Netflix opts for anime originals

Aggretsuko focuses on a singing panda

Global streamer Netflix has ordered two new anime series as part of a number of programming announcements made at last week’s US convention Anime Expo.

The SVoD service has commissioned Ultraman and Kengan Ashura for release next year, renewed existing series Aggretsuko for a second run in 2019 and set an October release date for season two of Castlevania.

Ultraman is an action drama focusing on a man who gains special powers when he wears a metallic suit. It is produced by Japanese anime studio Production IG and Japanese-US firm Sola Digital Arts.

Produced by Japan’s Larx Entertainment and written by prolific anime screenwriter Makoto Uezu, Kengan Ashura follows a man who is hired to work as a gladiator to fight in battles to protect the corporate rights of the business.

Musical comedy Aggretsuko tells the story of a red panda who alleviates the boredom of her accounting job by singing death metal songs at a karaoke bar each night. It is produced by Japanese animation studio Fanworks.

Written by author and comic book scribe Warren Ellis, Castlevania is a dark medieval fantasy that follows the last surviving member of a disgraced clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepes.

It is based on a video game of the same name and was renewed in July last year. Ellis serves as writer and exec producer alongside Adi Shankar, Fred Seibert and Kevin Kolde. The new season lands on Netflix on October 26.

The streamer also announced release dates for other anime projects. Godzilla: City of the Edge of Battle and Dragon Pilot will land in summer and fall 2018 respectively, while Cannon Busters launches in March 2019.