Frieren anime premiere becomes more popular than One Piece's Wano finale

On Saturday, October 7, 2023, the official Japanese animation TV ratings for the week of October 25 to November 1 were released and they included beloved anime series such as One Piece and Frieren. While several other series were also present in the list, these two are especially important due to the respective rankings between them on the list.

According to Video Research (Kanto Region), which published the official rankings, the premiere of the Frieren anime series has outranked One Piece's Wano finale. What’s even more intriguing is that the difference between them is incredibly vast, with the former television broadcast being clearly above the latter.

It’s an interesting dynamic that may see some external factors, such as where the Frieren anime premiered on Japanese television, affect this relative ranking. Regardless of these extenuating circumstances, this is an impressive achievement for the highly anticipated Fall 2023 anime series.

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Frieren anime outranking One Piece could be attributed to special premiere block

As mentioned above, the Japanese television animation rankings for the week (from September 25 to October 1) include more than just the two aforementioned series. However, these two are considered the main focus of the overall rating chart due to their respective and relative rankings.

The two-hour Frieren anime premiere clocked in at a 6.8 average household rating, while One Piece’s Wano arc finale only registered a 3.2 average household rating. These figures serve as an estimate of the percentage of the Japanese population that watch a given program. While the data comes from a survey of households in Japan's Kanto region, this data is then extrapolated to represent the interests of the nation as a whole.

In other words, it is estimated that nearly double the number of Japanese citizens tuned in for the premiere of the Frieren anime series compared to the viewership of the One Piece Wano arc finale episode. It is worth noting that these ratings do not count recordings that viewers watch later, meaning more people could've watched either program later on in the week.

Another factor that may have influenced the rankings is the former series premiering on the Kinyo Roadshow block, which is typically reserved for feature films. With the anime being the first to premiere on the block, it likely generated significant interest among the community, which led to much higher ratings than the series otherwise would've received.

Some viewers may have also tuned in expecting a feature film but stuck around as they became enthralled by the anime's premiere.

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Be sure to keep up with all anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.