One Piece Won Best Continuing Series at Crunchyroll 2026 — Here Is Why Elbaph Is the Best Arc in Years
One Piece won Best Continuing Series at the 2026 Crunchyroll Anime Awards and if you have been following the anime’s current arc, the win is completely understandable. The Elbaph arc has brought One Piece back into daily conversation in a way that the Wano arc — as beloved as it was — never quite managed globally. The manga’s recent chapters have been generating the kind of fan reaction that stops social media in its tracks. The anime is not far behind. One Piece as a continuing series has never been more visible or more discussed than it is right now.
Elbaph is significant in the One Piece universe for reasons fans of the manga have known for years. The land of giants has been hinted at since early in the story, and Oda’s decision to finally take the Straw Hats there in this phase of the story carries enormous narrative weight. The characters the arc introduces, the revelations it delivers, and the action it produces represent some of the most ambitious storytelling in a series that has been running for over 25 years. Toei Animation has risen to the occasion with production quality that matches the scale of what the arc demands.
Best Continuing Series as a Crunchyroll award is a recognition of consistency, longevity, and the ability to maintain an audience across years of storytelling. One Piece has won this category before and the fact that it won again reflects not just tradition but current quality. The show is not coasting. It is producing some of the best anime episodes of 2025 and 2026 while maintaining a weekly release schedule that most series would collapse under.
For viewers who have not started One Piece, the series is too long to summarize in a paragraph. What matters is that the entry investment — which is substantial — is repaid many times over as the story builds. For viewers already watching, you do not need this article to tell you Elbaph is excellent. You already know.
My take: One Piece winning Best Continuing Series in its 25th year is not nostalgia. It is a recognition that Oda and Toei are delivering the best chapters and episodes of the entire run right now. Elbaph is required viewing for anyone who follows anime seriously regardless of whether you have watched One Piece before. The cultural moment happening around this arc is real.
