

The manga: the Elbaf climax, and two breaks in August

On the page, Eiichiro Oda is comfortably ahead. The manga passed chapter 1188 in late July 2026 and sits in the thick of the Elbaf climax, the last great movement before the Final Saga pays off.

Watch the calendar if you follow weekly: two breaks are scheduled in August, including the one following 9 August, tied to the Obon festival in Japan — every Weekly Shonen Jump series is affected, it isn't specific to One Piece. These interruptions are part of the series' normal rhythm and don't signal anything in particular.

For anyone hesitating to read ahead of the anime: the gap is now considerable, on the order of fifty chapters. Reading the manga means giving up on discovering Elbaf animated without knowing what's coming. Your call.

Live action: season 2 out, season 3 filming

Season 2 of the Netflix series, subtitled Into the Grand Line, was released on 10 March 2026, with all 8 episodes dropping at once. It covers the crew's entry into the Grand Line, a stretch readers had been waiting a long time to see.

Netflix didn't wait for the ratings to confirm what comes next: season 3 was already in production as of November 2025. Shooting schedules suggest a release no earlier than 2027, but the series' continuation is no longer in doubt.

For the card market, that showcase effect matters more than you'd think: every wave of mainstream adaptation brings in new collectors, and it shows up in demand for the cards of the characters being featured.

The TCG: OP-17 and the switch to global

2026 has been the year the One Piece Card Game accelerated. The calendar ran through OP-14 devoted to the Seven Warlords in January, EB-03 "Heroines" in February, OP-15 on Skypiea in April and OP-16 on Marineford in July. An unprecedented pace, which has considerably narrowed the gap between Japan and the West.

And August marks the culmination of that shift. The OP-17 "The World's Strongest Warriors" set, the game's 4th anniversary booster, is the first to release everywhere in the world on the same day, around 22 August 2026. Gone are the days when French players discovered a set six months after Japan. We covered the date, contents and pre-orders in our dedicated article on the OP17 release.

For French collectors, this shift closes a chapter opened on 7 February 2025 with OP-09 "Emperors in the New World", the first French-language set. In eighteen months, the French version went from laggard to a market served at the same time as every other.

What it means for your collection

A month this dense has very concrete effects on card values:

• Elbaf characters come back into the spotlight with the anime's return. Historically, cards of characters featured on screen see a demand spike in the weeks following their animated appearance.
• The worldwide OP-17 release removes the classic trade-off between buying Japanese immediately or waiting for a localised version. Price gaps between languages should tighten on new releases.
• Sets predating the French version (OP-01 to OP-08, never printed in French) keep their special status, and their scarcity on the French-speaking market remains structural.

In other words: the best moment to know exactly what you own is now, before the OP-17 wave.

Frequently asked questions

When is the next One Piece episode out?

Episode 1172, which opens the second part of the Elbaf arc, airs on 2 August 2026, then weekly on ADN, Crunchyroll and Disney+ in France, under the new 26-episodes-a-year format.

Why is the One Piece manga on break in August 2026?

Two breaks are scheduled, one tied to the Obon festival in Japan, which pauses the whole of Weekly Shonen Jump. It's a routine calendar stoppage, unrelated to the author's health or the story's progress.

Will there be a season 3 of the One Piece live action?

Yes, it's confirmed and has been in production since late 2025. No release date has been announced so far.

Does OP-17 release in French at the same time as in Japan?

Yes. It's the first One Piece Card Game set to get a simultaneous worldwide release, in August 2026.

Conclusion

The anime returning, the manga at its climax, the live action established and the TCG going global: One Piece heads into autumn 2026 firing on every front at once. For collectors, that convergence is rarely neutral — it's usually when values move.

Keep an eye on your cards while the news accelerates: scan your collection in OPitem and track every change in real time, or head to the Download page.