One Piece season 5

Lore & Background

The season comprises 14 episodes: canon episodes 131–135 (the 'Dreams!' arc, which adapts the Jaya arc from the manga), filler episodes 136–138 (the 'Zenny Pirates' arc), filler episodes 139–143 (the 'Rainbow Mist' arc), and canon episode 144 (the start of the Skypiea arc). The 'Dreams!' arc is not filler but a direct adaptation of the manga. The 'Zenny Pirates' arc focuses on the Straw Hats meeting an old moneylender. The 'Rainbow Mist' arc deals with the protagonists getting trapped inside a mysterious, rainbow-colored mist.

Toei Animation's version uses three pieces of theme music: opening 'Hikari e' by The Babystars, and endings 'Shining Ray' by Janne Da Arc and 'Free Will' by Ruppina. The 4Kids Entertainment dub uses original theme music. The season was released on DVD in five compilations by Avex Mode between March 3 and July 7, 2004.

Reader's Guide

The fifth season represents a unique stretch of the One Piece anime, consisting entirely of original filler content not adapted from Eiichiro Oda's manga. Its significance lies in being the final season handled by 4Kids Entertainment, whose heavily edited English dub omitted seven of the thirteen episodes and aired on Cartoon Network from August 4 to September 22, 2007. After this season, Funimation took over dubbing new episodes for broadcast on Cartoon Network, later redubbing the series from the start for uncut DVD release. Funimation released the fifth season, relabeled as 'One Piece: Season Two – Seventh Voyage', on May 11, 2010. The season's legacy includes its role as a transitional point in the English localization of the series, marking the end of 4Kids' involvement and the beginning of Funimation's more faithful adaptation.

Did You Know?

• The season aired from November 3, 2002 to February 2, 2003 on Fuji Television.
• It contains 14 episodes: canon episodes 131–135 (Jaya arc) and 144 (start of Skypiea), plus filler arcs 'Zenny Pirates' (136–138) and 'Rainbow Mist' (139–143).
• The 4Kids Entertainment dub omitted 8 episodes from this stretch (the filler arcs 136–143), airing only the canon episodes 131–135 and 144.
• Funimation released the season as 'One Piece: Season Two – Fifth Voyage' on May 11, 2010.

Creative Direction & Production

The twenty-second season of One Piece is crafted under the stewardship of Toei Animation, with Yasunori Koyama and Wataru Matsumi sharing the directorial helm. The season made its debut on April 5, 2026, airing across Fuji Television and its FNS affiliate network, continuing the long-running tradition of the franchise finding its weekly home on that broadcast platform. As with every season since the series first premiered in October 1999, the narrative remains anchored to Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail into new territories and face new adversaries. The dual-director arrangement suggests a collaborative creative approach for this particular stretch of the story, while Toei Animation's continued involvement underscores the studio's decades-long commitment to adapting Eiichiro Oda's manga into animated form. The season represents another chapter in one of the longest-running anime productions in television history, now entering its mid-2020s era with a refreshed creative team guiding the adaptation forward.

The Elbaph Storyline

Season twenty-two adapts material beginning with the one hundred and eleventh volume of Eiichiro Oda's manga, plunging the audience into the Elbaph story arc. The central narrative thrust involves the Straw Hat Pirates and the Giant Warrior Pirates both arriving in the nation of Elbaph, where a looming political threat has taken shape. The Holy Knights of God, a faction aligned with the World Government, have set their sights on annexing the country, creating a tense geopolitical conflict that the two pirate crews must navigate. This arc positions the Straw Hats not merely as adventurers seeking treasure but as players in a larger struggle over sovereignty and the reach of the World Government's authority. The inclusion of the Giant Warrior Pirates as co-protagonists signals a broader ensemble cast taking center stage, while the Holy Knights introduce a new antagonistic force with ambitions extending beyond simple piracy into the realm of statecraft and territorial control. The Elbaph arc thus represents a narrative pivot toward political intrigue and the expansion of the world's power dynamics.

A New Broadcast Era

The return of One Piece in April 2026 marked a significant structural shift in how the series is produced and aired. Following the conclusion of the Egghead story arc, the show entered a hiatus spanning January through March 2026, a break that was announced back in October 2025. Upon its return, Toei Animation outlined plans for a two-split-cours annual schedule with a ceiling of twenty-six episodes per year, representing a dramatic departure from the continuous year-round broadcast format that had been in place since the series launched in October 1999. However, the planned split did not materialize as originally intended; the season is currently airing as two consecutive cours rather than the separated blocks that were initially proposed. Additionally, Toei signaled an intention to adapt manga chapters at a slightly faster pace than in recent preceding arcs, suggesting a desire to close the gap between the anime and Oda's ongoing serialization. This scheduling overhaul reflects a broader industry trend toward sustainable production models for long-running anime.

Musical Identity

The sonic landscape of season twenty-two is defined by two new theme songs that bookend each episode. The opening theme, titled Luminous, is performed by Aina the End, a choice that brings a fresh vocal and stylistic identity to the franchise's signature opening sequence. The closing theme, Sono Mirai, which translates to That Future, is delivered by Jisoku 36km, offering a contrasting tonal palette to the opening number. Together, these two tracks establish the musical fingerprint of the Elbaph arc, framing the narrative's themes of sovereignty, conflict, and the pirates' ongoing journey. The selection of two distinct artists for the opening and closing roles continues the long-standing One Piece tradition of rotating theme performers across seasons, ensuring that each new arc carries its own auditory signature. For long-time viewers who have accompanied the series since its 1999 debut, these new songs serve as aural markers of transition, signaling that the story has moved beyond the Egghead saga and into a new chapter with its own distinct emotional and musical character.