Summary
- One Piece anime named highest-rated show on IMDb for first half of 2024, beating Western TV and streaming favorites.
- One Piece's rise shows growing global significance of anime, pushing major platforms to partner with Japanese studios.
- The Egghead Arc drives One Piece's popularity with high-quality episodes, marking a milestone for the long-running anime.
Adding to the innumerable laurels it has received over the past 25 years, Toei Animation's One Piece anime has been named as the highest-rated TV show on IMDb from the first half of 2024. Needless to say, this is a huge moment for Japan's anime industry, as the long-running adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's acclaimed manga has edged out major television and streaming franchises to claim the top spot. To add to its list of praises, One Piece is also the only series to achieve a rating above 9.0 out of 10.
Consequently, it quite comfortably raced ahead of highly lauded live-action franchises such as FX's Shogun and The Bear, alongside Amazon Prime's Fallout and The Boys, as well as animated productions such as X-Men '97. As the only anime series within the Top 10, the One Piece franchise's popularity has been skyrocketing of late due to Netflix's live-action adaptation, the anime's ongoing Egghead Arc, as well as the manga slowly approaching its climax with the Final Saga.
Examining IMDb's Top 10 TV Shows From 2024's First Half
In choosing the top-rated TV shows from the first half of 2024, IMDb's primary selection criteria limited the series that were in contention based on the time when they were released on their respective platforms. Specifically, the shows that were considered saw their season premieres released between January 1 and June 30, 2024.
The resulting list of shows was then ranked through an aggregation of user ratings on a 10-point scale. Out of the Top 10, six shows — including Shogun, X-Men '97, The Bear, Fallout, True Detective, and The Gentlemen — received nominations for this year's Emmy Awards, highlighting the level of critical and commercial success they have received during their runs.
Although One Piece's year-round production schedule is hard to split into distinct seasons, it might be safe to say that IMDb's recognition extends to the anime's adaptation of the Egghead Arc. Coming off the back of the hugely successful final act of the Wano Country Arc, the One Piece anime established a change in its art style and production quality. Since then, the consistently high quality of episodes throughout this story arc is certain to have affected its rise to the top of the ratings charts.
A Sign Of Anime's Global Significance
Although anime's rise to prominence on a global scale has been monumental over the past decade, even the most popular franchises within the industry seldom find themselves in the company of high-profile Western productions when it comes to worldwide ratings. In this vein, One Piece's triumph is an indication that such occurrences may become a thing of the past in the near future.
With each passing year and season, it is easy to spot more anime franchises capturing a greater share of the global spotlight, forcing major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ to bolster their catalogs by forging partnerships with Japanese studios and production houses. As things stand, the future looks promising on this front, and One Piece's rise to the top of IMDb's rankings could be a sign of better things to come.
Yet Another Milestone For One Piece
Even during the quarter-century it has spent on the air since debuting all the way back in 1999, Toei Animation's One Piece anime has never reached the heights of global renown that it is seeing now. Recently, One Piece even made its debut on the external surface of the Sphere in Las Vegas, in honor of the anime's 25th anniversary celebration.
Toei Animation Releases A Recap Video For One Piece’s 25th Anniversary
Having aired for a quarter of a century, the One Piece has achieved a monumental milestone which is being honored through a series of initiatives.
During the last two-and-a-half decades, the anime has steadily built a loyal fan following in tandem with the manga and the franchise's other offerings, which have been expanding rapidly. To begin with, the successful release of Netflix's One Piece live action in 2023, somewhat broke the curse of anime live-action adaptations, delivering a thoroughly enjoyable retelling of the manga's East Blue Saga, with some alterations to fit the constraints of its medium.
Last year also featured the announcement of a new anime adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's manga by WIT Studio and Netflix, titled The One Piece, which aims to streamline the earlier segments of the story with updated animation for newer audiences. Without a doubt, the considerable length of the manga and anime has always been a huge barrier for new entrants to One Piece's world, and it is likely that both these productions will help mediate this in their own way. For older fans of the franchise, there is a lot to be excited about as the series is now well into its Final Saga in both the manga and anime.
The Incredible Highs Of The Egghead Arc
It goes without saying that the anime retelling of One Piece's Egghead Arc has been delivering on expectations week after week, with noticeable improvements in the pacing, animation, art work, and anime-only content when compared to previous story arcs. For instance, three episodes from the Egghead Arc — Episode 1089 "Entering a New Chapter! Luffy and Sabo's Paths!," Episode 1100 "Powers on a Different Level! Luffy vs. Lucci!," and Episode 1112 "Clash! Shanks vs. Eustass Kid" — have been given incredibly high ratings of 9.7 on IMDb, on par with One Piece's all-time highest rated episodes.
The anime's Egghead Arc was also made available on Netflix shortly after airing in Japan, which illustrates the growing ties between One Piece and the streaming giant. Considering this, and everything that is still yet to occur in the screen adaptation of the Egghead Arc, 2024 has all the signs of turning into the best year yet in the One Piece anime's lengthy history.
Source: Top-Rated Shows of 2024 So Far, as Determined by IMDb Ratings
One Piece: Is The Egghead Arc Finally Ending?
As the Luffy and Straw Hat Pirates attempt to flee from Egghead, is it safe to say that their adventures on the island of the future are wrapping up?
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
