While there was a rush of initial excitement for One Piece, the Netflix adaptation of the anime/manga that surprisingly, seemed quite good, I did wonder how it would hold up past the superfans giving it high audience scores early.
Well, we are now 10,000 reviews in on Rotten Tomatoes, more than most Netflix series get in their lifetime, after just a few days. And the show has retained a wild 95% audience score, above its (also good) 83% critic score.
This is currently one of Netflix’s highest audience scores…ever. And in context, it may actually be the most impressive, given the amount of total reviews it has, and how hard it is to retain that high of a score the more votes come in.
The two highest profile shows above it are Hearstopper, which has a 96% audience score across two seasons, but only about 3,500 reviews in. Warrior Nun has a 97% in two seasons as well, and as much as I do love that show, those votes were mainly cast as part of a coordinated effort where fans did everything humanly possible to un-cancel the show (eventually, it was indeed saved, though it’s not clear whether it will return to Netflix). Even that campaign didn’t top 10,000 votes total, however.
One Piece is better by Netflix’s “best” shows by comparison in audience score as well. The Baby-Sitters Club famously got a 100% score from critics, but was cancelled. It had an 80% audience score, however. Stranger Things, Netflix’s most popular US show, has 90% audience score. Wednesday, 85%. Squid Game, its biggest show ever, an 84%.
You see the point I’m making here. In the grand context of Netflix, which shows score high and with how many votes counted, One Piece getting 10,000 in a few days and retaining a 95% audience score is a big deal. While Netflix won’t renew a show based on reviews, it also has to deliver viewership, this certainly does not hurt.
My guess is that in an era when shows like Stranger Things are about to end and Squid Game season 2 seeming like it will never get here, Netflix is on the hunt for big new super-franchises to make its library standout. And what better way to do that than to make a One Piece show with infinite source material and millions of built-in fans who are loving the adaptation? I think this all bodes very well for its future.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
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