Netflix is making a big push to get more involved in the anime business, which several members of the industry believe is having a positive impact on anime production.
"Lately the media has been bashing the anime industry over working conditions; the TV stations have been reporting on it, but they're a big culprit," Joseph Chou—who serves as a producer at Toei Animation on the recently announced Netflix original anime series Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya—told The Hollywood Reporter.
Thanks to tight budgets determined by TV networks, the work environment at many anime studios is very difficult, and animators often receive low wages. However, Chou believe's Netflix's involvement is helping to change that. "Netflix is restoring it to a sane business model," he said. "You're looking at maybe a 15 percent margin rather than a 5 percent loss."
Chou said that among the streaming platforms providing anime, "Netflix is the most aggressive." He noted that due to the shortage of animators, along with increased demand from China and orders for original content from Netflix and other services, studios are backed up with projects. "It's not a bonanza or a bubble yet, but nearly all the studios are full booked until 2020," he said.
Earlier this month, Netflix announced plans to produce 30 new anime titles set for release in 2018. The streaming service intends to spend $8 billion on original content for 2018, with a sizable chunk going to original anime projects.
Kotaro Yoshikawa, the VP of distribution and licensing at TMS Entertainment, also spoke positively about Netflix's impact on the industry, noting the service "is producing dubbed versions in several languages and subtitles in more than 20 languages, with a release to around 200 countries in one go, which we couldn't do."
Yoshikawa also spoke to how Netflix's involvement negates the need for production committees, which has been a key part in the creation of TV shows and movies in Japan. "There's no TV station involved to say what needs to be done to make something okay for broadcast," he said. That said, he noted they "may still have to make adjustments, like reducing the amount of blood onscreen, for versions that will be broadcast on television."
Starting next summer, TMS Entertainment's new 26-episode anime based on the martial arts series Baki will air weekly on Netflix in Japan, and the entire series will be released worldwide on Netflix sometime later in 2018. Netflix's method of delivery has been criticized by many in the anime community, as the streaming service opts to wait and release an entire season of a show all at once, rather than simulcasting each episode as they air in Japan like other anime streaming platforms.
Anime director Keiichi Hara, who helmed the 2015 film Miss Hokusai, expressed some reservation in working with Netflix, saying complete creative control may not necessarily be the best thing. "I work on commercial productions, so inevitably I get directions from companies, like TV networks," he explained, noting that "working out ways to keep those people happy has been the source of some really great ideas," and "that kind of pressure actually helps creativity in some ways."
In addition to animated works like Little Witch Academia and the recently released Neo Yokio (read IGN's review), Netflix has also invested in live-action adaptations of popular anime and manga properties. A film based on Death Note debuted on the service earlier this year, and TV Tokyo and Netflix are producing a series based on Mob Psycho 100.
Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @alexcosborn.
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