Pacific Rim: The Black, High Rise Invasion, Godzilla: Singular Point and More Previewed At Netflix Anime Festival
Based on the amount they greenlight, anime has been a big success for Netflix. The streaming giant even has a dedicated department, with Netflix anime commissioning or acquiring both the real thing (animation produced wholly or partially in Japan) and with animation produced elsewhere that they call anime anyway (Castlevania, this month's Blood Of Zeus). The company has just revealed a whole new wave of info about their upcoming slate, both previously announced titles and some that we hadn't heard about until now.
The news comes via the Netflix Anime Festival, an annual event that teases the anime (and anime-style) series and movies that are coming to the service over the next year or so. For the first time this year, it was live-streamed around the world. You can watch the whole two-hour presentation over on YouTube or keep reading for the highlights.
Netflix has recently announced production line partnerships with Japanese studios Anima & Company (NAZ), Science Saru and Mappa and South Korean Studio Mir, to produce new content. Netflix now has such deals with nine studios, which also include Production IG and Bones.
Production IG's B The Beginning will return for a second season, to be titled Succession. The wonderfully mundanely named master detective Keith returns for a second case set months after the first season which streamed on Netflix back in 2018.
Also returning, but this time for a third and final season as Baki reaches its climax. Baki Hanma will feature "the most powerful father-son fight" and arrives in 2021.
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness will be the first-ever series based on the hit video game franchise from Capcom. It promises to be
much more faithful to the games than the Hollywood live-action film series
(it actually features characters from the game as the central characters for a start). The series is being produced by TMS with full CG animation
from Quebico, and features input from one of the game series'
producers. The series launches in 2021.
On a future Earth where humans are thought to be extinct, two farming robots find a human baby and decide to become its guardians. Eden is an original CG anime from director Yasuhiro Irie (Fullmetal Alchemist) and concept designer Toshihiro Kawamoto (Cowboy Bebop). The series comes to Netflix in May 2021- check out the first trailer, below.
Netflix Anime have released a first look teaser of the new manga adaptation
Spriggan, coming next year. It's not much more than an animated version of the previously revealed teaser poster, though. They also released the full synopsis.
A great civilization once existed on this Earth. Possessing knowledge and scientific prowess far exceeding that of modern man, the relics of this ancient civilization remain hidden across this world even now. As high-speed communication networks cover the globe and the peering eyes of satellites are able to expose all secrets, the armies of great nations clash as they seek to uncover and research these artifacts, which possess an unfathomable ""power."" A member of this ancient civilization carved a message into a plate: ""Protect our relics from evil-doers."" Taking this message to heart, one organization aims to seal away this ancient civilization for good. The elite secret agents of this organization are known as... Spriggans. The legendary comic which took the 90s by storm has been vividly reimagined in 2D animation and 3D CG! Reborn after more than 30 years, experience an authentic adventure series packed with intense action scenes and a love of ancient civilizations!
Also coming in 2021, Vampire In The Garden is a new series from WIT Studio (Attack On Titan, The Great Pretender) set in a world where humans have lost the war with vampires and have nearly been wiped out. It features a fateful meeting between a human girl Momo and the Queen of the vampires, who then embark on a quest to find a place where their two kids can live in harmony. Directed by Ryotaro Mikihara.
LeSean Thomas is the creator, director, and Executive Producer of Yasuke, an anime set in an alternative feudal Japan, where more advanced tech is mixed with the historical. The story is inspired by the real-life historical figure who was the only Samurai of African origin. Mappa is producing the animation, and LaKeith Stanfield will voice the lead in English.
We've been hearing about it for years, but Pacific Rim's animated spin-off is finally coming in 2021. Pacific Rim: The Black is a co-production between the US's Legendary Pictures and Japan's Polygon Pictures, with Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson show running.
Kyle and Johnson have been busy boys as they are also showrunners on the second chapter of Transformers: War For Cybertron - Earthrise which is confirmed to be coming soon.
Produced by Filipino Studio BASE Entertainment, and based on the comic series of the same name, Trese features an otherworldly taking on supernatural threats in the Philippine capital Manila.
Another Netflix original coming back (although this time without an announced
release date beyond 'coming soon') is stop-motion
Rilakkuma. Rilakkuma's Theme Park Adventure will be the follow-up to
Rilakkuma and Kaoru, and will again be directed by
Matsuhito Kobayashi at dwarf Studio for San-X.
Award-winning comedy manga Thermae Romae about a Roman bath designer who travels in time to modern Japan is getting an anime adaptation on Netflix. Thermae Romae Novae will be produced by NAZ.
Another brand new announcement was Thus Spoke Kibashi Rohan, a
spin-off series from the hugely popular
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, coming exclusively to Netflix in 2021. The
mini-series is produced by david Productions, who also produced the
main JoJo's series.
Coming in February 2021 and based on the 'insane' battle manga High Rise Invasion, Masahiro Takata directs the anime adaptation, with animation production by Zero-G. The series features a high-school student on the run from masked killers in a skyscraper.
The unhinged and gory death-game manga High-Rise Invasion, created by Tsuina Miura (Ajin: Demi-Human) and Takahiro Oba (Box!), finally gets an anime adaptation! High school student Yuri Honjo finds herself lost in an “abnormal space” where countless skyscrapers are connected by suspension bridges and “masked figures” mercilessly slaughter their confused and fleeing victims. To survive in this hellish world, she has two choices: kill the masked figures or be killed. Yuri is determined to survive in order to destroy this irrational world, but what will be her ultimate fate?
Also based on a popular manga, The Way Of The House Husband features a legendary Yakuza who decides to give up the gangster life to become a stay-at-home husband. The comedy series will be directed by Chiaki Kon and animated by JC Staff. Coming in 2021
