Another day, another Netflix international content showcase — with the streamer this time unveiling a slate of Japanese titles for this year that include House of Ninjas and an adaptation of popular manga City Hunter.
Announcing its Japanese content slate, the streamer revealed that Japanese-language content is its third most-viewed non-English-language content, behind Korean and Spanish.
The slate comes soon after an Ampd report highlighted how Netflix is tussling with the likes of Prime Video and Tver for local streaming dominance.
Premiering next week (February 15), House of Ninjas stars Kento Kaku, Yosuke Eguchi and Tae Kimura, among others. The series is directed and co-written by Dave Boyle, with Kaku also serving as producer.
House of Ninjas tells the story of a family who returns to the ninja world, years after retiring from their formidable former lives, to combat a series of emerging threats.
Netflix’s adaptation of City Hunter will arrive on April 25. The film follows Ryo Saeba (Ryohei Suzuki), ‘sweeper’ (private detective) navigating the gritty underbelly of modern-day Shinjuku, Tokyo, while Kaori Makimura ( Misato Morita) is the heroine.
Published from 1985 to 1991, the manga has sold more than 50 million copies and has been adapted into several anime series, feature films and live action dramas around the world.
Acclaimed director Michihito Fujii’s The Parades will release on the streamer on February 29, starring Masami Nagasawa, Kentaro Sakaguchi and Ryusei Yokohama. The film follows Minako, who wakes up on a desolate beach and realizes that she is dead. Alongside an eclectic group of fellow spirits, she participates in a monthly ‘parade,’ a gathering where the departed seek to reconnect with the living.
Another title on the streamer’s film slate is Drawing Closer, which stars singer-actor Ren Nagase and Natsuki Deguchi.
Other series include The Queen of Villains, which tells the story of Dump Matsumoto, a professional wrestler who ignited a boom in women’s wrestling in the 1980s with her cult-like following. It features comedian Yuriyan Retriever in the leading role, who appeared on America’s Got Talent Season 14.
Crime drama Tokyo Swindlers, directed and written by Hitoshi One, will star Go Ayano and Etsushi Toyokawa. Based on Ko Shinjo’s novel, the crime drama follows a cunning group of land scammers who use real estate sales as bait to steal large sums of money.
Headlined by Kasumi Arimura and Kentaro Sakaguchi, Beyond Goodbye is a drama following two people
intertwined by fate: a woman mourning her fiancé lost in a tragic accident and the man who was saved by her late fiancé’s heart.
Unscripted titles include Last One Standing Season 3 and the second season of dating show Love Village.
In the past week, Netflix has made a string of local market announcements outlining its plans for 2024, including in Korea, Spain, Southeast Asia and the U.S.