![]() ![]() “Japan is filled with unique, original stories,” says Sakamoto, but on a global basis, the country’s scripted TV sector, unlike South Korea’s powerhouse drama industry, has created little in recent years that’s traveled. ![]() Netflix’s approach to Japanese scripted originals, by contrast, is less about keeping up than creating an appealing point of contrast. Reflecting such realities, Netflix in Japan continues to invest heavily in anime - still the most important content category for competing against local and regional rivals, such as Japanese streamer U-Next or South Korean upstart TVer - with more than 40 new original anime titles premiering on Netflix this year, double the number it released in 2020. and China, has crossed 5 million subscribers and is simultaneously expected to become Netflix’s largest revenue market in APAC this year - and that’s despite the fact that the service only commands a 10 percent share of total premium video minutes consumed in the country, leaving plenty of room for growth. Japan, still the world’s third largest economy behind the U.S. But since the bulk of Disney’s gains, so far, have come in those developing markets, where earnings per user are low, Netflix’s share of total subscription video revenue in Asia is projected to remain stable at 35 percent in 2021 versus 34 percent last year. Thanks to big subscriber gains by Disney+ and others in developing markets like India and Southeast Asia, Netflix’s share of total premium video subscribers in Asia-Pacific (not including China, where foreign video services are banned) is forecast to drop by half to 16 percent by the end of 2021 compared with the 32 percent share it had at the end of 2020, according to estimates from regional consultancy Media Partners Asia. A similar dynamic is at play for the company even in Asia, even though subscriber growth potential remains relatively high there. Many analysts have noted that Netflix is working to shift the narrative among investors from a focus on subscriber growth to an emphasis on return on investment. In the second quarter of 2021, Netflix added just 1.5 million subscribers globally, with two-thirds of them coming from Asia. Unsurprisingly, Netflix’s large investments in Japanese originals come at a moment when Asia - and Japan in particular - are becoming increasingly important to the streamer’s growth prospects as new sign-ups in North America and Western Europe plateau. Other recent, early successes include the feminist lesbian romantic thriller Ride or Die, starring Kiko Mizuhara, Japan’s most popular model-turned-actress, and Alice in Borderland, a Hunger Games-esque YA dystopian sci-fi series based on a popular manga - again, each involving themes or production prowess that are generally untouchable by risk-averse Japanese networks. ![]() ![]() (Netflix hasn’t released budget figures for the show, but Japanese business outlet Nikkei Asia estimates that Naked Director costs about 100 million yen - slightly less than $1 million - per episode when most local TV shows run in the tens of millions of yen per installment.) Its quirky tone and sexual explicitness would make it a no-go for local linear TV, as would its lavish period production values. Set in the 1980s during Japan’s bubble economy era, the show is based on the true story of the rise and fall of pioneering Japanese porn director Toru Muranishi. The company’s first scripted original hit from Japan, The Naked Director, which began airing its second season in late June, exemplifies the strategy. ![]()
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