With the Resurgence of "Alice in Borderland," Netflix Unveils Massive Japanese Language Expansion, Including New Anime Slate and Focus on Feature Films
Netflix goes big with Japanese content after unveiling a slate of 50 new shows at this year's Netflix Japan Festival, greatly expanding its local content production. In this two-day event, the streaming giant revealed animation titles on the first day, and live action titles on the second. This increased investment in Japanese productions seems to have come after the success of South Korea's capitalist survival game show "Squid Game" propelled the global viewing numbers for Japan's dystopian, sci-fi action series "Alice in Borderland," which is also based on a similarly harrowing life-or-death premise.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, the anime titles unveiled at the festival include such big names such as, "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean," "The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh," "Kakegurui Twin," Mitsuo Iso's highly-anticipated "The Orbital Children," "Tiger & Bunny 2," two "Detective Conan" titles, "Aggretsuko Season 4," "Kotaro Lives Alone ," Wit Studio's latest original work "Vampire in the Garden," "Ultraman Season 2," and "Rilakkuma's Theme Park Adventure."
Live action offerings include, "Love Like The Falling Petals," "Alice in Borderland Season 2," "First Love," "Yu Yu Hakusho," "Once Upon a Crime," "Love is Blind: Japan," "Last One Standing," an Toma Ikuta documentary, and "Gundam." These titles are to join the 90 Japanese originals housed by Netflix within the next few years.
Japan, which has a robust anime and film industry, has had a long history of capturing the global imagination. Perhaps it's because of this rich history that Netflix recently signaled a growing investment in the island nation's production capabilities by taking out a long-term lease on Tokyo studio space, setting up a creators' lounge and artist in residence program for animation, signing content deals with Tokyo Broadcasting System and Nippon TV.
According to Sakamoto Kaata, Netflix Japan's VP of Content, "Our next big bet is expanding feature films. Japan is home to extraordinary talent who shape the cinematic history of the world. With creators as diverse as the ones we work with today, we're excited to play a role in the history of great local talent finding their voices and delivering them to audiences everywhere."
It's clear that Netflix is making big moves in Japan. We're looking forward to seeing what innovative and diverse content the streaming service will bring to global audiences soon! For more entertainment news and commentary, check out Enstarz! We bring you the latest on your favorite celebrities, TV shows, and films.
