Netflix to increase anime offerings due to large volume of viewers worldwide

Anime is becoming more and more popular across the globe, and Netflix is determined to keep up.

The streaming giant on Tuesday reported a 50 percent annual viewership increase in the anime category. In the past year, over 100 million households around the world chose to watch at least one anime title on Netflix, it said.

Additionally, anime titles appeared in the Top 10 list in almost 100 countries this year so far.

"I think this trend would continue on and at the same time we need to procure the anime content," said Taiki Sakurai, Netflix's Anime Chief Producer.

"We need to increase the volume of our offering. We are at this juncture in order to increase the volume of our offering." he added.

Netflix first delved into anime in 2016 with "Blame!" In the following years, it produced titles such as "Castlevania" (2017), "Devilman Crybaby" (2018), "Ultraman" (2019), and "Dragon's Dogma" (2020).

Its most popular titles include "Seven Deadly Sins," which became one of the Top 10 titles among all series and films in over 70 countries since its launch, and "BAKI," which did the same in almost 50.

"In just four short years since launching our creative team in Tokyo, Netflix has expanded the reach and overall audience of anime - a category conventionally seen as niche. Given the success of shows such as Seven Deadly Sins and Baki, we are excited now more than ever to challenge ourselves to expand our aspirational anime programming for fans around the world," Sakusai said.

In line with this, during the Netflix Anime Festival 2020, the streaming company unveiled its exciting anime lineup for next year.

Among the titles to watch out for are "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness," "Godzilla: Singular Point," "Pacific Rim: The Black," and its first ever Philippine-made anime series, "Trese." —JCB, GMA News