Netflix’s One Piece Can’t Match Its Season 1 Streaming Surge
One Piece season 2 isn’t a flop, but since its March 10 premiere it’s lagging in one odd corner of the streaming race.
Stranger Things just wrapped a little over two months ago, and Netflix has been missing that big weekly spectacle. The streamer’s other mega-sized adventure is finally back to fill the gap: One Piece Season 2. It looks great, it sounds great, and it is absolutely moving the needle — just not in the exact same way Season 1 did in the States.
Season 1 set a high bar
When the live-action One Piece hit in 2023, it exploded. It shot to the top of Netflix’s Top 10 in the U.S. and overseas, powered by a built-in fanbase from the long-running manga and the anime that has been sailing since 1999. Newcomers jumped aboard without homework, which helped a lot — you could meet Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and the Straw Hats, hit the Grand Line, and instantly get what the fuss was about. The numbers matched the buzz, and critics were in too, with a Certified Fresh 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Season 2 arrives hot — and charts a different course in the U.S.
Season 2 dropped all eight episodes at once on March 10 and came out of the gate with the kind of critical love any show dreams about: a perfect 100% from critics and a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. On paper, that screams instant dominance.
In practice, the U.S. chart looks a little different right now.
- U.S. Top 10 snapshot: #1 Love Is Blind: The Reunion, #2 Virgin River, #3 Age of Attraction, #4 One Piece
- Worldwide: One Piece is sitting at #1
Fourth in the U.S. for a fresh-out-of-the-oven season with those reviews? Surprising. The show feels like it should claim the top spot the second it drops.
Why the wobble?
A couple things jump out. That two-and-a-half-year gap between seasons will cool momentum for anyone who didn’t fully convert after Season 1. Casual viewers wander. Also, the competition is crowded right now — Bridgerton and The Night Agent always elbow their way into the conversation, and Steven Spielberg’s new docuseries The Dinosaurs is grabbing attention, too. All of that eats space in the Top 10.
The bigger picture still rules
Zoom out and the story changes. One Piece is #1 globally, which tracks with how massive this franchise is outside the U.S. The domestic climb may take a beat, but the international engine is roaring.
What’s next? Season 3 is locked
Good news if you’re already through the new episodes: the show is renewed for a third season and cameras are rolling. The plan is to turn it around faster this time, avoiding another marathon wait between seasons. No date yet, but the target is 2027 — a shorter layover than the last voyage.