Warner Bros. is looking to expand their anime production in a big way – with the media giant aggressively wanting to release double digits each year.
The Asia-Pacific branch of Warner Bros. Discovery is planning on expanding its investment and production in Japanese animation to over 10 series per year.
“We have a Japanese anime studio, which has been producing five or ten anime series per year, over the last few years,” James Gibbons, WBD president of Asia-Pacific said (via Variety). “We’ve approved expansion to take that to more than ten series per year.”
In operation since 2011, WB Discovery Asia-Pacific has helped bring over 80 anime titles ranging from high-quality anime, live-action, and feature movies. These include popular IPs like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Record of Ragnarok, and more.
“We’ve sold them to third parties. That has been one of the metrics. And they are doing very well,” Gibbons said. “And, so, because we see the appeal of the category, we are expanding it. Anime is one of the best ways to reach the 18 to 30-year-old audience, which is incredibly elusive. Globally, albeit not in every market, but certainly in the U.S., parts of Europe and Latin America, we’ve got strong anime audiences.”
It’s worth pointing out both JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Record of Ragnarok have been on Netflix and consistently remain in their global top ten releases.
Their most recent upcoming release, Suicide Squad ISEKAI, is an original anime based on characters from DC Comics. Produced by WIT Studio and WB Japan, it follows notorious DC villains Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and more. A premiere is set for July in Japan and later this year for global audiences.
Gibbons added, “There is Japanese anime that comes from original IP. But there’s also anime that comes from elsewhere. And we’ve looked at our DC universe and said, ‘Can we take these characters and reinvent them in world of world of anime,’ which is not straightforward because you have to do it the right way. You have to work with the right studios to make it happen and to build your fan base.”
