Netflix & MAPPA Announce Partnership To Co-Create Anime For Global Market

Netflix and anime studio MAPPA Co., Ltd. announced a strategic partnership on Jan 21, 2026, to co-develop original anime content and establish exclusive global streaming rights for a new slate of productions.

Netflix will now be involved in the entire lifecycle of anime production, from initial story development to international merchandising.

As a part of this, several upcoming titles produced by MAPPA (with an eye on the global market) are already in the planning and production stages, with the companies confirming these works would premiere exclusively on Netflix in over 190 countries.

Netflix had already launched a dedicated feature page to highlight existing MAPPA works on its service. It is not known if these existing works come under the exclusivity clause.

Talking about the partnership, MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka stated that this deal will ensure that they can work towards their goal of “being an independent studio — both creatively and in business.”

He further stated that Japanese animation studios should capture viewer needs from a global perspective and develop titles proactively to match these needs.

I believe that, from now on, Japanese animation studios must capture viewer needs from a global perspective and proactively lead with responsibility throughout the entire process—from the planning and development stages to reaching the final audience and managing related business expansion. As MAPPA, we intend to commit more deeply to Netflix’s distribution and business development to realize a long-term, win-win partnership.

Manabu Otsuka

While Netflix and MAPPA had previously worked together on various projects, this new deal essentially takes their collaboration to the next level. This partnership aims to combine the production capabilities of MAPPA with the global reach of Netflix, helping them deliver anime to fans across the globe.

At Netflix, we want to deliver Japanese anime to fans around the world in the best possible way so they can enjoy it to the fullest. To achieve this, it is essential to fully support the passion and challenges of creators. We want to further expand the possibilities of anime by combining our mutual strengths: MAPPA’s unique filmmaking, Netflix’s global reach, and the ‘courage to take challenges’ that is vital for creating compelling works. We are sincerely looking forward to walking this path with MAPPA—developing new stories, pursuing new forms of expression, and delivering those works directly to global viewers along with surprise and emotion. We will work with all our might to ensure that Japanese anime evolves more freely, interestingly, and significantly, bringing new works and excitement from Japan to the world.

Kazutaka Sakamoto (Vice President of Content, Netflix)

In 2025 alone, anime was watched for 8 billion hours globally on Netflix. The streaming giant had previously stated that anime viewership on the platform had tripled in the last five years and that over half of its userbase now watched anime.

As Netflix aims to deliver more anime to its global userbase, it seems that MAPPA will develop original anime taking into consideration what might click with this audience.

Source: ABJ, Comic Natalie