Bilibili Unveils ‘The Three-Body Problem’ Release Date, Touts 49-Series Pipeline

Chinese online streaming platform Bilibili hosted its Anime Made By Bilibili event this past weekend, where the company shared a new trailer and release date for its much-anticipated The Three-Body Problem series adaptation and provided a look at its upcoming animation slate, which includes 49 titles.

Here’s a breakdown of what the streamer announced:

• Announced in 2019, The Three-Body Problem is among Bilibili’s most talked-about upcoming series and its original trailer has amassed more than 40 million views over the past three years. Set to premiere December 3 on the Bilibili platform, the series is based on Liu Cixin’s Hugo Award-winning book series and co-produced by The Three-Body Universe and YHKT Entertainment, with the latter handling animation.
• Among the 49 titles currently being produced by the platform, Bilibili series Link Click, Fog Hill of Five Elements, Fairies Albums, and To Be Hero X are getting new seasons. At the event, Bilibili shared the trailer for a new season of To Be Hero X which quickly went viral across social media platforms worldwide before being taken down by Youtube. A more comprehensive look at the lineup can be seen in the hour-and-a-half presentation here, including trailers for several titles.
• At last year’s Anime Made by Bilibili event, the company boasted a 50-series lineup, so this year’s 49 titles seem to indicate the platform has found its comfort zone in terms of original series output. It is not immediately clear if some of this year’s titles might be carried over from last year’s slate.
• Last year, Bilibili CEO Chen Rui admitted that the company was still losing money on original animation production. Although it wasn’t made clear if that has changed this year, the company did note some impressive gains in terms of user data in 2022.
• According to info shared at this year’s event, more than 96 million users logged on to watch Chinese animated series on Bilibili in August alone, which was more than double the number of viewers from two years prior. The company also pointed out that it has seen a boom in demand for adult animation, and that the number of Bilibili users over 25 years old increased by more than 7 million from the year before.
• Last year, Bilibili announced it would embrace a more global outlook towards production and embrace more international co-production opportunities and non-Chinese narratives. Bilibili recently worked with South Korea’s Red Dog Culture House and U.K.-based CMC Media on the original series Fairies Albums, and it produced Face on Lie which was adapted from a South Korean comic.
• Bilibili vp Leo Zhang said: “We have always embraced ‘Made for Global’ as part of our vision. We are committed to making more original animation with global influence, and we also hope to keep discovering outstanding creators from all over the world to develop diversified cooperation models.”