{"id":36540,"date":"2018-01-09T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.animenation.net\/?p=36540"},"modified":"2018-01-09T00:24:46","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T04:24:46","slug":"ask-john-is-netflix-creating-a-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.animenation.net\/blog\/ask-john-is-netflix-creating-a-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask John: Is Netflix Creating a Revolution?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nQuestion:<\/strong>
\nIs Netflix creating a revolution similar to that generated by the introduction of the OVA format?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong>
\nInherent within the term \u201crevolution\u201d is the concept of \u201crevolutionary,\u201d in this context meaning to introduce something new, groundbreaking, or different from before. So far, I don\u2019t see Netflix fulfilling that potential. But that\u2019s not to say that Netflix doesn\u2019t have the potential. California-based home-video producer & distributor Netflix both streams and produces Japanese animation, alongside many other types of cinema. Netflix has announced its financial contribution to the production of twenty 2018 anime series. However, Netflix is far from the first American company to co-produce anime. In fact, American co-production dates back to the very beginning of what we know as modern anime. NBC agreed to co-fund the production of Mushi Production\u2019s 1963 Tetsuwan Atom<\/em> television series in return for American broadcast rights to the show. American co-financing occurred again in the early 1980s when the Christian Broadcasting Network co-financed the 1981 production of Tatsunoko\u2019s Anime Oyako Gekijo<\/em>, known in America as \u201cSuperbook,\u201d and MGM\/UA Television co-financed TMS\u2019 1984 series Mighty Orbots<\/em>. Since the late 1990s American companies including Manga Entertainment, AD Vision, Bandai Entertainment USA, Pioneer and Geneon USA, Funimation, and Warner Bros., just to name a few, have invested in the production of anime for Japanese and international release. So in terms of contributing funding for the production of new anime, Netflix is hardly revolutionary.<\/p>\n

Japanese distributors have been streaming their anime online for Japanese viewers for years. Kadokawa & Media Works launched their \u201cChara Ani\u201d website on November 24, 1999. Just over a year later the site exclusively streamed the Azumanga Web Daioh<\/em> anime series. Bandai Channel began streaming episodes of its anime catalog in 2002. The Toei Anime BB Premium service launched in 2007. BIGLOBE launched its Anime One streaming service in 2009. The earliest known commercially produced anime exclusive to web distribution was the six-episode Mugen no Ryvius: Illusion<\/em> series of super-deformed comedy shorts hosted on the Mugen no Ryvius<\/em> TV series\u2019 official site. The first web original anime was Project PAPO<\/em>, created by Gonzo Digital Holdings\u2019 subsidiary studio G-creators, streamed online beginning on December 26, 2000. So Netflix producing new anime for online distribution is also not a groundbreaking development.<\/p>\n