Netflix tickled America’s nostalgia with Fuller House and Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, and now they’re hitting up a completely different market: an original science fiction anime, directed by the man behind cult classic Ghost in the Shell and the animated sequence of Kill Bill: Vol. 1.
Perfect Bones, Netflix’s latest project, is set in a future where scientists experiment on children in the hopes of manufacturing the “perfect human,” the Verge first reported. Before the scientists can use the children to achieve universal peace however, the super-children are kidnapped by an evil organization. And the story goes from there.
“We are proud to deliver high quality original Anime to fans all over the world, at the exact same time, no matter where they live whether it be Japan, France, Mexico, the US, and beyond,” said Erik Barmack, vice president of international originals in a statement.
Kazuto Nakazawa will direct the show with anime studio Production I.G, which has made Attack on Titan and The End of Evangelion film.
The 12-episode show, Netflix’s first original anime, will premiere simultaneously in 190 countries.
The move comes at a time when Netflix has expanded investments in original content. It also reflects what CEO Reed Hastings mentioned in 2015, a desire to expand deeper into all aspects of its diverse and international viewership, the Verge reported.
“On-demand and the internet really gives you that power. when you have incredible distribution, then you have to open the front end of the funnel to have incredible producers around the world,” Hastings said in November. “We’re hopeful that we’ll over time make a great Bollywood show, make a great anime show.”
Anime, Japanese animation intended for a wide range of ages, has become increasingly popular outside of Asia in the past few years. Specialty anime streamer Crunchyroll increased to 750,000 paid subscribers from 400,000 a year earlier, and 20 million free members in total as of December, Digiday reported.
Netflix is yet to announce a release date for Perfect Bones.