Dragon’s Dogma anime headed to Netflix

A Dragon’s Dogma anime series has been announced by Netflix. The adaptation of the popular video game series was announced as part of a larger deal. Netflix has decided to partner with a number of “leading Japanese production companies” to produce a range of anime programming. Along with Dragon’s Dogma creators Sublimation, Netflix will work with Anima and David Production.

In the statement, the Dragon’s Dogma anime is described as “Based on a world-famous action RPG set in an open world, Dragon’s Dogma from Capcom will be brought to life as a Netflix original anime series. The story follows a man’s journey seeking revenge on a dragon who stole his heart. On his way, the man is brought back to life as an ‘Arisen’. An action adventure about a man challenged by demons who represent the seven deadly sins of humans.”

Sublimation representative director Atsushi Koishikawa gave his thoughts on the deal, “Sublimation team has long dreamt of working on our own title. We have oftentimes worked with partner studios to create partial CGI portions within a given title, so we feel very fortunate to work with Netflix through this production line deal. We’re excited to bring our unique cel shaded animation that carries hand-drawn textures to anime fans around the world.”

The other partners in this deal, Anima and David Production, will be responsible for creating Altered Carbon: Resleeved and SPRIGGAN respectively.

While a deal made earlier in the year with production houses Production I.G and bones will see Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 arrive on the streaming service also. Netflix director of content (Japan) John Derderian discussed the announcement, “Netflix aims to be the most compelling and attractive home for anime fans, creators and production studios. We are creating an environment where production houses can do their best work, and deliver their shows on a service where we connect anime fans from over 190 countries to content they love.”

The announcement of the Dragon’s Dogma anime follows Netflix’s previous video game adaptations. This includes the Castlevania series from last year as well as the upcoming Devil May Cry show. Both Castlevania and Devil May Cry are being created by Adi Shankar. Adi Shankar referred to the two series as being part of a “bootleg universe”. Shankar acquired the rights for the series himself, directly from Capcom. Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma are inextricably tied together by game director Hideaki Itsuno. Itsuno revealed last month that he chose to make Devil May Cry 5 over Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Netflix did not give an expected release date for the Dragon’s Dogma anime series.