Netflix Ramps Up Asian Originals

Netflix has revealed 17 new Asian original productions from Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, India and South Korea at its first-ever content showcase in the region, “See What’s Next: Asia.”

“Asia is home to the world’s great creative centers producing some of the most compelling films and series of today,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. “The beauty of Netflix is that we can take never-seen-before stories from South Korea, Thailand, Japan, India, Taiwan or elsewhere, and easily connect them to people all over Asia and the world. More than half of Asian content hours viewed on Netflix this year are viewed outside the region, so we have confidence that our upcoming slate of Asian productions will find fans in their home countries and abroad.”

Among the new projects are Pacific Rim, an original anime series that will expand upon the story of the first two live-action movies featuring the epic battle of Kaiju and Jaegers; Altered Carbon, an anime feature set in the same universe of the Netflix live-action sci-fi series; and Cagaster of an Insect Cage, set in a post-apocalyptic world where a mysterious disease turns people into giant murderous insects. Two further anime additions are Yasuke and Trese.

Thai-language originals include The Stranded, which follows 18-year-old Kraam, who survives a devastating tsunami along with 36 of his fellow students at an elite private high school on a remote island, where mysterious events start happening. Shimmers is a drama series about five teenagers at an isolated school in Northern Thailand who find themselves haunted by the ghosts of their pasts.

The Chinese-language original Triad Princess is about Angie, who grows up in the shadow of her Triad father and defies him by taking a gig as an undercover bodyguard for a famous actress at an agency.

CEO Reed Hastings also announced the season two renewal of Kingdom. The series follows the mysterious death of a King and development of a strange plague. It will stream globally on January 25.