This year marks the 100th anniversary of the conception of anime, or Japanese animated cartoons. To commemorate this milestone, online streaming titan Netflix recently hosted their Anime Slate 2017 in Tokyo, detailing their plans to produce and release over 20 original and platform-exclusive anime series and films by the end of next year. Some of the notable titles include remakes of classics like Godzilla and Devilman Crybaby, as well as a live action adaptation of the popular manga series Death Note.
The event is part of the company's ongoing plan to produce more international content for their millions of worldwide subscribers.
"Anime content has long been popular all over the world," said Greg Peters, Netflix's chief product officer, who spoke to the attending international and local Japanese press. According to Peters, over 90% of anime viewing on Netflix is done outside of Japan, while over 50% of Japanese Netflix subscribers commonly watch anime on the site.
Devilman Crybaby (2018).
Blurring creative borders
On July 17, Netflix reported that its service has broken past the 100 million subscriber milestone, approximately half of which are from outside their home market of North America. As such, Netflix has been aggressively pursuing deals with local creators from various regions to create locally-relevant content for their increasingly varied viewer base.
"This gives us the opportunity to leverage our global network and connect creators with IP [intellectual property] from other corners of the world, giving them chances to work on projects they normally wouldn't be able to but are passionate about, or projects that would be difficult to do for traditional studios."
One recent example of such collaboration is the recently-released Castlevania series. Released to widespread critical acclaim last month, the animated series' four-episode season was based loosely on the 1989 Japanese video game Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse by publisher Konami. The series was originally intended to be a live-action film that began preproduction in 2007, but was only finally funded (and subsequently converted into a serialised show) by Netflix in 2015.
"I've been wanting to do this project for 10 years," said executive producer Adi Shankar, whose Hollywood portfolio includes such films as A Walk Among The Tombstones (2014), Lone Survivor (2013) and Killing Them Softly (2012). Shankar was approached to direct the project back in 2007, but declined because he felt the studio didn't respect the source material or its fans.
"Castlevania and anime were both big parts of my childhood, and Netflix created a way for this to happen. They allowed me to make the series for fellow fans of the show, which I think is actually great for the art as well."
Global vs. local
While foreign creators like Shankar are now empowered by Netflix to pursue Japanese content, anime creators in Japan must also adapt their content to appeal to Netflix's wider subscriber base as well.
"Japanese animation is considered by many as its own culture," said Tadahiro "Tady" Yoshihira, CG supervisor of Polygon Studios, the Emmy-award winning Japanese 3D computer graphics company that recently produced the Netflix Original anime film Blame!. The studio is also responsible for animating Netflix's Godzilla adaptation, which will be released some time in 2018.
"There are many differences when it comes to producing something for a predominantly Japanese audience and global ones. Certain facial expressions or actions may be exclusively understood in Japanese culture or content, but may not make sense to a wider audience. We also have to take care not to inadvertently touch on subjects that may be taboo or controversial or political to the global audience. Many stories and storytelling methods commonly used are also not that appealing outside of Japan."
Balancing between preserving anime's distinctly Japanese identity, while also making it appeal to a global audience that may not be familiar with anime, is something that creators in Japan must continue to figure out.
"Anime's Japanese aesthetics and styles still appeal to many people, so it's important that we maintain that even when we try out new methods of animation and storytelling. 3D-anime features like Blame! are still relatively new, so we still have a lot of things to learn and apply to future projects."
Searching for content
Streaming services are taking off solidly in Thailand. Netflix has been releasing a lot of original Asian content, such as Japanese and Korean films/series Samurai Gourmet, Hibana Spark and The Sound Of Your Heart.
In Thailand, other available services are comparably scarce when it comes to originally-produced content, with HOOQ and Amazon's Prime Video the only services to offer any at all. HOOQ recently announced its plans to release five films/series -- two Filipino, three Indonesian -- in the coming months, as well as their HOOQ Filmmakers Guild competition to find and fund more Asian-created content in the future. Prime Video offers its own originally-created programmes like American Gods or The Man In The High Castle, but is still lacking in other content, and is yet to be widely known in Thailand.
Iflix, meanwhile, has a solid catalogue of Asian content though it's not originally produced but acquired.
"Netflix is currently producing original content in over 15 countries around the world, while co-producing projects in over 50," said Peters, citing the recently released South Korean film Okja -- directed by Bong Joon-ho, starring Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal -- as an example of its efforts. He also stressed Netflix's efforts in making its content widely accessible to people around the world, all at the same time.
"Our content is currently available in 20 different languages, both for subtitles and soundtrack, all at the same time worldwide. It can be accessed from over 1,500 digital devices of various sizes and price, with any level of internet connection quality. No matter where they are in the world or what language they speak, we want everyone around the world to be able to enjoy Netflix."
