Netflix is taking on a vast amount of new Anime

Get excited, a substantial portion of Netflixs $8 billion production budget for 2018 is going to anime.

In a new interview with the Japan Times, Netflixs director of anime Taito Okiura spoke about the streaming platforms dedication to anime, both as a host of classic programs and as a producer of original stories.

A producer and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in the industry, Okiura was offered the job twice by Netflix before joining last October, only after the timing was right for him, according to the article.

I really applied myself. The timing was right, and I didnt want anyone else to have this job.

TAITO OKIURA (NETFLIXS DIRECTOR OF ANIME)

“I told them I wasnt sure how serious Netflix really is about anime. Then I hung up the phone,” Okiura said of Netflix’s initial job proposal.

Netflix was persistent though. Last summer, when Okiura learned that the popular streaming site was again seeking a director for its anime operations, he took the initiative.

“This time it was up to me, he said. “I really applied myself. The timing was right, and I didnt want anyone else to have this job.”

Netflix has already released two major anime adaptations which it co-produced, just this year. The streaming site gave Godzilla and Devilman a run with the latter series garnering great praise from critics.

“Devilman has some strong sexual and violent scenes, true, but the purpose of those scenes is to describe human nature,” said Okiura. “If it’s necessary to the art, it should be allowed.”

Netflix Japan’s content library is now the largest in the world, surpassing even that of its home base, Netflix U.S, according to the article, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The next anime series due out Friday on Netflix is B: The Beginning with another, A.I.C.O. Incarnation, releasing on March 9.

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