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With anime now streaming on countless platforms, it can be overwhelming having to choose only one series to watch. Just about every classic and acclaimed anime is readily available in an instant, while countless others are updated as they premiere in Japan. Excellent shows will inevitably become lost among the hundreds currently accessible, but luckily for fans, Netflix is home to some of the more underrated to have been released in recent years.

From action to sci-fi to slice of life, the streaming platform's catalog of anime only continues to grow in number and popularity. Shifting its focus to new, weekly releases of heavy hitters like Dandadan and Ranma 1/2, there's no better time to explore the series that might have flown under the radar. With Netflix original series that can stand on their own among the classics, there is something for everyone of differing tastes to enjoy.

Good Night...

Singapore-based anime venture studio Kasagi Labo has committed $10 million towards anime productions.

Sci-fi adventure series Special Kid Factory will be the first title supported by this investment.

The anime is co-produced with Naz Studio, which has created anime titles like ID: Invaded, Good Night World and Sabikui Bisco.

Special Kid Factory follows the journey of Genpei, an ordinary boy who discovers he is a clone of Denshiin, a seasoned detective. Together, they embark on a galactic quest, solving mysteries and fighting for survival in a universe populated by “Special Kids.”

The anime’s trailer was showcased at Anime Expo in Los Angeles in July 2024.

The creative team behind Special Kid Factory includes director Atsushi Ikariya (Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf), scriptwriter Outarou Maijou (The Dragon Dentist) and character designer Yuuki Kodama (ID: Invaded).

Kasagi Labo said that it recently completed a $12 million fundraising round, led by Burda Principal Investments and other strategic partners.

We have previously discussed how the AI-oriented plot point was presented in the central narrative of the Good Night World anime series, where a personal tragedy and the overbearing presence of grief and guilt led to the creation of the AI entity Black Bird. Despite the character being projected as the series antagonist, the Black Bird raised some topical questions about human egocentrism, the nature of humanity, and life itself. But even that was not the best use of an AI-oriented narrative device in the series, that came through the character of Captain Pico, the pirate leader in the augmented reality of Planet. It is through her characterization that Good Night World gains a major relatability factor, and the way her arc is ended through an ambiguous resolution makes for an interesting discussion as well.

Spoilers Ahead

Pico, The Pirate Leader In Planet

The viewers are introduced to Captain Pico as the quirky,...

Sci-fi animes have always pushed the boundaries of the genre by introducing revolutionary concepts through some of their timeless ventures. When it came to narratives revolving around AI, the journey started way back in the 1950s, when trailblazing entries like Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy paved the way for nuanced, complex storytelling—something that iconic entries like Plastic Memories, Ergo Proxy, and Ghost in the Shell have brilliantly utilized. The complicated notions regarding the sanctity of life, identity crises, and the essence of humanity in conventionally ‘unnatural’ creations have most often found their way into AI-related anime narratives, and the recently released Good Night World is another such example.

The AI scare is prevalent in the current climate now more than ever, and the discussion demands a more understanding gaze instead of an idealistic or purely logical perspective. In that regard, the presentation of the near-omnipotent sentient AI, Black Bird,...

Pain Hustlers and new seasons of Big Mouth and Elite are among the high-profile new projects debuting on Netflix in October.

Directed by David Yates, Pain Hustlers is a crime drama set in the world of pharmaceuticals. The film, which boasts a starry cast that includes Emily Blunt, Chris Evans and Andy García, debuts on Oct. 27.

On Oct. 20, Netflix launches the seventh season of Big Mouth. The penultimate season of the animated comedy heads to high school but the awkward moments and growing pains for Andrew Glouberman (John Mulaney) and Nick Birch (Nick Kroll) continue.

Also on Oct. 20, the seventh season of global hit Elite hits Netflix. There’s more trouble in store for the students of Las Encinas with Omar Shanaa (Omar Ayuso) back, Ivan (André Lamoglia) mending a broken heart and Isadora (Valentina Zenere) dealing with her criminal family.

Earlier this month, the streamer launched Beckham, a docuseries...

In an effort to achieve perfection in every sphere of life, humanity has allowed technology to have free reign over basically everything, but in the process, it has lost its soul and created a fragmented, isolated existence where the miseries of the real world can be forgotten in the alluring virtual one. Along with the advent of AI, the combination of two synthesized reality is already dominating the world, which gives rise to the inevitable questioning of identity, reality, and conception of truth. Mangaka Uru Okabe’s masterpiece Good Night World, adapted into a Netflix anime series, meditates on the aforementioned questions and additionally alludes to some profound notions about the nature of humanity itself.

Revolving around a terribly dysfunctional family, the story of Good Night World goes to dangerous lengths while measuring up the ugly skeletal form of reality with the paradise land of simulation dedicated to wish fulfillment.

There are a few standout new releases on Netflix in October, but it’s a rather quiet month on the world’s most popular streaming service otherwise!

Highlights this month include a brand-new series from Spook Master Mike Flanagan. The Fall of the House of Usher is a gothic tale loosely based on the short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe, and tells the story of two extremely unpleasant siblings whose family dynasty ends up going to hell in a handbasket. Before you ask: yes, Rahul Kohli is in it. That’s all that a lot of people need to know here (we’re people).

Elsewhere, Netflix is dropping a few interesting-looking docuseries, including one on football legend David Beckham. It promises to be an “intimate portrait” of Beckham, and the filmmakers were apparently granted unprecedented access to the sportsman and his family while making it.

Here...

“Good Night World” an animated adaptation of the manga comics will stream October 12, 2023 on Netflix:

“…in the online game ‘Planet’, there is a powerful team of four players. This team goes by the name ‘The Akabane Family’ and its members are a pseudo-family that only exists in the game.

“The story features battles against monsters, clashes with other guilds, and the machinations surrounding ‘Black Bird’, " the final objective of the game. The tale takes a major turn as it entangles the real world and this real family…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

The manga comics series "Good Night World" has been adapted as an anime TV series, directed by Katsuya Kikuchi, streaming October 12, 2023 on Netflix:

"...a shut-in older brother. A high-achieving younger brother. A father who is not respected by his own children. A mother who neglects her own household. This is a broken family, and none of its members know that they are all players in an online game..."

Click the images to enlarge...

New Release Comic Books...

The manga comics series "Good Night World" has been adapted as an anime TV series, directed by Katsuya Kikuchi, streaming October 12, 2023 on Netflix:

"...a shut-in older brother. A high-achieving younger brother. A father who is not respected by his own children. A mother who neglects her own household. This is a broken family, and none of its members know that they are all players in an online game..."

Click the images to enlarge...