One Piece Elbaf Arc: The Anime's 2026 Return and the Ichiban Kuji Figures Collectors Are Chasing
The One Piece anime entered the long-awaited Elbaf arc on April 5, 2026, taking the Straw Hats to the towering homeland of the giants. It arrived alongside the biggest structural change in the show's history: after running weekly since 1999, One Piece moved to a seasonal format for 2026, with a reduced count of roughly 26 episodes for the year split into two 13-episode cours. For collectors, a slower, more polished anime paired with a marquee arc is exactly the kind of moment that sends figure demand climbing.
The Elbaf Arc's New Anime Format
Elbaf (also romanized Elbaph) is the land of giants that Eiichiro Oda has been building toward for well over a decade, and the anime is finally there. The seasonal shift means the first cour aired through mid-2026, followed by a break, with the second cour running to a finale in late October 2026. Toei Animation has framed the reduced schedule as a way to give the adaptation room to breathe and let the manga stay comfortably ahead. The arc is expected to pay off long-running mysteries — the Void Century, the fate of the giant warrior Saul, and the true history of the giants themselves.
Why Elbaf Matters to Collectors
Every major One Piece arc rewrites the merchandise lineup, and Elbaf is no exception. The story introduces new costumes for the crew and a fresh cast built around the giants' kingdom, including the Warland prince Loki. New designs mean new figures: when the Straw Hats change outfits, manufacturers follow with arc-specific sculpts that stand apart from anything already on a collector's shelf. That makes an arc premiere one of the best windows to start — or expand — a One Piece display, because the earliest waves tend to feature the headline characters everyone wants first.
The 2026 Ichiban Kuji GIANT BASH!! Wave
The centerpiece for prize-figure hunters is the Ichiban Kuji "One Piece -Elbaf Arc- GIANT BASH!!" series. Volume 1 launched in Japan on July 3, 2026 at 790 yen per draw, led by a Prize A "Monkey D. Luffy MASTERLISE EXPIECE" figure showing Luffy in his new Elbaf-arc look, standing roughly 13cm tall. The coveted Last One prize is a "Loki Revible Moment" piece capturing the Warland prince in a dramatic scene with Luffy. The set also spreads arc-costume figures and goods across its tiers, featuring crewmates such as Usopp and Nami. A follow-up, Volume 2, went on sale August 8, 2026, keeping the GIANT BASH!! banner in rotation through the summer.
Ichiban Kuji is a guaranteed-prize lottery — there are no blanks — so the MASTERLISE figures, acrylic stands, and towels stay in demand well after the in-store draws sell out, especially outside Japan where the physical kuji is hard to access. That secondary interest is why arc-tied kuji figures hold collector attention long past their release week.
Where to Start Your Collection
Following the Elbaf arc week to week and want the figures to match? As the arc builds to its late-2026 finale, Luffy, Loki, and the new-costume crew pieces are the ones to watch. You can browse One Piece figures at Akibato, and if the prize-figure sculpts are what you're after, check the Ichiban Kuji collection for MASTERLISE and other lottery pieces shipped worldwide from Japan.