How A 1999 Anime Hit Inspired Netflix To Double Down On The Genre (and Its Massive Fan Base)

A decades-old anime is shaping Netflix’s programming future.

“One Piece,” nan long-running Japanese pirate saga-turned-live-action hit, topped Netflix’s charts successful 75 countries aft it made its debut successful August 2023. Its occurrence has helped substance nan streamer’s broader push into anime, a genre that Netflix says now reaches much than half of its world audience.

On Tuesday, Netflix is announcing an description of nan franchise. A 3rd play of nan live-action show, titled “One Piece: The Battle of Alabasta,” is group for 2027. The institution is besides processing a reboot of nan original anime bid — pinch creator Eiichiro Oda progressive — arsenic good arsenic a Lego animated typical owed Sept. 29.

Netflix walked distant from a woody pinch Warner Bros that would person dramatically expanded its room to see properties for illustration “Harry Potter” and “Superman.” It’s now leaning into anime arsenic a rich | trove of stories and characters — having besides precocious unveiled a caller slate of anime projects astatine AnimeJapan, nan world’s largest anime show, successful March. They see nan shot show “Blue Lock,” nan acheronian imagination “Jujutsu Kaisen” and nan supernatural drama “Dandelion.”

“If Netflix’s extremity is to entertain nan world, it’s difficult to entertain nan world without anime,” said Jonathan Helfgot, Netflix’s vice president of marketing.

Lego characters successful "One Piece."Courtesy of Netflix

Netflix dubbed its live-action “One Piece” into 33 languages, which has helped it go a captious and commercialized hit. Its fame besides bolstered viewing of nan anime type of nan show, which launched connected Japan’s Fuji TV successful 1999 and is now carried by Netflix.

The “One Piece” world is besides increasing off-screen, pinch nan motorboat of an flight room acquisition astatine Netflix House Philadelphia and nan waste of user products, including “One Piece” Nerf toys, Funko dolls and coloring books. There’s moreover a statement of “One Piece” apparel astatine Hot Topic, wherever 1 of nan show’s signature straw hats sells for $23.

The increasing world liking successful anime is driven by a young audience, galore of whom recovered nan genre during nan Covid-19 pandemic, according to Doug Montgomery, CEO of Global Connects Media, a Tokyo-based media and intermezo consultancy.

“People who grew up pinch YouTube are utilized to watching overseas stuff, they’re utilized to dubbing,” Montgomery said. “During nan pandemic, erstwhile U.S. accumulation was unopen down, location was thing caller connected TV. But Japanese contented was available. It was fresh, and a full caller procreation recovered anime.”

Gen Z audiences are conscionable nan latest to observe anime acknowledgment to Hollywood executives looking to pat caller sources of content. Many of today’s millennial TV and movie creators grew up successful nan 1990s, erstwhile nan nascent Cartoon Network began airing anime shows.

“As nan cablegram business grew, they needed to capable nan airways,” Montgomery said. “So why’d they prime anime? Because it was cheap. Now there’s a full bunch of group who are getting successful positions of powerfulness who grew up pinch anime.”

"One Piece" showrunner Joe Tracz said he remembers erstwhile group utilized to “get location from school, move connected nan TV and sometimes you spot an American cartoon, sometimes a Japanese cartoon, and immoderate of nan clip you didn’t really cognize wherever it was coming from.”

Now, “you’re getting generations of group who don’t really spot that favoritism anymore,” he added. “A bully communicative is simply a bully communicative nary matter wherever it comes from.”

Netflix joins different studios that person leaned into nan genre and its monolithic instrumentality guidelines successful caller years. In 2021, Sony bought nan anime streaming work Crunchyroll from AT&T for astir $1.2 billion. Sony, considered an anime powerhouse, said successful 2024 that it sees nan level arsenic nan “primary maturation driver" astatine Sony Pictures Entertainment "over nan adjacent fewer years.”

The live-action “One Piece” has drawn successful some ardent fans of nan original manga and newcomers unaware of its anime history, which Tracz said is captious to its occurrence connected Netflix.

“With this show, you ever person 2 audiences successful mind,” Tracz said connected a caller Zoom telephone from nan “One Piece” group successful South Africa, wherever he’s shooting nan 3rd season. “There’s fans of nan manga who cognize nan communicative wrong and out. Their passion is why it’s getting translated. And yet there’s group who person ne'er picked up a manga, they’ve ne'er watched an anime, and they mightiness not deliberation that’s for them. The situation is ever really do we service some those audiences.”

“One Piece” fandom has shown up successful immoderate astonishing places, including successful Gen Z-led protests successful Nepal past year, erstwhile quality authorities activists waved nan anime characters’ signature flag, a skull and crossbones wearing a straw hat.

Tracz said he is alert that audiences watch “One Piece” for a assortment of reasons, including, sometimes, nan governmental subtext.

“If you’re looking for a nosy pirate show, we’re that,” he said. “But if you besides want to spot a show that’s going to look astatine really mini group tin guidelines up for what they judge successful in nan look of thing large and powerful, that’s there, too.”