One Piece: Elbaph Arc Review
The Long-Awaited Journey in this Modern Epic
One Piece… a coming-of-age story, a goofy yet deep pirate fantasy, a massive commitment, or the epic of our time; no matter what One Piece is to you, it is undeniably the one of the most popular pieces of entertainment media ever. With over 1000 episodes and around a dozen movies, One Piece is a positive influence on millions of people across the globe. It recently just broke the record for most volumes sold at over physical 600 million copies worldwide, an impressive feat considering most volumes are accessed online. On top of this, the recent release of the One Piece card game has exploded in popularity enough to rival that of Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering. This is the magnitude of influence and respect One Piece has earned through its incredible, easy-to-follow, and deeply unique characters, world, and story.
Let’s address the elephant in the room – Yes, I am caught up on One Piece and have been for over a decade. This Anime is one that I grew up on and will continue to keep up with until its finish. It is a commitment for sure, but one that is well worth anyone’s time. The commitment touches on the number one and basically only issue with the series - it is a daunting task to start One Piece now that it has over 1000 episodes. I am here to tell you to please give it a chance. From clips or memes you may have seen, it probably seems overly goofy and even stupid on a surface level. However, One Piece dives much deeper into cultural topics than any other piece of entertainment. From elegantly telling the tale of friendship, courage, history, and music, to tactfully explaining the scourges of racist, prejudice, corruption, and more, One Piece displays a level cultural relevance and importance that has no rival. Combine that with the silly characters, unique story, and expansive world, you have a sublimely balanced series that is built for anyone to enjoy.
Before jumping into the review, I would like to discuss changes that One Piece has gone through in 2026. Since its release in 1999, new One Piece anime episodes have been aired nearly every week until the end of 2025. In 2026, One Piece switched to the traditional seasonal Anime release cadence, meaning new episodes now only come out every other season. This effectively halves the number of new episodes per year. Normally, this would be a terrible change, but fans have realized that this allows Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animation (the creator and studio behind One Piece) to have the time needed to make the remainder of the story even better. Based on the start of the Elbaph Arc, they have done just that.
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN DISCUSSIONS involving SPOILERS FROM One Piece: Elbaph Arc. CONSIDER WHEN AND WHERE IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO READ THIS PIECE.Platforms
We reviewed One Piece: Elbaph Arc on Crunchyroll. One Piece is currently available on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu.One Piece in 2026
At the end of 2025, One Piece wrapped up the Egghead Island Arc at episode 1155. The next new content was released on Netflix in March 2026 with season 2 of the live action One Piece. If you have not read it already, definitely check out our review Netflix’s One Piece Season 2 for more details – it is also a great series! In the live action, we meet several new and important characters. Two characters that people may have glossed over are Dorry and Broggy, the Giants from Elbaph. When the Straw Hat Crew meets them on Little Garden, these giant warriors have been fighting each other every day for nearly a century. In the end, the Straw Hats resolve their conflict so that these giants can go back to being friends. From this encounter, Luffy and Usopp are inspired to visit Elbaph to better understand what it means to be “Brave Warriors of the Sea”. The juxtaposition from the live action and the anime, the inspiration to the realization of Elbaph, is an excellent reminder to fans that this story has kept building up for the better part of three decades.
The new arc fits for the Strawhat crew
One month and over 1000 anime episodes later, Luffy, Usopp, and the rest of the Straw Hats are finally plotting a course for Elbaph in the anime. The end of the Egghead Island Arc reunites the Straw Hat Crew with Dorry, Broggy, and their Giant Pirate Crew. Together, they escape the Egghead Island bustercall, a navy admiral, and the five elders. From there, both crews head for Elbaph to begin the Arc.
The Elbaph Arc
Just a warning, this summary will contain spoilers and will seem like it is all over the place. The chronological order of the story bounced around to different character stories several times per episode. This is all in an effort to thoroughly introduce Elbaph to the viewers from many different perspectives.
Something tells me this guy is going to be important
This Arc begins with the Giant Pirates and Straw Hats formally reunite while sailing to Elbaph. The Straw Hats reminisce with Dorry and Broggy, as well as several other giants that they help along their 1000+ episode journey. After all the storytelling, eating, and drinking, everyone eventually falls asleep. During this time, half of the Straw Hat crew is whisked away to Elbaph early by giant bird. When they wake up, Luffy and a few other crewmates wake up in a lego-like block land where there are giants and giant animals. Little do they know, they have been kidnapped and are in a microcosm of Elbaph. Only after breaking out of their captivity do they realize the sheer size of Elbaph. This block land jail break lasts for the first five episodes and are the weakest episodes in the Arc.
Upon breaking out, the kidnapped Straw Hats find themselves on a large snowy mountain with as single bridge leading even further up. At the same time, the remaining Straw Hats are still making their way to Elbaph with the Giant Pirates. On that snowy mountain, Luffy meets a chained-up giant named Loki who claims to be the incarnation of the Sun God Nika. Luffy finds out that Loki is more of a devil as he wrought havoc on Elbaph and even killed his father, the king of Elbaph, before being confined. Therefore, Loki is known as the Accursed Prince and is likely going to be an important character in the Elbaph Arc. After an interesting conversation, Luffy leaves Loki to ascend the mountain with his crew.
Netflix’s One Piece Season 2 Review
Live action One Piece returns to Netflix grander than ever!Character Progression
As you may have been able to tell, there are a lot of storylines colliding in the Elbaph Arc. It would be impossible for me to cover it all in the detail it deserves, but there are two characters with very important storylines on Elbaph. First, Usopp has finally achieved his goal of becoming a brave warrior of the sea and visiting Elbaph. Despite everything he has been through, Usopp still does not feel brave, but after talking with the giants, he begins to realize that his dream is nearly realized.
The second and most important storyline is Nico Robin’s. She had her homeland demolished at the hands of the World Government and has been persecuted her whole life. The person who saved her life when she was young was Saul, a giant. On Elbaph, Robin finds Saul again. From there, they discuss the legacy of Robin’s home and why the Government destroyed it. Through this, Robin and the Straw Hat crew begin to uncover the truth of their journey, the tyranny they must overthrow, and the powers they must wield to achieve their dreams. In short, Robin’s character progression in Elbaph begins the clue the viewer into what is in store for the rest of One Piece.
Final Thoughts
The One Piece Elbaph Arc has lot going on. It was first teased around episode 100, and now over 1000 episodes later, the Straw Hats have arrived on Elbaph. This Arc is the culmination of literally all those episodes. To anyone who is not caught up, my summary probably looks like gibberish. For those who are caught up on all the One Piece episodes, you understand just how important the Elbaph Arc is and the ramifications that it will have on the rest of the series. Just like all the other Arcs in One Piece, the Elbaph Arc does have weak episodes, but the strong episodes far outweigh the weak.
I mentioned it above and will say it again. If you, for whatever reason, are not caught up on the One Piece anime through the current Elbaph Arc, I cannot recommend it to you enough. The time commitment is worth it – One Piece is THE story of our modern age and a must-watch for everyone.
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Matt
New video game, movie, or TV show? Matt probably has it on his radar, and he might even be in the middle of reviewing it. This digital entertainment enjoying dude is a Content Writer during work hours, then plays games, watches movies, binges shows, and writes about all of it in his free time.