If anime was a mistake, nobody told Netflix, as the streaming service has been steadily bolstering its roster of anime titles. Between Netflix Originals like the acclaimed Knights of Sidonia and other licensed hits like Attack on Titan, Netflix establishing itself as a great place to stream anime stateside. And, to paraphrase Dragonball Z (a show which is sadly not streaming on Netflix), this isn’t its final form.
That’s right, Netflix is adding more and more anime (and anime-inspired) shows and films to its library. It can be a little hard to tell what they’re about to add, since most often we don’t know exactly which third-party shows or movie the company has licensed until it releases its monthly “What’s Coming and Going” list of titles. But, we do have a pretty good sense of when Netflix will be adding original titles.
Here are some upcoming animes headed to with confirmed release dates, when applicable.
Little Witch Academia
This anime, which follows a young, not-all-that-magical girl as she trains to become a witch at the Luna Nova Magical Academy, premiered in Japan in January of this year, but Netflix will debut the first 15 of the series’s 25 episodes on June 30. The show began life as an animated short back in 2013, but it quickly became so popular that a follow-up short and eventually crowdfunding campaign propelled it to manga and full-series status. And, come the 30th, you can binge it on Netflix.
Castlevania
Fans of the long-running video game series are thrilled that Netflix is making an animated adaptation of the third title in the franchise, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. They were even more excited when they learned that the story of Trevor Belmont’s takedown of the deadliest vampire of all was going to be “R-rated as fuck,” according to series director Adi Shankar.
Castlevania hits Netflix on July 7.
Godzilla: Monster Planet
The first official animated Godzilla movie isn’t a Netflix original, but chances are the streaming service is going to be the place that most people check it out. After opening in Japanese theaters in November, the Godzilla anime is going to be available to stream on Netflix, with the American site listing the release date as simply “2017” at this time.
Perfect Bones
Perfect Bones isn’t the first “Netflix Original” anime series, but it will be the first one that’ll drop all of its episodes at once, and the company seems like it will have a much bigger part in the show’s creation than past titles.
The 12-episode series is set in the future where scientists have tried to create the ‘perfect human’ in hopes of keeping peace in the universe. After nearly achieving their goal through several children, the scientists send their ‘new humans’ for further training where they are kidnapped by an evil organization set on using their powers to implement their own concept of a new world order.
Netflix’s US page for the site, which curiously lists the title as just B, offers little more than a 2018 release date.
Death Note
Okay, it’s not an anime, but it is a live-action movie based on one of the more acclaimed manga series in recent memory. The movie, which has perhaps rightly been hit with accusations of whitewashing, will follow Light’s battle of wits against the mysterious L as he tries to use his Death Note to kill whoever he deems unfit to live in the world.
Death Note hits Netflix on August 25.
Inverse will update this list as Netflix confirms additional anime titles that are coming to its library. In the meantime, check out our ranking of The Best Anime on Netflix Right Now.
