This year 2024 is going to be very important for Max, the streaming service that HBO Max will become very soon also in Spain. In addition to going all out with an extra sports package and coverage of the Olympic Games, the platform is going to invest more in a type of content that we would not have imagined. They’re going for it!
The management leadership of Warner Bros. Discovery has seen, as time has passed, that they cannot depend solely on their most popular franchises and content. The blow of reality over the years has been devastating, something that has also happened to Disney+. For this reason, they have finally decided to invest in the production of new content that, above all, will provide a breath of fresh air .
Full trust in anime
Warner has ended up seeing that anime is one of the main strengths that can boost its streaming service. Due to this, the company intends to increase its investment in the production of Japanese animated series . As James Gibbons, president of WBD in the Asia-Pacific region, says, “Anime is one of the best ways to reach the 18-30 year old audience.”
He also mentions that, although its popularity is not registered in all markets, it does stand out in the United States, some parts of Europe and Latin America. That’s where he indicates that they have an audience very interested in anime . For this reason, having verified the interest that this type of production arouses, they have made the decision to expand it. What does that mean for your future plans?
More anime series on HBO Max
If until now Warner Bros. Discovery’s own studio in Japan has been producing between five and ten series a year , they have now confirmed that they have the group’s approval to increase the number of productions they carry out annually. This will guarantee, as the company executive says, that they can go from a volume of ten series per year.
But it must be taken into account that not all of their productions necessarily arrive on their streaming service. In reality, Warner has found a good business unit in the creation of anime from which it is getting a lot of use, since some of these series are sold to other companies. Thus, for now they have already produced animes such as Record of Ragnarok or recent installments of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure universe , both productions available on Netflix.
That same animation studio produced Batman Ninja and, precisely, one of Warner’s short-term objectives is to increase the volume of anime series inspired by the world of DC Comics. They believe that adapting the legendary comics known to everyone into purely Japanese anime can be a very good opportunity that provides a new point of view. Within that philosophy is the anime Suicide Squad Isekai , in which the Suicide Squad is reinvented thanks to the joint work of not only Warner, but also the respected WIT Studio (responsible for animes such as Spy x Family or Attack on Titan).
It remains to be seen how this increase in investment in anime production materializes in Max’s catalog, but it is clear that Warner sees it as one of its most interesting plans in which to place confidence. Possibly they will increasingly increase the premiere of this type of series on Max just as, in parallel, their competition is doing. Not in vain has Netflix itself announced in the last few hours that it will also host more anime premieres, although in this case licensed from other production companies. In the case of the Suicide Squad anime, for now it is known that it will hit Japanese television in July 2014 through the BS11 and Tokyo MX channels, but we may also see it on Max.
