The warfare for streaming programming supremacy has a new battleground: anime. Netflix and Hulu each has a pretty impressive array of titles both new and old for fans of Japanese animated programming. But though Hulu may win in volume, Netflix will soon dominate in terms of originality: Netflix is producing a brand new anime program through the studio Production I.G., which will premiere exclusively on their service simultaneously in 190 countries.
The series is going to be called Perfect Bones and will be directed by Kazuto Nakazawa, who is perhaps best known for directing the O-Ren Ishii animated sequence in Quentin Tarantino‘s Kill Bill, as well as for being a key animator on parts of The Animatrix and a major creative presence on the series Samurai Champloo. Perfect Bones‘ premise sounds like perfect anime fare. The story is set in a future where scientists are genetically modifying children to be super beings, when something goes wrong. Naturally.
For their part, Netflix is trying to diversify as much as possible with their original programming. Not only do they produce and/or acquire exclusive rights to a number of comedy, action, drama, and documentary projects, but they were also the only venue in the U.S. offering the sci-fi anime Knights of Sidonia a few years ago. Since they already have money to lose, they’re really trying to offer as much original or exclusive content as possible to keep them subscription figures up.
Production I.G., which will be producing the 12-episode Perfect Bones, has a very impressive résumé, including both seasons of the Ghost in the Shell TV show, The End of Evangelion movie, and a little show you might have heard of called Attack on Titan. All the pedigree is here for Netflix to really make their mark as a major distributor of anime programming, especially given the unprecedented simultaneous worldwide release. There is no premiere date given for Perfect Bones at this time. Might be this year, might be later.
Are you jazzed for Perfect Bones? Do you think this will lead to more original anime from Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!
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HT: The Verge
Image: Production I.G.
Kyle Anderson is the Weekend Editor and a film and TV critic for Nerdist.com. Follow him on Twitter!
