Alex Burunova’s film explores the history and growth of the fast paced, highly stylized and influential world of anime production.
Netflix has just debuted Alex Burunova’s documentary, Enter the Anime, an exploration of iconic anime creators and their fast paced, highly stylized animated world that has become one of the world’s most culturally and creatively influential entertainment art forms.
In the film, Burunova explores anime’s history and growth (and numerous Netflix anime properties) through speaking with a number of Japanese creative legends, including Toshiki Hirano, Hisanori Yoshida (Baki), Seiji Kishi, Tetsuya Kinoshita, Yuji Higa (Kengan Ashura), Kozo Morishita (Toei Animation, Saint Seiya), Yoko Takahashi (Evangelion), Masahito Kobayashi, Naoko Ogigami (Rilakkuma and Kaoru), Rarecho, Yeti (Aggretsuko), Yukio Takahashi (7SEEDS), Shinji Aramaki, Kenji Kamiyama (Ultraman), Hiroyuki Seshita, Keisuke Ide (Levius), Rui Kuroki (B: The Beginning) as well as creators like Adi Shankar (Castlevania) and LeSean Thomas (Cannon Busters), members of a new generation of anime storytellers that streaming services like Netflix are increasingly focusing attention on.
This past March, AWN reported on a new set of Netflix production partnerships with several anime studios, including Anima, Sublimation and David Production, coming on top of the steaming giant’s 2018 announcement of deals with Production I.G and Bones.
These production houses and Netflix will jointly create original anime series, including the animated series Altered Carbon: Resleeved from Anima. Altered Carbon is based on Netflix’s original live-action science fiction series whose first season launched in February of 2018 and for which a second season is currently in production. Netflix will also partner with Sublimation on Dragon’s Dogma, an original anime series based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name, as well as jointly create SPRIGGAN, based on a manga series, with David Production. Last December, Netflix also announced a CG animated Ghost in the Shell series, produced by Production I.G. and Sola Digital Arts, coming in 2020.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
