The One Piece anime reboot has yet to drop, but the franchise has already been treated to one of its all-time high milestones. The TV anime has also embarked on an extended hiatus until April 2025. Along with this tide-changing news, officials also announced that a special 25th Anniversary Episode, the One Piece Fan Letter, would premiere on October 20.
Last week’s extra-special episode premiere hit the jackpot soon after the broadcast. The latest anime event surpassed some of the greatest franchises on the fan-based community at My Anime List (MAL). The solo episode event was enough to crack the record, gaining its grand post as the second highest-rated anime title of all time. The record-shattering position at the top of the list was barred only by the 2023-24 series Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, which holds a 9.32 rating. Meanwhile, the One Piece Fan Letter special has now claimed the second position on the list with a 9.26 rating, defeating the iconic Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood title, which boasts a 9.09 score, and has dominated the historic MAL rankings for so long.
Also read | John Wick anime film confirmed: Prequel storyline to Keanu Reeves’ retired assassin’s life will finally answer why…
Frieren broke its glorious spell in an unconventional feat last year, but it didn’t take long before the One Piece 25th Anniversary Project event shot to an undeniable second place.
This same list also warmly welcomed the latest Bleach saga – Thousand-Year Blood War – which debuted earlier this month on Hulu and Disney Plus. It boasts a 9.04 rating at #7. A few spots below, Re:Zero Season 3, another 2024 release, rounds out the Top 30 rankings with an 8.91 score.
Most-watched anime on Netflix (Global)
As significant as the My Anime List database is, one can’t ignore numerous OTT premieres that exclusively dominate their streaming giants as some of the most-watched shows of the week on a global scale.
Netflix’s most recent Global Top 10 roster update shows that Dan Da Dan was the third-most watched show on the platform in the non-English TV category. Holding its position on this list for the second week in a row, the wacky, fast-paced anime premiere of Fall 2024 amassed 3.4 million views in the third week of October (from Oct 14 to 20). Netflix’s Ranma ½ reboot also extended its two-week spell on the Global Top 10 list, garnering 1.5 million views this past week as the seventh-most viewed series in the world.
Local Japanese household viewership ratings in the Kanto region
According to VideoResearch’s updated records for the same week, the longest-running anime series, Sazae-san, stayed atop the Kanto region’s rankings with a 7.9% average household viewership rating. Detective Conan’s competitive spirit earned it a second spot on the roster with a 6.3% household rating. Check out the Top 10 list below:
- Sazae-san (Oct 20): 7.9%
- Detective Conan (Oct 19): 6.3%
- Chibi Maruko-chan (Oct 20): 5.8%
- Blue Miburo (Oct 19): 4%
- Doraemon (Oct19): 3.9%
- Wonderful Pretty Cure (Oct 20): 3.2%
- Crayon Shin-chan (Oct 19): 2.9%
- One Piece (Oct 20): 2.7%
- Dragon Ball DAIMA (Oct 18): 2.5%
- Magilumiere Co Ltd (Oct 18): 2.3%
Also read | No Gain No Love’s Kim Young Dae to again play a ‘chaebol’ in new K-drama featuring Ra Mi Ran, Boyhood actress and more
Other weekly anime episode ratings
IMDb ratings also hold weighty importance in global competition. The One Piece Fan Letter again took precedence over other titles with a rating as high as 9.80. Other latest episodes of ongoing series like Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Season 3, Re:Zero Season 3, Netflix’s Blue Box, Dan Da Dan and Dragon Ball DAIMA also stayed ahead of the curve. Check out some of the weekly anime episodes’ rankings on IMDb below:
- One Piece Fan Letter (Oct 20): 9.80
- Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Season 3 Episode 2 (Oct 12): 9.4
- Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Season 3 Episode 3 (Oct 19): 9.3
- Re:Zero Season 3 Episode 2 (Oct 16): 8.9
- Blue Box Episode 3 (Oct 17): 8.2
- Dan Da Dan Episode 3 (Oct 17): 8
- Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 2 (Oct 18): 7.9