Today, Netflix continues its heavy investment into the anime industry by announcing a ton of shows, including some very high profile sequels. In addition to animated productions, they’ve also announced live-action adaptations of several anime, original live-action series, and several films. It is, despite my reticence to hand it to Netflix, a pretty good lineup.
Their most notable anime offering is the December 1, release of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, the sixth part in the ongoing series about uncomfortably beautiful people learning new ways to beat the shit out of each other. First? It’s magical breathing that makes them really good at punching. Second? Summoning psychic manifestations of your soul to defeat other people’s psychic manifestations of their souls. Third? Spinning. The spinning hasn’t appeared in the anime yet, but someday…Until then though, there are five seasons worth of anime battling already released, with 12 new episodes to hit Netflix on December 1.
Other notable releases include a Seven Deadly Sins two-part film series (2022), which takes place after the end of the shonen battle anime’s main narrative, a spinoff prequel to the obscenely horny gambling anime Kakegurui titled Kakegurui Twin (August 2022), a fourth season of the slice of life office comedy Aggretsuko (December 16, 2021), season two of CGI-battle anime Ultraman (2022), a sequel series to Tiger and Bunny (2022), and two Detective Conan films, which currently lack a release date.
In addition to their sequels, Netflix is also offering a slate of original programming. First is Vampire in the Garden (2022), which is a proud member of the “two girls who bond over music” genre about a human and a vampire becoming friends. Second is The Orbital Children (January 28, 2022), an original anime production by several industry legends. Finally, Rilakumma’s Theme Park Adventure (2022), a stop motion series about a lazy bear at a theme park.
Netflix Japan also had a handful of live-action offerings, including concept art for the upcoming Gundam live-action film, which I will be deeply skeptical of until I see it in motion (I am, regrettably, a devout Gundam stan). The streaming platform will release two unscripted (reality TV) offerings in 2022, Last On Standing and Love is Blind: Japan, two films, Love Like The Falling Petals (2022) and Once Upon A Crime (TBA), the documentary Toma Ikuta (2022), and two 2022 live action series, season two of Alice in Borderland and First Love.
Despite my overwhelming ambivalence (with a light sprinkling of dread) for a live-action Gundam adaptation, the rest of Netflix’s live action offerings seem alright! The streaming platform claims it will continue to invest in feature films in the coming years, likely emboldened by the success of recent international series and films.