Picture: One Piece – Netflix
It’s been a strong year so far for new anime on Netflix. With over a billion views and counting on Netflix just from 2024 alone, anime continues its meteoric growth on Netflix. So, what does the future hold for anime on Netflix? What has the streaming service done to improve its output of anime in 2025? We’ll discuss below.
Anime is arguably the largest and most popular Japanese export that the world consumes. Its significance in our culture cannot be understated, thanks to the world’s biggest sports stars referencing iconic shōnen heroes, and crossover events which have seen the likes of One Piece crossover with NBA’s LA Galaxy, MLB’s LA Dodgers, and the German Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund. Anime is in the zeitgeist, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Netflix has been on its own anime journey, and the streaming service has come a long way since the release of Knights of Sidonia in 2014. In the eleven years that have passed, Netflix has released dozens of Original anime titles, which include plenty of exclusive internationally released shows and films. While there have been many ups and downs, what’s important is that Netflix has continued to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into its anime output.
What has Netflix done to improve anime in 2025?
Once upon a time, every internationally licensed “Netflix Original” anime released by Netflix would spend months in what was infamously referred to as “Netflix Jail.” The term was used to define an anime title licensed by Netflix for exclusive international distribution, only for said title to be released on Netflix several months after it had already been broadcast in Japan.
What Is Netflix Jail
The first season of The Seven Deadly Sins was broadcast in Japan between October 5, 2014, and March 29, 2015, but it wasn’t until November 5, 2015, that it was released worldwide on Netflix. This was the trend for several years, and the reason behind it was that Netflix had yet to streamline the way it would produce multiple dubs and subs for its diverse audience around the globe. Naturally, the length of time it would take for anime titles to land on Netflix after the Japanese broadcast left many fans frustrated, and they would often turn to illegal streaming sites with fan-made subs, which, of course, would directly impact the performance of the official Netflix release.
Picture: The Seven Deadly Sins – Netflix
While it took a long time, we’ve seen a grand effort made by Netflix to streamline the release of new and exclusive anime titles. The best examples of this have been the additions of Sakamoto Days, Blue Box, Dandadan, One Piece, and more. In the case of Sakamoto Days, we finally have a simulcast anime on Netflix, which means new episodes of the anime release on Netflix at the same time as the broadcast in Japan. Not to state the obvious, but to drive home the point that fans of Sakamoto Days don’t have to wait months, weeks, or even days for the latest episode; they can simply tune in immediately. Dandadan is another simulcast anime; however, Netflix shares the distribution rights with the likes of Crunchyroll, Hulu, and ADN.
Picture: Dandadan (left) and Sakamoto Days (right) have been two super popular anime titles on Netflix
Arguably, Netflix’s improvement can be attributed to the rise of non-English language content produced by the streamer, which is also being consumed regularly by subscribers, particularly Korean, Japanese, and Spanish content. Netflix has even confirmed that over half of all Netflix subscribers have watched anime, with over 1 billion views on Netflix alone, and viewership tripling in five years.
Another area Netflix has improved on is the output of anime, with plenty of new and exciting titles being added to the library year on year. This often includes new licensed titles, new weekly releases, and Netflix Originals.
How can Netflix continue to improve its anime output?
While Netflix has made significant strides in improving its anime content output, is it enough?
When compared to the likes of anime competitor Crunchyroll, the argument could be made that no, Netflix isn’t there just yet, and has only begun to scratch the surface of the potential anime could have on the platform. A significant advantage Crunchyroll has over Netflix is that its platform is a dedicated service to anime, whereas anime is just one of many cogs in the giant Netflix machine. Not to mention, since Crunchryoll was purchased by Sony and absorbed competitor FUNimation, its stranglehold on anime in the western market has only gotten tighter.
Crunchyroll was once the only platform where you could stream new weekly episodes of One Piece. However, a huge change in 2024 saw Netflix license new episodes of the One Piece anime, albeit fans would have to wait six days after the Japanese broadcast to watch on Netflix. It’s a big ask for fans to wait six days to watch the latest episodes, which is why most anime fans will either have a Crunchyroll subscription or watch on illegal sites. To drive traffic away from Crunchyroll, illegal sites, and back onto Netflix, the streaming service will need to find a way to simulcast the anime and reduce the six-day wait time.
Picture: Weekly episodes of One Piece: Egghead Island are available to stream on Netflix
Blue Box is another anime series that fans must wait a week between the Japanese broadcast and the Netflix release. So while Netflix’s biggest improvements so far in 2025 are the output of weekly anime, reducing wait times, and providing fans with even more titles, these are what the streaming service should be aiming for next.
Next for Netflix should be to improve the output of licensed titles. While the US library in particular already has some great licensed titles, such as Demon Slayer, Naruto, and Hunter x Hunter, it goes without saying that there is always room for more. While it may be harder to go for beloved popular titles such as Dragon Ball and Naruto Shippuden, there are decades worth of produced anime, literally hundreds, and thousands of titles that Netflix could aim to license.
Picture: Demon Slayer (left), Naruto (centre), and Hunter x Hunter (right) are some of the popular licensed anime titles on Netflix
Lastly, we have Netflix Originals. While 2025 has been a busy year for anime on Netflix, it actually works out that there has been less than one new Netflix Original a month released on Netflix in 2025 (this excludes exclusively licensed and weekly releases). So far, 2025 has given us Blood of Zeus S3, Moonrise, Leviathan, Castlevania: Nocturne S2, and My Melody & Kuromi, all of which have been fantastic additions to the Netflix library, but suffice to say, the output is lacking, and while we know Netflix has plenty of anime titles in the pipeline, we need more original content, and soon.
Overall, while it would be an extremely tough task for Netflix to match the output of Crunchyroll, the streamer is certainly taking anime in the right direction. With more investment and time, Netflix could become one of the world’s premier platforms for anime content.
What do you think Netflix needs to do to improve its output of anime on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!
