Netflix Reveals Most-Watched Anime of the First Half of 2025

Netflix has revealed its list of the most-watched anime series for the first half of 2025, and the results are surprising. According to Netflix’s “What We Watched in the First Half of 2025” report, Naruto Shippuden sits at the very top with 40 million views.

That number alone is impressive, but the rest of the chart is just as interesting. Studio Ghibli’s work landed in second place, while Detective Conan, also known as Case Closed! in the U.S., came in third with 38 million views. This is a big surprise, as the long-running mystery series has not traditionally been a major hit in the West. Pokémon came close behind, and One Piece completed the top five with 28 million views.

The numbers were further analyzed by Anime by the Numbers, which highlighted that Detective Conan even beat major hits like Demon Slayer and newer shows such as Sakamoto Days in total viewing hours.

Netflix says anime is growing faster than almost anything else on the platform. In fact, anime viewing has increased more than ten times faster than other types of shows. Over the last five years, the number of anime viewers on Netflix has tripled, reaching around 150 million people worldwide. In 2024 alone, 33 different anime titles made it into Netflix’s Global Top 10 list.

At Anime Expo earlier this year, Netflix revealed that more than half of its users watch anime. The company also shared that about 90% of anime viewers prefer dubbed versions, which is why many new shows release their dubs at the same time as the original Japanese episodes.

Popular titles like My Happy Marriage, Dandadan, and Delicious in Dungeon all launched with same-day dubs. Netflix also provides up to 33 subtitle and language options for its anime.

The dominance of older series like Naruto Shippuden and the surprising rise of Detective Conan show that both classic and long-running anime can still pull massive audiences. With anime viewership at record highs, Netflix appears committed to keeping it a key part of its streaming lineup for years to come.

Data brought to us by Netflix.

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