ONE PIECE season 2 hits #1 in the Netflix chart, but is it enough for a renewal

The show is #1 in the Top 10 this week, but are the numbers good enough? We suspect the answer might be no. Of course the show has already been approved for a season 3, but we do wonder.

ONE PIECE season 2 — did we like it

We did enjoy season, marvelled at the settings, enjoyed new characters and found it easy to watch in the space of a few days. As newcomers to the franchise, there were moments it seemed to be a difficult second album kind of series. Season 1 was pure joyous escapism in an exotic world of pirates released during a gloriously sunny summer of 2023. After a 30 months gap, and the tail end of a grey, wet winter, this new set of episodes seemed a little forced in places and darker in tone.

We’re still keen for more (and there’s a lot more in the canon), but at a rumoured $18 million per episode, a lot of people need to watch to justify a renewal.

How popular was the first week

Let’s look at some recent week 1 audiences:

ONE PIECE season 2 gained 16,800,000 views

Emily in Paris gained 13,500,000 views

Bridgerton season 4 gained 39,700,000 views

It’s a small sample set, but illustrates the difference between being #1 and being exceptional. We’ll look for the next numbers, but for now we suspect the show needs to do a lot better. Of course the 90-day numbers are important and we’d need to dig deeper into the occasional data drops from Netflix to see how well the show performs even after release. We will track the audience and try to do the same again when season 3 does appear.