It’s been a busy day for Netflix’s anime division. Not content with releasing the first concept art of its upcoming live-action Mobile Suit Gundam movie, the streaming service has released an almost irritating amount of news about its upcoming anime projects, including the premiere date for its live-action adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Yu Yu Hakusho.
If you haven’t heard of Yu Yu Hakusho, here’s why this is a big deal. While the anime wasn’t released in America until 2003, where it was overshadowed by similar series like Dragon Ball Z, it was huge when it aired in Japan in the early ‘90s. It’s about a teenage delinquent named Yusuke who gets killed saving a child from getting run over by a car, but is resurrected to investigate supernatural activity by the underworld, which invariably requires a great deal of one-on-one fights.
Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the main pillars of the shonen series — manga and anime targeted to young teen boys — of the weekly comics anthology Shonen Jump alongside Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, and more. Now, Netflix has already announced a live-action One Piece adaptation, and has the rights to the Japanese live-action Bleach movie made in 2018. The streaming service clearly has a powerful relationship with Shonen Jump’s publisher Shueisha, which raises the question — could a live-action Naruto TV series be too far behind? Although to be fair, it’ll obviously be behind this new Yu Yu Hakusho series, which is currently scheduled for December of 2023.
Comparatively, the rest of Netflix’s anime announcements are rather minor, although many anime fans should be excited that the second season of the 2011 anime Tiger & Bunny is coming in April 2022 (along with the first season). It’s about two superpowered partners in a faux New York City where corporations sponsor heroes and put their feats on TV.
Then there’s two spin-offs of Detective Conan, the immensely popular series that focuses on a kid detective who solves crimes, many of them grisly murders. The first is Zero’s Tea Time, about another character named Rei Furuya, a police officer who also works as a private detective and undercover as a member of a crime syndicate. The second is The Culprit Hanagawa, a comedy based on the black silhouetted figure used in the main Detective Conan manga to portray unknown perpetrators. Here’s the joint trailer:
The medieval fantasy The Seven Deadly Sins is getting a new, two-part anime movie titled Grudge of Edinburgh, based on the hit anime already streaming on Netflix. But unlike the previous film, this one comes from the original manga author Nakaba Suzuki. Here’s the trailer.
Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler, the surprisingly lighthearted anime series about a high school where social status is determined by gambling, is getting a prequel TV show, due in August 2022.
Here’s a teaser for The Orbital Children by Mitsuo Iso, who returns to directing after 14 years. The six-part series, which premieres on Netflix on January 28, also has an utterly baffling official synopsis: “The story begins in the year 2045, when AI has advanced and anyone can travel into space. Children born on the moon and children from Earth who are on a trip to space meet at the Japanese-built space station, ‘Anshin.’ But their future is decided by the Seven Poem.”
And there’s finally a trailer for the second season of Netflix’s CG-animated Ultraman TV series, due sometime next spring.
And the first trailer for season four of Aggretsuko, starring everyone’s favourite rage machine, which arrives on December 16.
And a teaser for Kotaru Lives Alone, based on the best-selling manga by Mami Tsumura about a four-year-old who lives alone. It looks adorable and not distressing.
And then Netflix announced the premiere date for the sixth season of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (another Shonen Jump series), subtitled Stone Ocean. The first 12 episodes drop on December 1. Have another video!
Like I said — busy day.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.