Netflix will have a much larger collection of anime to choose from by the end of this year. The streaming giant announced at the AnimeJapan 2021 Tokyo Expo that it will launch about 40 anime shows and films this year, which is twice as many titles released in 2020. How Bloomberg notes, it is likely to be part of the company’s efforts to attract audiences in Asia and international markets as a whole, now that most American viewers already have subscriptions.
During the event, Netflix revealed that it is involved in adapting to Japanese manga anime Ragnarok Record, which is about 13 gods battling 13 humans in one on one battles to decide the fate of humanity. The list of anime shows premiering this year also includes The path of the home owner (available from April 8) on a former yakuza who becomes a housewife. Another notable title on the list is Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, which will feature the voice actors of Claire and Leon in 2019 resident Evil remake and will be available for streaming later this year.
Netflix unveiled a new poster for Yasuke revolving around a black samurai in an alternative feudal Japan, too. However, Eden is a show set for thousands of years in the future, centered on two robots that secretly create a human child who has been awakened from stasis. It is directed by Irie Yasuhiro, who also directed Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
While it probably won’t be able to offer an anime library as vast as Sony’s if the acquisition of Funimation’s Crunchyroll is approved, Netflix’s diverse collection may still attract anime fans around the world. It says Eden and Yasuke both are “new stories brought to life by a wealth of international creators, further strengthening Netflix’s ambitions to diversify its original anime line, working with leading creators inside and outside Japan.”
Takeshi Koike / MAPPA