Netflix Will Fail In The Anime Industry, And There Are 5 Reasons Why
Netflix has an interesting place in the anime industry. And because of their financial position, some see Netflix as a “savior” or somewhat helpful.
After all, it has the
- Create new anime series.
- Invest in new anime.
- Grab more licenses than the competition (technically).
And of course – the fact that it’s Netflix leaves an impression that the anime industry is being taken seriously.
Whether that’s relevant is up to you, but…
Netflix will fail in the anime industry
They won’t fail miserably. It’s obvious Netflix is doing reasonably well with anime.
But, as far as their goals which seems like trying to make anime in the US so they can cut out the Japanese… This plan will fail.
Netflix will never become so good that they can create anime in the US that beat out the original anime in Japan.
Any US company that tri is foolish and greedy to their own detriment (they’ll try anyway).
Netflix included.
Why Netflix won’t “hit it big” in the anime industry:
1. They care more about the money than the culture
This is BUSINESS. So it’s not a bad or even a stupid thing for Netflix to focus on the
They don’t and can’t invest in entertainment for the f*ck of it. And it wouldn’t be wise.
BUT, it seems like Netflix cares about the
The endless “Netflix adaptation” memes prove it
There’s a reason the Internet is flooded with so many Netflix adaptation memes. Even in the anime community.
It’s because the quality of their adaptations is… questionable. It’s clearly
Netflix’s original anime aren’t that big of a deal and I’d assume they’re doing much better with their licensing business.
Meaning – adding anime shows to their catalogue they didn’t create (Naruto, etc).
Their original anime just aren’t making an impact as far as things stand.
Relevant: Why Anime Is Better Than Disney In The Modern Age Of Films
2. They can’t make anime better than the Japanese
If we’re talking about Netflix’s ability to make and produce original anime, you can forget it. Netflix has NO chance.
Same is true for any US anime company attempting to out-do the Japanese.
You can see Netflix has been trying and investing 100’s of millions of dollars into making anime (and licensing it I assume).
You can also see Netflix has made a few good original anime (Devilman Crybaby).
But outside of that… There’s not much else.
Netflix went in with optimism a few years ago and now they see it’s gonna be a long road ahead.
Japan has been making anime for a long time so it might seem like an unfair comparison. After all we’re comparing over 12,000+ anime in Japan to a handful or over a dozen by Netflix.
But even still…. the more time goes by, the better anime in Japan will get and its already solidified.
It’s the reason this conversation is even a thing.
Netflix vs anime is like a new search engine vs Google.
It’s not just the fact Netflix can’t make anime better than the Japanese… It’s more than that.
And that leads to my next point.
3. Cultural awareness and differences
Netflix had one goal when they started investing in anime: make
For the most part – the people trying to make this happen aren’t of the culture and aren’t about the culture.
Cultural awareness of Japan, anime, the nuances of that culture and what it is fans want in an anime…. These are things Netflix doesn’t understand.
Wrapping your head around another culture, and trying to take what they’ve done and create an equally good or better version of that product is hard.
We see the same thing with the Hip Hop industry.
In the UK we have UK hip hop. Or rap. Whatever word you wanna use.
Despite how well it’s doing here, it’ll never outdo US hip hop (the original).
Same is true for J-pop and K-pop.
The cultural differences are too different and it’s easy to notice. And that’s why it’ll never give you the exact same feeling no matter how good it is.
And that’s why it ends up “not” as or more successful.
That’s what I feel.
4. Anime is just an “addition” to their catalogue
Netflix is a media company. A streaming company. They’re not niche, they’re broad and general.
They air a massive range of shows from all kinds of genres and cultures. They’re not specific in what they serve.
In this way they’re not a “anime. Or any other equivalent you can think of.
Netflix wants to air great, original shows across the board. And Anime is just an extra to fill up their catalogue.
If the anime industry were to collapse today, Netflix would go about their business as usual. It’s not crucial enough that they’d panic if the industry fell apart.
It’s this distinction that makes my point loud and clear about Netflix and anime.
Adding anime to their catalogue is a business move, but it’s also not so relevant that they NEED it.
And that commitment shows in the quality of their final product when creating original anime.
5. Netflix has put themselves in a box
We all know how politically correct, so called “WOKE” and entitled the loud minority can be in the USA.
All this cancel culture and people wanting companies to pander to their feelings is out of control.
Media companies like Netflix are affected by it.
It’s the reason why Disney, Hollywood and so on have shows that are absolute dog sh*t because it’s so fluffy and sugar-coated.
This mentality puts them in a box they can’t crawl out of.
Netflix is the same in this way.
Recently they censored Cowboy Bebop and threw in political correctness when it didn’t need to be there.
Cowboy Bebop is a
This is part of the box I’m talking about when I say Netflix has put themselves in a box.
Creatively they’ll limit themselves because of so called “pressure” from this loud minority group of SJW’S who aren’t even customers.
If they limit themselves and avoid challenging themselves out of fear with anime, at some point they’ll put a nail in the coffin.
These types of anime they produce could end up the way Disney films have.
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In the end, it’s a mindset issue more than anything else.
Netflix’s best idea is to license and if they do produce in-house, they should bring on Japanese animators, creators and directors.
That way, they can work alongside each other and bring something fresh to the table that has a better chance of succeeding.
Similar to Crunchyroll with Tower of God.
What do you think about Netflix in the anime industry?
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Why “Woke”Culture Will Never Infect The Anime Industry
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