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Hitoshi One, the filmmaker behind Japanese features Bakuman and Scoop! as well as recent series Tokyo Swindlers, has signed an exclusive deal with Netflix that will see the streaming giant produce and distribute new films and series by the director over the next five years.

One began his career as a director on TV series and music videos, and made his feature debut in 2011 with Love Strikes! (also known as Moteki), a romantic comedy based on the manga by Mitsuro Kubo. The film won most popular title at the Japan Academy Awards. His 2015 film Bakuman, another manga adaptation, also saw...

Aki Isoyama, the producer of Japanese titles Extremely Inappropriate! and Ikebukuro West Gate Park, has secured an exclusive five-year deal with Netflix.

Isoyama, who made her debut as a producer with Campus Note in 1996, is known for a string of hit series written by screenwriter Kankuro Kudo including Ikebukuro West Gate Park, Kisarazu Cat’s Eye, Let’s Get Divorced and most recently time-travelling comedy Extremely Inappropriate!, which led Netflix’s most-watched list in Japan for three weeks.

Features she has produced include 2010’s The Lady Shogun And Her Men and 2012’s The Castle Of Crossed Destinies.

Isoyama won Japan’s Minister of Education,...

Netflix is getting deeper into business with hit-making Japanese producer Aki Isoyama. The streamer revealed Thursday that it has signed an exclusive agreement to produce and distribute new series and films from Isoyama over the next five years. The deal continues Netflix’s increasingly bullish investments in the Japanese content space.

Isoyama has been behind some of Netflix’s most successful Japanese drama titles of late. She executive produced the time-traveling comedy Extremely Inappropriate!, which topped Netflix’s most-watched list in Japan for three weeks this spring. The story of a single father who is mysteriously transported from 1986 to the present day, the series became something of a social phenomenon in Japan, tapping into the country’s mixed feelings over its growing embrace of international progressive ideals. The lighthearted show takes its title from the misplaced lead character’s frequently retrograde behavior — crude remarks, spanking kids, cigarette smoking everywhere — which...

March is yet another packed month for Netflix.

There’s a live stand-up show from Chris Rock and a film based on BBC series Luther, which marks Idris Eba’s return as the detective. Then there’s an animated series depicting Elvis Presley as a secret agent voiced by Matthew McConaughey.

Meanwhile, Adam Sandeler and Jennifer Aniston are up to mischief once again in a sequel to 2017 comedy Murder Mystery.

There’s also a host of licenced titles being added to the service in March. Find the full list below.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK – Original

Interactive

21 March

We Lost Our Human

TV

1 March

Cheat

Wrong Side of the Tracks season two

The full list of every movie and TV show being removed from Netflix in March 2023

2 March

County Masameer season two

Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery season two

Sex/Life...

March is yet another packed month for Netflix.

There’s a live stand-up show from Chris Rock and a film based on BBC series Luther, which marks Idris Eba’s return as the detective. Then there’s an animated series depicting Elvis Presley as a secret agent voiced by Matthew McConaughey.

Meanwhile, Adam Sandeler and Jennifer Aniston are up to mischief once again in a sequel to 2017 comedy Murder Mystery.

There’s also a host of licenced titles being added to the service in March. Find the full list below.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK – Original

Interactive

21 March

We Lost Our Human

TV

1 March

Cheat

Wrong Side of the Tracks season two

The full list of every movie and TV show being removed from Netflix in March 2023

2 March

County Masameer season two

Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery season two

Sex/Life...

March is yet another packed month for Netflix.

There’s a live stand-up show from Chris Rock and a film based on BBC series Luther, which marks Idris Eba’s return as the detective. Then there’s an animated series depicting Elvis Presley as a secret agent voiced by Matthew McConaughey.

Meanwhile, Adam Sandeler and Jennifer Aniston are up to mischief once again in a sequel to 2017 comedy Murder Mystery.

There’s also a host of licenced titles being added to the service in March. Find the full list below.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK – Original

Interactive

21 March

We Lost Our Human

TV

1 March

Cheat

Wrong Side of the Tracks season two

The full list of every movie and TV show being removed from Netflix in March 2023

2 March

County Masameer season two

Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery season two

Sex/Life...

March is yet another packed month for Netflix.

There’s a live stand-up show from Chris Rock and a film based on BBC series Luther, which marks Idris Eba’s return as the detective. Then there’s an animated series depicting Elvis Presley as a secret agent voiced by Matthew McConaughey.

Meanwhile, Adam Sandeler and Jennifer Aniston are up to mischief once again in a sequel to 2017 comedy Murder Mystery.

There’s also a host of licenced titles being added to the service in March. Find the full list below.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK – Original

Interactive

21 March

We Lost Our Human

TV

1 March

Cheat

Wrong Side of the Tracks season two

The full list of every movie and TV show being removed from Netflix in March 2023

2 March

County Masameer season two

Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery season two

Sex/Life...

The original manga series that has sold over 14 million copies and has inspired TV anime, OVAs and manga spinoffs has already finished production and will open in Japan on April 29, during the Golden Week holidays.

Having secured a rather large budget, the film entails an ensemble cast including Hideaki Itō (Princess Blade, Lesson of the Evil) in the lead role of Shōkichi Komachi, Emi Takei (Rurouni Kenshin) as Nanao Akita, Takayuki Yamada, Shun Oguri, Rinko Kikuchi and Eiko Koike.

The pre-production for the film took two years, and filming began in mid-May. Filming then moved in August to Iceland. It was the first time that a Japanese film is shot on location there.

The non-Japanese team members in the original manga have had their names and part of their characters changed. For example, the Thai character Thien is now Jin Mutō, as played by former News band member Tomohisa Yamashita (a.