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Even while it is on hiatus, One Piece continues to be one of the biggest anime properties around. Netflix’s live-action show is filming its second season and the remaster of the Fishman Island arc is in full swing. However, the big news this week is that Crunchyroll, the home to more episodes of the One Piece anime than anywhere else in the West, is making it more difficult to watch the show by locking most of the episodes behind their Premium subscription tier.

At the moment, you can watch every episode of One Piece without paying anything thanks to the Free with Ads tier that Crunchyroll offers. If you want to watch the series without interruptions, then you need to pay for their Premium subscription, which will run you between $7.99 and $15.99 in the US depending on how many devices you want to stream on or how much you’re bothered with offline viewing.

However, that is set to change starting on December 23, 2024, when Crunchyroll starts moving One Piece behind the Premium Subscription paywall. The move will happen in batches, with over 300 episodes becoming Premium-only content in the first wave. Subsequent waves will include more recent arcs until everything beyond episode 206 will be unavailable without paying for the pleasure.

Wondering when your favorite arc is going to become Premium-only on Crunchyroll? Here is how the currently announced schedule will run:

• December 23, 2024 – Long Ring Long Land Arc to Fishman Island Arc – Episodes 207 to 574
• January 20, 2025 – Punk Hazard Arc to Whole Cake Island Arc – Episodes 575 to 878
• February 17, 2025 – Reverie Arc to Egghead Island Arc – Episodes 879 to 1122

Though Crunchyroll hasn’t confirmed it, new episodes of the Egghead Island Arc (and subsequent episodes) will probably be Premium-only when the show comes back from its hiatus in April 2025. The streamer has stated that the first 206 episodes of One Piece, which covers everything up through the Skypiea Arc, will remain available for free with ads to let new fans get a taste of things to come.

The shift is a big change to how Crunchyroll handles subscriptions and their paid-only content. Previously, new shows were only available to Premium subscribers while the Free with Ads tier had to wait several weeks to get caught up. However, this marks one of the first times that an entire show has disappeared behind the paywall and it is telling that it is One Piece.

Why One Piece? That is going to be the cause of much speculation, but it probably has to do with how prevalent the series is becoming around the world. Fans can see new episodes on Netflix, who is also producing the second season of their live-action adaptation and their own remake of the anime. Episodes of One Piece are available on Microsoft Store and Prime Video, but always behind a paywall. For years, Crunchyroll has been the only place for most fans to watch One Piece for free (fans in the UK can watch the One Piece dub on BBC iPlayer for free, however).

With the series so in demand even 25 years after it began airing, it makes sense for Crunchyroll to want to capitalize on One Piece’s popularity and use it as bait to lure people onto their paid subscription tiers. Leaving the first several arcs – including the episodes covered by the potential third and fourth seasons of Netflix’s live-action show – available for free means that new fans can still get hooked on the Straw Hats adventures, but they’ll need to pay to see all of the best moments in the series.

THE ONE PIECE IS REAL...ly important to Popverse! That's why we've put together the key articles to keep your fandom of the manga-turned-anime-turned-live-action-show alive:

• How to watch One Piece One Piece in chronological and release order (All 1,100+ episodes plus the movies!)
• When the next episode of One Piece is coming
• The One Piece English cast shared the life lessons they've learned playing the Straw Hats for nearly 20 years
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect hero for the dark times ahead
• Every difference between the live-action One Piece and the original manga
• One Piece Gear 5 Form: Everything we know about Luffy's latest transformation
• Wondering what ethnicity and nationality the One Piece pirates are? Here is what Oda himself has to say
• Ranking the One Piece anime's arcs, from best to worst
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• The English cast of One Piece explain what they love about Eiichiro Oda's storytelling - "He's a genius!"