Netflix Japan’s Yuji Yamano recently stated that “The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.: Reawakened” marked the key milestone in the success of anime content on the platform. We summarize.
Focus on Japan
In recent years, Netflix has undoubtedly become a heavyweight in the anime streaming space. The VoD provider recently announced that more than half of its 280 million subscribers worldwide now consume anime content – a result of years of targeted work.
At Anime Expo 2025 in Los Angeles, Yuji Yamano, Content Director of Netflix’s Japanese branch, spoke about the key turning points and developments in the streaming service’s anime history.
Around ten years ago, Netflix initially focused its anime strategy heavily on international expansion. However, several specialized teams were later formed – including one that specifically focused on Japanese productions and implemented projects that were considered particularly relevant in Japan.
According to Yamano, this strategy, which is more focused on the domestic market, was a key trigger for the success in the anime segment.
Turning point for anime
In this context, the comedy series “The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.” was discovered, the sequel of which appeared exclusively on Netflix in December 2019 – a project that marked an important turning point:
»We streamed this popular series, which has been broadcast since 2016, exclusively as our own production. This allowed us to reach not only anime fans, but also a wide audience that we didn’t have access to before.
Both the original author and our production partners were very satisfied and said: ‘Netflix was the right choice’. I think that was the breakthrough.”
In fact, in the following years, anime increasingly developed from a niche product to the mainstream – including on Netflix, where the number of anime viewers has tripled in the last five years.
Via Forbes Japan
© Shuichi Aso, Shueisha / The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. Production Committee
