The world’ most-subscribed streaming service made a big splash at AnimeJapan 2024 this weekend with the Netflix Special Stage presentation. A slate of titles that introduce brand-new stories from top studios as well as the latest installment of popular series and franchises will continue to build Netflix’s anime offering — a category that attracts a minimum of 100 million household viewings a year on the platform.
Among the highlights:
Netflix announced Baki Hanma VS Kengan Ashura, a groundbreaking crossover collaboration between the martial arts action anime series Baki Hanma and Kengan Ashura, both of which are now streaming only on Netflix. The mashup will debut Thursday, June 6 on the streamer.
About the series: The Baki manga series, published in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shonen Champion, is a mega-hit martial arts manga that has sold over 85 million copies. Baki tells the stories of various fighters, centered on the epic life-and-death clash between protagonist Baki Hanma, the youngest underground fighting champion, and his father Yujiro Hanma, the “strongest creature in the world.”
The massive hit manga Kengan Ashura remains steadfast as the most popular comic among readers of the comics website Ura Sunday and the comics app MangaONE: Humble office worker Kazuo Yamashita encounters mysterious martial artist Ohma Tokita and gets wrapped up in the “Kengan” matches, in which corporations settle business disputes by betting large sums on seasoned fighters.
These two martial arts manga masterpieces finally cross paths!
Premiering on April 17, The Grimm Variations presents stories of horror and suspense based on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. The series is animated by WIT Studio (Attack on Titan, Spy x Family, Ranking of Kings) and features characters designed by the all-female manga creator collective CLAMP (Cardcaptor Sakura, xxxHolic, Magic Knight Rayearth). The series is written by Michiko Yokote (xxxHolic, Okko’s Inn, Tsurune) with music by Akira Miyagawa.
Synopsis: Once upon a time, brothers Jacob and Wilhelm collected fairy tales from across the land and made them into a book. They also had a much younger sister, the innocent and curious Charlotte, who they loved very much. One day, while the brothers were telling Charlotte a fairy tale like usual, they saw that she had a somewhat melancholy look on her face. She asked them, “Do you suppose they really lived happily ever after?”
The pages of Grimms’ Fairy Tales, written by Jacob and Wilhelm, are now presented from the unique perspective of Charlotte, who sees the stories quite differently from her brothers.
Netflix Anime unveiled the trailer for Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance, coming in Fall 2024. This is an all-new original animation comprising six 30-minute episodes focusing on the European front of the One Year War, which was the setting of the first Gundam series, Mobile Suit Gundam.
Produced in collaboration with SAFEHOUSE using Unreal Engine 5, the series is written by Gavin Hignight (Tekken: Bloodline, Transformers: Cyberverse; Marvel’s Spider-Man video game) and directed by Erasmus Brosdau (Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness; Star Citizen, Ryse: Son of Rome, Crysis video games).
This year will also see the climactic final season of BEASTARS. Based on the coming-of-age fantasy manga written by Paru Itagaki, the series is produced by studio Orange, directed by Shin’ichi Matsumi and written by Nanami Higuchi, with music by Satoru Kousaki. Netflix launched the series worldwide outside Japan in March 2020.
Synopsis: It is a world where carnivores and herbivores coexist. Following the battle with the culprit who devoured his classmate at school, Legoshi decides to drop out and begins living alone at Beast Apartments. Rouis has entered a prestigious university and resolves to face his father, Ogma. Haru also deals with many struggles as she tries to enjoy campus life.
Meanwhile, the city sees an increase of devouring incidents. The fangs of the heinous criminal who is pulling all the strings begin to close in on Legoshi and the others …
Timed to the 90th anniversary of the birth of co-creator Motoo Abiko, a.k.a. Fujiko F. Fujio (half of the manga-writing duo Fujiko Fujio, with Hiroshi Fujimoto), Season 1 of the T・P BON anime will be available May 2. The series is directed by Masahiro Ando and produced by studio Bones for Netflix, starring Akihisa Wakayama and Atsumi Tanezaki.
Synopsis: An ordinary high school student named Bon becomes part of a team of time-traveling agents tasked with saving people’s lives during historical events that happen across different eras and locations around the globe.
Netflix Anime released a teaser several months ago:
Netflix’s adaptation of Nakaba Suzuki’s classic golf manga Rising Impact, which debuted some 25 years ago, was announced in December. Over the course of two seasons, this series follows the growth of third-grader Gawain Nanaumi as he encounters the sport of golf and competes with his rivals.
The voice cast features Misaki Kuno as Gawain, Yumiri Hanamori as Lancelot Norman, You Taichi as Kiria Nishino, Atsumi Tanezaki as Kurumi Nishino, Kaede Hondo as Yumiko Koizumi, Yuto Uemura as Liebel Ringvald, Yumi Uchiyama as Platalissa Bonaire, Eiji Takamoto as Wanglian Li, Shunsuke Takeuchi as Riser Hopkins and Katsuyuki Konishi as Kai Todoin.
The anime is directed by Hitoshi Nanba (Golden Kamuy, Fate/Grand Order: First Order) with writing by Michiro Tsuchiya (Bakuman, MAJOR), character design by Kiotaka Oshiyama at Durian studio (Chainsaw Man, Devilman Crybaby, Space Dandy) and music by Masaru Yokoyama (Urusei Yatsura). Lay-duce, Inc. is the animation studio.
Netflix’s 2024 anime slate also boasts titles already streaming such as Delicious in Dungeon, adapted from the hugely popular manga; Season 3 of From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke (coming this year); My Oni Girl (premieres May 24) and the feature-length CGI anime Ultraman: Rising (June 14).
You can read the full roster of projects featured by Netflix at AnimeJapan 2024 here.
