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Netflix
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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

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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.
Associated Press

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.

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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.

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