By Content, content, content is what Netflix is all about, and the streaming behemoth is planning to offer a ton of original Asian shows and films. Included in that slew of content is an anime series continuing off of the Pacific Rim films, and an anime movie set in the universe of Netflix original series Altered Carbon.
Per THR, the Pacific Rim anime will follow two siblings, an “idealistic teenage boy and his naïve younger sister,” as they fight through a hostile environment in a Jaeger while attempting to search for their parents. I presume much of the drama will stem from the two trying to become Drift-compatible. That series will be helmed by Craig Kyle (Thor: Ragnarok co-writer) and Greg Johnson (X-Men: Evolution) and produced by Legendary Entertainment.
Meanwhile, the Altered Carbon anime film will contain “new elements of the story mythology.” The live-action series, based on a novel from Richard K. Morgan, centers around a Japanese man who, like many in the universe, can transfer his consioucness into new bodies, or “sleeves.” Joel Kinnaman played the character’s sleeve in season 1, with Anthony Mackie to take over in season 2. The anime film has Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop) and Tsukasa Kondo attached as writers.
Netflix will have plenty of content to offer from or in-the-style-of Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and South Korea, and as a Filipino-American myself, it’s cool to see a project called Trese in the mix, which centers on Filipino folklore and is based off a Filipino graphic novel. On the downside, there’s just too much damn stuff on Netflix—I’ve come to a point where scrolling through titles is more time-consuming (and sometimes even more fun) than actually selecting and watching any of them. Still, as a fan of the Pacific Rim movies (even Uprising, despite the fact that there were no uprisings in that film), it’s neat to see the universe continue. I’m just crossing my fingers that Guillermo del Toro (and especially Charlie Day and Burn Gorman) are involved somehow.
‘Pacific Rim’ and ‘Altered Carbon’ Anime Projects Among Netflix’s New Slate of Asian Originals [THR]