More Anime Is Coming To Netflix, Which Has Struck Deals With Deals With 4 Studios In Japan, Korea

Netflix is doubling down on its anime content. The streamer has long been trying to corner the anime market, ordering original anime titles from both Japanese and Korean studios as well as Western creators — to varying results. Sometimes you get a miracle of an anime like Orange's Beastars, and other times you get the eyesores that are the CG-animated Godzilla films. But in classic Netflix fashion, the streamer is going for quantity, quantity, quantity — signing four deals with creators in both Japan and Korea.

Deadline reports that Netflix is aiming to grow its anime content with four new deals from anime studios in Japan and Korea. Those studios are Japan's NAZ, Science SARU, MAPPA, and Korea's Studio Mir, a few of which have worked with Netflix before — Masaaki Yuasa's Science SARU as produced Devilman Crybaby and Japan Sinks: 2020, which Studio Mir (best known for Nickelodeon's Legend of Korra) has worked on Voltron: Legendary Defender and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and has The Witcher anime on its way.

These deals actually make promising additions to Netflix's current partnerships — ongoing in-house titles include Altered Carbon: Resleeved  from Anima, Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045 from Production I.G, and Dragon's Dogma from Sublimation, all of which are a little too CG-heavy for my tastes. Netflix has some promising animes coming up in 2021 and beyond including  Spriggan (David Production), Vampire In The Garden, (WIT STUDIO – a group company under Production I.G), and Super Crooks (Bones).

Naz, SARU, MAPPA, and Studio Mir all work in both 2D animation and 3D, and have established solid reputations as anime creators. MAPPA especially has created some bonafide classics like Yuri on Ice and Dororo, and has its anime unique fantasy anime Dorohedoro take off after a global release on Netflix.

"In just four years, we've built a dedicated team based in Tokyo that serves to entertain the global anime community through new and aspirational storytelling. With these additional partnerships with industry trailblazers who do amazing work, often marrying the latest technologies and traditional hand-drawn animation, we're excited to bring fans a greater variety of even more amazing stories," said Netflix's anime chief producer Taiki Sakurai.

With these four partnerships, Netflix's total content deals with anime producers expand from two territories to nine. Each deal is a non-exclusive production line partnership, according to Deadline. Netflix says its aim is "to create the best content for the global anime community."