One Piece has reached a new phase of its run as part of the Spring 2026 anime schedule, and is ushering the real crux of the Elbaph Arc by giving Nico Robin a big makeover. One Piece made its return with new episodes earlier this April with a new endeavor to only release 26 episodes a year from now on, and it’s beginning with an adaptation of the Elbaph arc. But the first few episodes of the arc thus far haven’t really shown much of the legendary island of the giants just yet.
One Piece has kept Luffy and the Straw Hats within an odd block kingdom with the first few episodes of this new arc, but now has broken through to Elbaph itself. With the latest episode seeing the Straw Hats preparing to reunite on the island of giants, and getting ready to make some important new additions to the anime, Robin has also gotten an emotional makeover that calls back to her very first appearances in the series.
NICO ROBIN HAS HER BANGS AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/ErL0jzcsnZ
One Piece Episode 1161 sees each of the Straw Hats realizing that they have come to Elbaph after all these years of teasing, but it’s especially an important occasion for Robin. She’s about to reunite with the one friend who kept her safe during Ohara’s destruction when she was a child, Saul, and she can’t help but be excited to see him again. So much so that she wanted to get a special makeover to be more like the way she was when she last had seen Saul all those years ago.
This is a pretty special moment for Robin as while it might seem like a rather small change as she just alters her hairstyle a bit, it goes to show how emotionally invested she is in this moment. Saul is the last person alive that truly connects Robin to her home and past life, so the fact that she gets to reunite from someone of that era at all is such a big deal for her. She’s been alone for such a long time in her life, and now she won’t have to for much longer. It’s why Elbaph is all the more crucial to the anime’s grand finale.
The Elbaph Arc is the second major arc of Eiichiro Oda’s Final Saga for One Piece overall, and that means we’re going to see some big reveals for the ultimate endgame of the story. Much like how the Egghead Arc began to reveal some big secrets about the world’s past, Elbaph has been teased to have some major ties to the past of the world as well. But it’s yet to be fully explore what to expect given that Oda’s still working through the arc with the latest chapters of the manga.
One Piece: Elbaph Arc will only run for 26 episodes this year, and then will be taking a break before returning for another 26 episodes. The anime is planning to only air two cours of episodes a year from now on, so it remains to be seen how this is going to ultimately impact the story’s pacing.
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