Celebrating their thriving slate of anime, OTT giant Netflix announced the best-in-class lineup from Japan and around the world including an anime adaptation of Mark Millar’s Super Crooks and a sneak peek of Ultraman, Aggretsuko and so on during their first global fan event TUDUM.
During the virtual event presented and hosted by Netflix Anime V-Tuber N-ko, the streaming platform announced Drifting Home, the next feature film project by critically acclaimed Studio Colorido, which delighted fans with their 2020 smash-hit A Whisker Away. It is an upcoming original story about two childhood friends that drift into a mysterious sea alongside an entire housing complex.
There are previously announced projects like the super-powered heist story Super Crooks based on a story by comic book legend Mark Millar or Bright: Samurai Soul, an ambitious anime spin-off to the original Hollywood blockbuster starring Will Smith.
Netflix also gave fans a glimpse at some of their returning series, including Aggretsuko Season 4 and ULTRAMAN season two, revealing a new teaser art for the long awaited sophomore season of ULTRAMAN as well as the key art and premiere timing for the return of Aggretesuko.
The spotlight event also celebrated longtime fan favorite Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie. Fans joined host and Never Have I Ever actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as she interacted with the global voice cast about their experience as the voices of Super Sailor Moon / Usagi Tsukino and to celebrate the latest installment in the hugely successful, and timeless franchise.
Here are some details of the upcoming anime instalments announced during TUDUM:
Aggretsuko Season 4 – It will globally be released in December. The original story is by Sanrio, directed by Rarecho Animation and the production is done by Fanworks.
Frustrated with her thankless office job, Retsuko the Red Panda copes with her daily struggles by belting out death metal karaoke after work. After becoming an underground idol to pay off her debts, Retsuko decides to quit OTMGirls and enjoy living a happy, normal life… but just as the company she works for is facing big changes, her relationship with Haida finally begins to move.
Bright: Samurai Soul – The global premiere date 12 October. Kyohei Ishiguro has directed the series written by Michiko Yokote. The animation production is done by ARECT.
In the time between the fall of the Shogunate and the rise of the Meiji era, a powerful bright light emitted from a wand brings an end to the long Shogunate period to avoid further bloodshed as Japan begins to shift toward a new era. Amid these circumstances, a one-eyed wandering ronin named Izou, who has lost his reason to live, and Raiden, an orc who detests murder and hopes to leave a life of thievery behind, separately meet a young elf girl named Sonya around the same time. Together, they go on a journey along the Tokaido road to bring her and the wand she holds safely to the land of the elves in the north. Standing in their path is the mysterious organization Inferni, which aims to obtain the wand and revive the Dark Lord, who intends to rule all of creation. Inferni also uses the new Meiji government in its attempt to steal the wand from Izou, Raiden and Sonya. Traveling along the Tokaido road from Kyoto to Yokohama, Izou and Raiden begin their journey to protect the wand.
Drifting Home – It is coming in 2022. Hayashi Mori, Hiroyasu Ishida & Minaka Sakamoto have done the screenplay. Ishida is also the director of the feature.
Kosuke and Natsume have been friends since childhood, but as time goes on the relationship between the two sixth graders seems strained as they keep avoiding one another. One day during their summer vacation, they go to a housing complex that is scheduled to be demolished. Having grown up there, the place holds a lot of memories, but while playing, they suddenly get caught up in a mysterious phenomenon and when they regain consciousness, they see an entire ocean before them as the housing complex has drifted into a mysterious sea and Kosuke and Natsume with it. Will they be able to return to their previous world? A summer farewell journey begins.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie – It is now streaming on Netflix. The show was originally created by: Naoko Takeuchi and directed by Chiaki Kon known for The Way of the Househusband.
The upcoming adventures are set in April, when the cherry blossoms are in bloom and Tokyo is in a festive mood as it celebrates the largest Total Solar Eclipse of the century. As the new moon obscures the sun and gradually dims its light, Usagi and Chibi-Usa encounter Pegasus, who is in search of the chosen Maiden who can break the seal of the Golden Crystal. Meanwhile, a mysterious troupe called the Dead Moon Circus appears in town who’s nefarious plan is to scatter the nightmare incarnations known as Lemures, seize the ‘Legendary Silver Crystal,’ rule over the moon and the earth, and eventually dominate the entire universe.
Super Crooks – The global premiere date is 25 November. It is directed by Director: Motonobu Hori.
In this anime adaptation, small-time crook Johnny Bolt recruits the ultimate crew for one last heist — for real! The story is told in 13x 30-minute episodes lushly produced by Bones.
ULTRAMAN season two – It is coming in 2022. Story is based on a comic by: Tsuburaya Production, Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi. It is directed by Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki.
Several years have passed since the events of Ultraman, with the legendary “Giant of Light” (光の巨人 Hikari no Kyojin) now a memory, as it is believed he returned home after fighting the many giant aliens that invaded the Earth. Shin Hayata’s son Shinjiro seems to possess a strange ability, and it is this ability, along with his father’s revelation that he was Ultraman, that leads Shinjiro to battle the new aliens invading the Earth as the new Ultraman.