In the wake of the Japanese anime studio having a rip-roaring start, bandying 2025 into 2026 with the theatrical release of Chainsaw Man—The Movie: Reze Arc and the long-awaited third season of Jujutsu Kaisen, Netflix decided it wants its own exclusive slice of the anime pie by announcing a partnership with Mappa to make more anime and, of course, some merchandise exclusively with the streamer.
The news of what appears to be a megapower partnership between a streamer and an anime studio came from a Netflix press release on January 20. In it, Netflix lauded Mappa as a studio that “continually pushed the boundaries of traditional anime production, valuing creators’ freedom and passion while innovating both creatively and strategically.” Netflix also keyed in on anime as a central part of its members’ viewing experience, a point made pretty evident in a Variety article from last year that revealed that more than 50 percent of its members (an estimated 300 million viewers) watch anime on Netflix.
According to Netflix, its anime viewership has tripled over the past five years, making 2024 a record-breaking year for the streamer in the anime arena. So what better way to capitalize on that than to buddy up with one of the biggest anime out now with some exclusive titles in the pipeline?
As stated above, Netflix is no stranger to housing exclusive Mappa anime. Currently, the streamer has the distinction of housing Mappa shows like the gambling anime Kakegurui Twin, Yasuke, Dorohedoro, and the Ranma 1/2 remake. And the newly “strengthened” partnership aims to bring multiple new anime projects now in production to the streamer.
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#ドロヘドロ
🥟キービジュアル公開🥟
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ショッキングかつ
カオスでポップなビジュアルが到着🍄
さらに2026年春
全世界ほぼ同時配信決定📡https://t.co/iyushBwWs7#それがドロヘドロ pic.twitter.com/gK9VxeE6Vd
— アニメ『ドロヘドロ』公式 (@dorohedoro_PR) October 10, 2025
“We have worked with Netflix on various projects in the past, but this expanded partnership is based on Mappa’s core belief in being an independent studio—both creatively and in business,” Manabu Otsuka, Mappa president and CEO, said in the press release. “Japanese animation studios must proactively lead every stage, from understanding global audience needs and developing projects, to reaching viewers and expanding related businesses. Mappa is committed to deepening our collaboration with Netflix, aiming for a long-term, win-win partnership.”
Kaata Sakamoto, Vice President of Content at Netflix Japan, also chimed in, saying, “Mappa is a remarkable studio that has continuously taken on bold challenges and achieved unprecedented forms of expression. At Netflix, we also value the passion and dedication of creators. By combining Mappa’s unique approach to anime production with Netflix’s global reach—and the courage to take risks, which is essential to creating compelling content—we hope to further expand the possibilities of anime. We are fully committed to delivering new works and excitement to fans around the world.”
This news comes in the wake of Netflix being on the precipice of becoming an omni-corporation, with its Warner Bros. deal all but confirmed, unless Paramount can say something that doesn’t further embarrass itself by stopping it. And with Netflix already having a pretty banger year in terms of animation with the ever-enduring, Golden Globe Best Animated Motion Picture-winning film KPop Demon Hunters, it’s a no-brainer that Netflix would want to keep its hot streak going by extending its influence into anime in the years to come. What doesn’t bode well for Mappa and Netflix’s newly forged anime plans for the future is Netflix’s recently confirmed plans to jumpstart its AI use, which the company recently detailed in an earnings report, the same day it announced its Mappa partnership, according to IGN.
“In content production and promotion, we’re using AI to improve subtitle localization, making it easier for our titles to reach more viewers around the world,” Netflix wrote in the earnings report, adding that it’d already been testing AI with advertisers to create custom ads based on Netflix’s IP, which it also plans on building on into 2026. “Additionally, we’re implementing AI-driven tools to help with merchandising, which improved our ability to connect members with the most relevant titles for them to watch.”
In the context of anime, this vein of what Netflix will look like in the coming years with AI pretty much yucks some of the last yums the streamer has garnered in the anime space, with companies like Crunchyroll and Amazon getting caught using AI by users to pretty lackluster ends. Despite the company’s past insistence that it wasn’t exploring AI, Crunchyroll users spotted ChatGPT explicitly mentioned in the German subtitles for the shows Necronomico and The Cosmic Horror Show last October.
Speaking with Aftermath, Crunchyroll provided a comment, stating, “We were made aware that AI-generated subtitles were employed by a third-party vendor, which is in violation of our agreement. We are investigating the matter and are working to rectify the error.” After which, the subtitling mention of ChatGPT was removed. However, users later noticed Crunchyroll using AI again in the closed captioning of its anime after partnering with Ollang, a Saudi Arabian localization company that uses “AI-powered subtitling and dubbing.”
Likewise, Prime Video got on anime fans’ shit list twofold when users noticed it’d integrated abysmal AI English and Latin American Spanish dubbing for anime like Banana Fish, which rightfully pissed off professional voice actors, leading to the English AI dubs being removed, as well as its swiftly deleted AI recap video of Fallout, which was rife with factual errors. Basically, a lot of companies are doing tricks on it for AI, and it hasn’t been paying off, making Netflix’s newly penned deal with Mappa yet another partnership anime fans will have to tiresomely put under a microscope in fear of AI rendering whatever project the pair have in store into a work marred with slop.
Should that not come to pass, let’s just hope its ambitions don’t land Mappa back in worker crunch, as its animators allegedly had to endure to get the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen over the finish line.
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