Netflix and Mappa announce new partnership, but anime fans are worried

Anime industry's increasing western focus may erode its original spirit

Animation studio MAPPA, known for massive global hits such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and the second half of Attack on Titan, has renewed and strengthened its partnership with Netflix that started in 2020, the two companies announced on Jan. 21. While details remain vague, MAPPA and Netflix will "work together on new projects with a global perspective," and the streaming giant will have exclusive rights for a slate of MAPPA productions.

This shouldn't sound completely new, as some MAPPA anime are already streaming exclusively on Netflix, including the 2024 Ranma 1/2 remake and Kakegurui Twin. Netflix stressed the importance of anime for its platform, as more than half of its subscribers enjoy anime on the service, and anime viewership has tripled over the past five years, according to the announcement. A footnote specifies that in 2024 alone, anime titles on Netflix have been viewed over 1 billion times, and Japanese content, including anime, is the second most viewed globally after English-language titles.

This also sounds like a natural next step for MAPPA. In 2022, the company bypassed the traditional Japanese system of a "production committee" (a board of partners financing an anime production, thus exerting an amount of control over it) to self-fund the first season of Chainsaw Man. A strong partnership with Netflix will allow MAPPA to develop its IPs with an amount of freedom that is rare for Japanese animation studios — though that doesn't mean Netflix won't have a say in these projects. MAPPA also made headlines in the past for the poor working conditions of its animators, a practice that VP Hiroya Hasegawa promised would be addressed by focusing on mentorship and work-life balance.

What worries anime fans most, however, is the strong focus that both MAPPA and Netflix representatives put on anime's global reach. "Japanese animation studios must proactively lead every stage, from understanding global audience needs and developing projects, to reaching viewers and expanding related businesses," Manabu Otsuka, MAPPA CEO, said. This statement resurfaces the debate on the effects that anime's global popularity could have on the business. Recently, industry icons such as Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Tomohiko Ito (Sword Art Online) expressed their concerns regarding anime trying to cater too much to Western audiences. "It first needs to be a work that will be well received and found interesting in Japan, but if by any chance people overseas also found it interesting, I’d be grateful for that," Anno said.

There's no reason to cry wolf yet. Despite its controversies, MAPPA has produced some of the best anime of the past decade, and it has been truly pushing the boundaries of traditional anime production, as the news release says. Netflix's global reach doesn't necessarily mean a change in the philosophy and culture that make anime so interesting in the first place. The recent disaster of One-Punch Man season 3 proved the harm that the production committee system can do, so MAPPA truly has a chance to change the industry forever. Let's just hope that the streaming platform won't force every character in MAPPA's new anime to repeat the plot constantly, as it does with its movies.