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https://scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3037224/how-will-netflix-beat-disney-apple-asia-japanese-anime-bets
Lifestyle/ Entertainment

How will Netflix beat Disney, Apple in Asia? Japanese anime, bets the streaming giant

  • New animated series such as Ultraman and Eden show Netflix is extending its strategy of paying for original content
  • It has also approached Studio Ghibli, the renowned Japanese animation studio, to secure up-for-grabs streaming rights for Japan
Iconic Japanese sci-fi series Ultraman is being rebooted for Netflix, where it will join a host of existing anime content that could help the streaming giant fend off its competitors in Asia.

As Netflix prepares for a bruising battle against Walt Disney and Apple for streaming subscribers, it’s playing a card that may deliver enough of an edge to fend off its competitors in Asia: Japanese anime.

Although Netflix, the leading streaming provider with 158 million users, has featured animation for years, it is stepping up its anime efforts as new rivals such as Apple, Disney and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max roll out their services.

All of them have identified animation as a way to lure viewers — from Disney’s historic archive to a recent victory by HBO Max in clinching the coveted US distribution rights for most of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films.

Facing such competition, Netflix is extending its strategy of paying for original content to new animated shows such as Ultraman and Eden.

It’s also holding out for a chance to feature Ghibli’s content, including the Oscar-winning Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro, in Japan and other countries outside the US, and has approached the renowned Japanese animation studio to secure the up-for-grabs streaming rights, according to John Derderian, Netflix’s director of Japan & Anime.

“Japan is certainly among the top two creators of stories in the world with Hollywood,” said Derderian, who confirmed that there have been talks with Studio Ghibli, without offering any specifics.

A scene from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away (2001).
A scene from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away (2001).

The studio had long resisted offering its films for streaming, favouring theatrical releases and physical media. That’s changing as more viewers choose to access libraries of shows and movies on smartphones, tablets and computers for a fixed monthly price.

Netflix — which has made inroads in Japan, adding millions of subscribers — is betting on Japanimation to both defend its turf in the country, and push deeper into Asia.

In fact, most of Netflix’s anime viewers are outside Japan, according to Derderian, who says that demand for Japanese animation is especially high in Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Shows such as Dragon Ball or Attack on Titan continue to attract a global audience.

I see distributors such as Netflix as another turning point for the anime industry Anime director Kenji Kamiyama, developer on Ultraman

Overseas sales of Japanese animation content has quadrupled to almost US$10 billion since 2012, according to Humanmedia , a Tokyo-based research firm.

Even so, Asia remains a mostly untapped market for the major streaming services. It will probably take a few years until HBO Max, Disney Plus and others get serious about gathering streaming services in the region.

Netflix says it is now developing a library of exclusive anime shows, clinching long-term partnerships with five of Japan’s notable animation studios.

The result of one of those partnerships is Ultraman, an animated reboot of the classic Japanese show of the silver-suited hero battling giant monsters. The exclusive series was developed with Kenji Kamiyama, the anime director who’s works include a series for Ghost in the Shell, and Shinji Aramaki, another well-known director whose designs were behind the Gundam series.

The two directors said developing shows for Netflix gave them more control over the story and content, such as being able to show gory scenes of monsters being vanquished, which is usually suppressed for on-air shows.

“I see distributors such as Netflix as another turning point for the anime industry,” Kamiyama said.

A scene from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro.
A scene from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro.

Netflix isn’t the only player invested in Japanese anime to give them an edge. Amazon Prime and Apple’s iTunes also offer some Japanese anime shows, and Amazon has also released an original anime series, Blades of the Immortal.

Disney will have new Star Wars and Marvel animated series available on their service, seeking to attract core fans from the two works.