While you might think all of your friends are powering through Bridgerton season 2 or the new hit competition series Is It Cake? (really), the reality is that everybody is watching anime right now.
Last week, during the AnimeJapan contention in Tokyo, Netflix revealed it would launch 40 new anime titles this year alone. That’s a new title every week for the rest of the year, by the way. The Hollywood Reporter sat down with producer Kohei Obara, who oversees all of Netflix’s anime acquisitions.
According to Obara, Netflix users are devouring all of the anime titles on the streaming service:
The popularity of anime has been rising quite a bit in recent years. Anime has been big here in Japan for over seven or eight decades, ever since Osamu Tezuka created the first anime title. But in recent years, its popularity has been growing a lot internationally. At Netflix, more than well over half of our subscribers globally have watched anime in the past year, which is an incredible number. In Japan, at least 90 percent of our subscribers have been watching anime. In Japan, it’s always been very big, but the popularity has been rising on a global basis quite a lot as well.
When asked about what exactly caused the boost in popularity, Obara says it’s because of the wide range of genres. “We’re trying to diversify the programming by getting into, say, lean-back content, romantic dramas, and things that are different from what we’ve usually been pursuing.” Netflix’s most popular anime shows at the moment include the dark fantasy series Devilman Crybaby and the comedy series The Way Of The Househusband.
“The way anime titles resonate is quite diverse and unique in a way, where you never know what will hit. But that’s sort of how we feel about anime’s capacity and potential on the service right now — that any show could actually become a global hit,” Obara says.
Instead of looking to just make viral hits, Obara says they want to actually listen to what the viewers want to watch, so they will keep coming back for more. “We’re not just trying to snatch up the best shows out there with a chunk of cash. We’re trying to establish really warm and organic relationships with studios, artists and creators. Of course, we want to come up with the best titles, but we want to do it in a healthy, well-paced manner that will help the industry grow and stay sustainable”
If you’re looking to be ahead of the curve in terms of the Next Big Thing, maybe you should check out the anime section of Netflix after you’re done watching all of the many true-crime docuseries the service has to offer.
