Highlights
- Netflix is shifting from exclusivity-driven licensing to co-creating anime with studios, prioritizing globally scalable anime IPs.
- Projects like Cosmic Princess Kaguya! highlight the model’s success, combining theatrical and streaming releases to maximize revenue.
- Netflix’s localization and media mix strategies, aim to expand the streamer’s anime business globally.
Netflix is shifting its anime strategy toward fewer, globally scalable titles, according to Hirofumi Yamano, Director of Content at Netflix Japan, in a recent interview with Anime! Anime! In the May 4 interview, Yamano outlined a strategy now centered on co-creation with studios and creators rather than only acquiring global rights.
Yamano said Netflix is now prioritizing projects with stronger international appeal and long-term franchise potential, like Cosmic Princess Kaguya!, rather than solely expanding its slate. The comments reflect a strategic move toward quality over quantity, with Netflix also following a ‘media mix’ strategy to scale its anime business.
Yamano talked about the collaborations with Twin Engine, MAPPA, and Studio Ichi, where the company emphasizes discussion with creators to know whether they want to work on a project or not. He said that this approach is something that elevates the quality of the project Netflix distributes.
Anime viewership on Netflix totaled 8.9B hours globally in 2025, with the platform being the most preferred anime streaming destination in most markets, according to GEM’s Anime White Paper. As per stats, more than 50% of Netflix’s global subscribers watch anime, so the company’s approach to increase quality to enhance viewing experience is not a bet, but a way to capitalize on that engagement.
Netflix’s Anime Strategy: Co-Creation as Commercial Architecture
According to Yamano, Cosmic Princess Kaguya! shows the commercial credibility of co-production architecture. The production staff of the movie, including Twin Engine's President Yamamoto, wanted to make a global hit, which resulted in Netflix simultaneously releasing the movie via both streaming and theater.
Netflix divided the promotional and advertising work with Twin Engine, citing that the production company would understand what works best for their product. Despite being a streaming first release, Cosmic Princess Kaguya! generated over $13.56 million USD at the Japanese box office.
Yamano then talked about the MAPPA partnership, where the studio president Otsuka is taking the lead. According to him, the company’s approach is different from production houses like Disney. Netflix does not work with a concept of ‘head office;’ in instances where Japan knows about a production more, the company lets the studio work on it and localizes it according to the distribution country.
Netflix’s Media Mix Strategy: Localization and Collaboration are the Keys
Media Mix is a common strategy observed across multiple Japanese production houses, including Toho and Bandai Namco. Through media mix, a single anime IP developed across multiple formats, such as anime series, features, merchandise, and the like.
Netflix seems to have complete control over its exclusive IPs' monetization models with its strategy. However, as mentioned, the streaming giant is collaborating with studios' decisions to build a strategy that works.
Yamano stated that Netflix has built a system that can simulcast anime across the global market without a time lag, but the media mix strategy is still in development. He stated that the planned strategy is to deliver content across 190 countries, which poses logistical difficulties that it is trying to overcome in collaboration with MAPPA.
He provided an example with the Sakamoto Days anime adaptation, for which Netflix released a global trailer introducing the characters and the plot for audiences unaware of the manga. Yamano further confirmed the necessity of localization, stating that 80-90% people watch the dubbed versions.
Cosmic Princess Kaguya! was dubbed in five different languages, including Filipino, Spanish, and Thai, focusing on non-English-dominant regions. According to him, even merchandise sales vary from country to country, which requires localization and broad-scale research.
Titles like Sakamoto Days, Dandelion, and Cosmic Princess Kaguya! benefited from Netflix’s anime strategy; however, a wider result is still due. Nonetheless, the broader Southeast Asian market has also pivoted to a co-creation ambition to scale globally. How far Netflix's strategy can help will depend on the quality of exclusive anime the streaming platform brings and localizes in the future.
Disclaimer: The original interview with Anime! Anime! was machine translated from Japanese.
