Warner Bros. Japan Will Increase Its Anime Output To More Than 10 Productions Per Year

Warner Bros. Discovery has given Warner Bros. Japan the green light to significantly increase the number of anime series it produces each year.

Speaking with Variety, WBD president of Asia-Pacific James Gibbons said the company’s anime studio will increase its yearly output to more than ten series. Previously, the unit was producing between five and ten shows each year.

Since opening its doors in 2011, Warner Bros. Japan’s anime unit has produced over 80 titles for hit franchises such as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, RWBY, Tom and Jerry, and the DC Universe.

Despite having its own streaming platform, Warner Bros. Discovery regularly shops its anime productions to other broadcasters and streamers.

According to Gibbons, the success of the Japanese studio’s series on third-party platforms has shown a path to audiences Warner Bros. has previously struggled to win over:

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.

Gibbons said Warner Bros. sees its DC catalog as a fertile ground for adaptations but that the company must be careful when blending Western IPs and Japanese animation. He told Variety:

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.

Warner Bros. Japan is currently working with WIT Studio (Attack on Titan and Spy x Family) on the series Suicide Squad ISEKAI, scheduled to release in Japan in July and the rest of the world sometime later this year.

The unit also recently revealed that production is underway on Fist of the North Star: Hokuto no Ken, a new series adaptation of the hugely popular manga created by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara. The original Fist of the North Star manga debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1983 and ran for five years, eventually selling over 100 million copies. Toei Animation produced the first anime series adaptation of Fist of the North Star, which ran from 1984 to 1988. The franchise has added several animated features, a live-action film, video games, OVAs, and several spinoffs in the years since.