On October 27, 2020, Netflix hosted an event titled Netflix Anime Festival 2020 ~ The Future of Anime, Together ~ wherein they showcased the up and coming anime features in the coming year.
The event is hosted by Hisanori Yoshida and anime fans are greeted with the welcoming remarks from Taiki Sakurai, the Chief Producer, Anime, Netflix.
According to Taiki Sakurai, anime on Netflix are starting to become popular. Over 100 million households around the world watched at least one anime in the past year.
Additionally, anime titles start to appear on Netflix’s top 10 list in almost 100 countries this year. This shows that viewers are starting to spend their time watching anime and Netflix have made it easy for fans around the world through online streaming.
Seven Deadly Sins and Baki are some of the titles that were part of the top list on Netflix.
Our passion is to explore various storytelling.
Taiki Sakurai
Taiki Sakurai stated that it’s their goal to have fans not only in Japan but all over the world to enjoy anime.
Anime lineup presentation
Netflix has 16 upcoming anime projects for fans.
There are 5 new projects and 11 projects that are previously announced.
Hisanori Yoshida, together with actress, model, and anime fan, Rio Uchida, presented the lineup of anime that will be available on Netflix soon.
Here are the 5 new anime projects announced by Netflix:
1. Rilakkuma’s Theme Park Adventure
Following the success of Rilakkuma and Kaoru, Netflix produced another series starring Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, Kiiroitori, and Kaoru.
The stop-motion animation tells the story of the Rilakkuma, together with its friends, who went to play in an amusement park that is bound for closing.
Based on the manga of the same name by Yamazaki Mari, this tells the story of a bath designer in the Roman Empire named Lucius. In this comedy series, he accidentally slips back in time and arrived in present-day Japan and trying to learn about the culture of the Japanese bath.
Aside from the already written story of the manga, new episodes are also created by Yamazaki Mari.
This new Netflix original series to be released on February 2021 is based on the manga by Miura Tsuina (Ajin) and Takahiro Oba (Box!).
This is a survival story that is set in high-rise buildings that don’t touch the ground.
Yuri, the protagonist of the story, tries to survive their world and kill the enemy.
You can watch the teaser trailer here:
This tells the story of manga artist Rohan Kishibe. He goes to different destinations to get inspiration for the manga he is working on.
5. The Way of the Househusband
This new Netflix series tells the story of Tatsu, an evil yakuza, who chose to leave his old life to become a full-time househusband.
Here are the 11 previously announced anime projects to be released on Netflix:
1. Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness
Resident Evil is a popular survival game and it has now been created into a Netflix original CG anime series.
This tells the story of Mei Kamino and Yun Arikawa, both young geniuses, who encountered unexpected threats with their associates.
This new story is a little bit different to the original story but is still inviting to new and old fans alike.
3. Eden
This is a story about a girl named Sarah, who was raised by two robots. This science fiction fantasy follows Sarah’s life as she make it to the big world.
You can watch the teaser trailer here:
This story is set in a place called “Paradise” wherein vampires and humans lived together.
Here are the first look photos of the characters Momo and the vampire queen named Fine.
5. Yasuke
This upcoming Netflix anime series is based on a true story of Yasuke, the first African samurai.
Here are the character photos of Yasuke and Oda Nobunaga:
This tells the story of siblings Taylor and Hayley who went on a desperate search to look for their missing parents.
Here are the first look photos from the series:
7. Transformers: War for the Cybertron Trilogy
The War for the Cybertron Trilogy continues with Chapter 2: Earthrise!
The story tells the search for Allspark that will lead for Autobots and Deceptions to get to Earth.
8. Trese
Based on a Filipino graphic novel created by Budjette Tan and KaJO Baldisimo, Netflix is bringing us the anime series titled Trese.
Set in Manila wherein mythical creatures of Philippine folklore are living among humans.
The protagonist, Alexandra Trese, find herself fighting with supernatural beings.
Here are the first look photos of Alexandra Trese:
9. B: The Beginning Succession
This new Netflix anime series is a sequel to the 2018 series B. The Beginning.
The story follows Keith and Koku and their life after everything came back to normal.
Here are the first look photos from the series:
10. Baki Hanma
Known as the “strongest parent-child brawl in history of the world”, this story tells the full-blooded clash between Baki Hanma and his father, Yujiro Hanma.
Here is a special illustration of Baki by Keisuke Itagaki:
11. Spriggan
Based on the legendary manga of the same name, this anime tells the story of an organization called “Springgan”.
This is a high speed action anime wherein they battle for ancient relics.
You can watch the teaser trailer here:
Aside from the lineup presentation, there’s also a creative panel with Mari Yamazaki (Manga Artist / Essayist, Author of manga series Thermae Romae), Shuichiro Tanaka ( Producer, david production), and Taiki Sakurai (Chief Producer, Anime, Netflix).
When asked about their prospect for the future of anime, they wrote down: a communication tool that can be shared with the world (Mari Yamazaki), borderless (Shuichiro Tanaka), and infinite (Taki Sakurai).
The event concluded with the hosts, panelists, and guests taking a group picture. Rilakkuma is also there to join the group!
Anime fans! Are you excited about this amazing lineup?
Watch out for all these features on Netflix this 2021!
All images courtesy of Netflix