A new report from Netflix has revealed
the ten most-watched anime of 2023 via a massive new data dump, with some familiar
titles but also some unexpected ones appearing via “ What We Watched: A
Netflix Engagement Report .”
Combining the What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement
Report from both halves of the year revealed that “ Baki Hanma: Season
2” was the most watched anime of 2023 on the platform with a whopping 160.7
million hours watched. “Baki Hanma”’s lead is even more impressive
considering it premiered in the second half of the year, unlike second place
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve Arc,” which
It benefited from a large audience in both periods. The first season of the
anime “ONE PIECE” completed the podium.
THE MOST WATCHED ANIME SERIES ON NETFLIX
DURING 2023
- 1.
Baki Hanma Season 2 – 160.7 million hours of
playback.
- 2.
Demon Slayer: Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve Arc –
159.4 million hours played.
- 3.
ONE PIECE: Episode of East Blue – 153
million hours of viewing.
- 4.
Record of Ragnarok Season 2 – 128.5
million hours of playback.
- 5.
Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! Season 1 –
121.3 million hours watched.
- 6.
Hunter x Hunter (2011) Season 5 – 91.3
million hours watched.
- 7.
Pokémon The Series: Indigo League Season 1 –
76.4 million hours played.
- 8.
VINLAND SAGA Season 2 – 73.9 million hours of
streaming hours.
- 9.
Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc –
72.7 million hours watched.
- 10.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series Season 1 –
71.8 million hours watched.
The data highlights the clear popularity of action
titles and sequels, as well as the long shelf life of the titles, many of which
continue to attract massive amounts of viewers almost a decade and 25 years
later with “Hunter x Hunter (2011)” and “Pokémon The Series: Indigo League”,
respectively. The streaming service continues to strengthen its anime catalog,
with titles such as “Jujutsu Kaisen”, “One Piece”, “Black Clover” and “My Hero
Academia”, among others, coming to Netflix this year. Netflix's enthusiasm
for “Baki Hanma”, which has been highlighted again with the announcement of the
anime sequel “Baki-Dou” and the upcoming “Hanma Baki vs Kengan Ashura”, has
clearly borne fruit ; The second season of Baki Hanma topped the list
despite having data only from July to December.
Along with Baki, the most interesting
anime with the greatest potential on Netflix is possibly “One Piece”, very
likely to become its star franchise. “ONE PIECE:
Episode of East Blue” grew by 64% between the first half of 2023 and the
second. Meanwhile, its sequel “ONE PIECE: Episode of Alabasta” nearly doubled,
going from 22.5 million to 40.2 million hours watched. Naturally, this
is largely due to the live-action adaptation, which had the second-most hours
watched of any TV or movie on the platform. Netflix will also
exclusively broadcast the “One Piece” remake, in development since at least
November 2023, which long-time fans and new ones will undoubtedly watch.
The Netflix data also has important ramifications
for anime production more generally. The recent Anime Industry Report
2023 highlighted that production committees in Japan are establishing the model
of licensing anime to streaming services exclusively for a set period. This
is done before granting similar rights to secondary streaming platforms and
television networks. This new data highlights its viability even abroad, as 50%
of the anime industry's revenue comes from abroad and even recycled anime
titles show timeless demand.
