Forum - View topic

Answerman - Is Netflix Good For Anime?

I’m mostly concerned about the shows themselves. Judging by what Netflix has already produced, their shows are very different from traditional Japanese anime. A lot of them can barely be called anime. What are the chances that Netflix will produce something like Shirobako? Not very likely. How about something like Hyouka? Almost impossible.

I mean, for anyone following the anime industry in the last decade is painfully obvious that pretty much 80-90% of the shows are super otaku-centric (be it moe, isekai, otome, shonen...etc. And both Shirobako and Hyouka are pretty otaku-ish, if you ask me).

Knights of Sidonia and Devilman Crybaby seemed to do well on Netflix. Aggretsuko and Ajin did ok, I suspect. I don’t have numbers of course, just going by social media mentions. The idea that all “Netflix Original” anime are doomed to fail is itself too simplistic.

well, let's just say that $2 billion dollars in annual deficit spending is going to catch up with them sooner or later.

donhumberto wrote:

I mean, for anyone following the anime industry in the last decade is painfully obvious that pretty much 80-90% of the shows are super otaku-centric (be it moe, isekai, otome, shonen...etc. And both Shirobako and Hyouka are pretty otaku-ish, if you ask me).

I can try to test out that theory, but I'm not quite sure how to do it since "super otaku-centric" is a very subjective label, and if you're really going to paint all shonen with that brush (Naruto, Pokemon, MHA, etc.; "shonen" literally just means it's made for young boys) then that kinda explains a lot. Ironically, Evangelion probably qualifies as otaku-centric since it's a deconstruction of mechas and the culture surrounding the genre, and Netflix apparently didn't have a problem with that.

Personally, I'd only call something otaku-centric if it's either about the anime/manga industry or anime fans (so, yes, Shirobako, though it's by far the least "anime" example and would be perfectly fine for a non-anime-fan to watch); so overloaded with anime tropes that it would make no sense to a newcomer; or fanservicey, especially if in a manner that most people consider inappropriate (these days, that usually means siscon). Looking at the current season, the clear examples I can see are (the trio of terribleness) Conception and My Sister My Writer and Uzamaid, Senran Kagura, Zombie Land Saga, and (maybe) the bunny girl one. Zombie Land is one of my favorites despite my hate for zombies, so I'm not saying those shows all suck, but it's only 6 out of the 35 shows in the preview guide, not counting the shorts. That's a long way from a total otaku takeover.

Netflix, for its part, is a big giant conglomerate media company, and ultimately those don't turn out to be good for much of anything other than their own profits. Art has always been in conflict with capitalism; at one end, trashy low-budget shows are cranked out to make some extra money, and at the other, big-budget deliberately "safe" mainstream content gets made for the same reason. Netflix influence might mean we get more of the latter than the former. But anything interesting will still be somewhere in between.

[
(1) Netflix has no problem with Eva since it's very popular, and a classic regardless of its being "otaku"-ish
(2) You didn't count CGDCT shows like vampire loli, cheerleading loli and space fishing shit as otaku-centric. Normies are repelled by CGDCT, hence you may want to count them as otaku-centric.
(3) I don't have a problem with Netflix's preferred genre(s). I think most people's beef w/ Netflix is their release schedule (release show X months after Japanese airing). I don't think people will have that much problem w/ Netflix if what they did is simultaneous worldwide release ala Devilman Crybaby, Hero Mask, Sword Gai, etc.

i don't see very many they've licensed that has been in the super niche category or anything in the offensive category at all.

.

This random Youtuber made the best summary i saw or read that explains what Netflix "original" anime is and what the platform does for the industry:
How Does Netflix Affect the Anime Industry? | Anime Studio Spotlight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faTmvoz7Smw&index=308&list=LLcMjMEYzJUHveLUKw6UkYcg&t=0s

Namely not that much. The same 3 or so studios get the originals treatment and these are just (limited) streaming deals. Netflix didn´t put anything into production as of 2018 and creators don´t get better pay or treatment by Netflix than by anyone else. So why should i care? Their cartoon arm though is legit.
I am beyond ready for a good DMC adaptation and Castevania is better than any actual anime in 2018. The kids stuff, as Voltron, can be pretty good too.
Aggretsuko on the other hand is the single Netflix anime "original" i like and even that one is a slightly lesser remake.

And as Justin lastly points out, there are no strong indications that big bucks are made here. Anime rights are just another cheap way to shovel out a LOT of diverse-ish content for people who fall into the core audience of Netflix. Literal filler. Nothing more or less, which is fine. The Bebop, Avatar and so on life action remakes have to pull though if this experiment is to go on, as those will cost money. Death Note got a sequel, so there is that.

(and keep in mind that Knights of Sidonia is completely different on home video)

Don’t trust random people on YouTube who don’t actually work first hand in the industry.

Even though The Seven Deadly Sins was popular, you actually don't HEAR about it a bunch. Nobody memes it, nobody discusses it, it's kind of a show that just *exists*

@BadNewsBlues The plural of anime is also anime. Unless you live in Germany.