'Pacific Rim' Anime Is Coming To Netflix To Cancel The Apocalypse

By Hoai-Tran BuiNov. 8, 2018 6:30 am EST

Things are bad out there, and sometimes it feels like the actual apocalypse could be knocking on our doorstep at any second. So it's good then that a Pacific Rim anime is coming to Netflix to cancel it.

The streaming giant has announced the development of five new Netflix anime titles, led by Pacific Rim and Altered Carbon, both anime adaptations of live-action properties. However, it's coming full circle for Pacific Rim, the anime-inspired Guillermo del Toro property which is returning to the medium from which it drew inspiration.

According to Deadline, five new Netflix anime titles have been announced as part of the streaming giant's global outreach with its original content.

Two of the titles are original series based on existing properties that honestly seem like they should have been animes in the first place. Pacific Rim, for one, is Guillermo del Toro's love letter to the medium, taking all the trappings of a mecha anime and bringing it to life on the big screen. But the question is whether the new original anime series from Craig Kyle (Thor:Ragnarok) and Greg Johnson (X-Men: Evolution) can make the transition back to anime without seeming like a derivative story — there's a difference between seeing all those mecha anime tropes in a big bombastic blockbuster, and seeing it back in anime form, where dozens of other series follow the exact same narrative.

Meanwhile the Altered Carbon anime will act as a supplement to the currently-airing Netflix originals series starring Joel Kinnaman, itself based on a 2002 novel by Richard K. Morgan. The cyberpunk setting and themes of lost identity are well-suited to anime — the medium helped define the former. The three other anime titles are all original titles, including a mecha-samurai series Yasuke starring Sorry to Bother You's Lakeith Stanfield, the post-apocalyptic Cagaster of an Insect Cage from Full Metal Panic!'s Koichi Chigira, and the supernatural Philippines-set Trese.

Here are the five anime titles in development at Netflix:

Pacific Rim: The original anime series follows two siblings — an idealistic teen boy and his naïve younger sister — who are "forced to pilot an abandoned Jaeger across a hostile landscape in a desperate attempt to find their missing parents." The series comes from the film franchise's Legendary Entertainment.

Altered Carbon: Set in the same universe as the Netflix original series, the anime series from

animation studio, Anima and writers Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) and Tsukasa Kondo will "explore new elements of the story mythology."

Cagaster of an Insect Cage: Based on a manga of the same name, the series follows a young couple struggling to stay alive in a post-apocalyptic world where a mysterious disease "Cagaster" turns people into giant bloodthirsty insects. Koichi Chigira (Last Exile, Full Metal Panic!) directs and animation studio Gonzo (Hellsing, Afro Samurai) produces.

Yasuke: Based on the historical samurai of African origin who fough with Oda Nobunaga, the series follows a retired ronin (Stanfield) in a war-torn Japan of "mechs and magic," who is charged with the task of transporting a mysterious child targeted by dark forces. The series is by The Boondocks and Cannon Busters writer LeSean Thomas.

Trese: Based on the Philippine graphic novel of the same name, Trese is set in a Manila where "the mythical creatures of Philippine folklore live in hiding amongst humans." The series follows Alexandra Trese as she finds herself going head to head with a criminal, supernatural underworld. Created by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldissimo.