If you really want proof of how well anime has been doing in the West over the last several years, you need not look at all the mega-series dominating the world but rather the services you can watch them on. At one point, watching anime that wasn’t directly on the TV was extremely hard. Even with the internet, it wasn’t the easiest. But then, slowly but surely, various streaming services came forward, realized the potential for anime, and started snatching up ones for themselves, including the “forefather” of the group with Netflix.
Because as you might recall, Netflix made a significant pledge to try and get all the best anime that they could for their platform. They got some of the Shonen anime, like Naruto and One Piece, in certain parts. They also bought the rights to air Pokemon Journeys, making them the first streaming service to air the new episodes. Then, to top it all off, they started making their own anime based on other properties to help seal the deal. Such as with Voltron Legendary Defender or with Record of Ragnarok.
Now though, they’re returning to their older desires and bringing in legendary anime to be watched on their platform. They have made a deal with Nippon TV to get the rights to various classic anime. Some of the biggest names of which include Death Note, Claymore, Hunter X Hunter, the original 1997 Berserk series that many people still hold in very high esteem, Ippo, and more.
Naturally, this expansion of viewing for anime got the teams involved very excited. The ones behind Nippon TV had this to say on the matter:
“With anime continuing to surge in popularity around the world, the timing could not be better for this exciting partnership with Netflix. I have no doubt anime fans will be talking about these titles the world over.”
They’re not wrong. Anime is indeed continuing to surge. Other platforms like Hulu also have a wide array of anime titles to show off. With Hulu having the rights to show off the Dragon Ball saga, My Hero Academia, as well as classics like Trigun, Outlaw Star, and more.
Now, that doesn’t mean that everything is going perfectly. Netflix has garnered a bit of a reputation when it comes to its original anime. Mainly, they don’t put in the production value necessary at times to make the anime shine.
But with these ones they’re getting from Nippon TV, they won’t have to worry about that. So thus, they look like the big winners as they’re getting these classic series to show off.
Source: ComicBook.com