Netflix Japan Announces New Hiroki Kazama Film, Anime ‘Sparks of Tomorrow,’ Webtoon Adaptation ‘Viral Hit,’ and Auction Show Format
Netflix is accelerating its engagement with Japanese content, unveiling four new titles during a showcase of its 2026 slate. This announcement follows a record-breaking second half of 2025 for viewing hours of Japanese programming on the platform.
Among the new films is One Year to Live, Buy a Man, directed by Hiroki Kazama. The anime offering includes Sparks of Tomorrow, based on Hiro Yuki’s ’20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku,’ alongside a live-action series adaptation of the webtoon Viral Hit and an unscripted auction show titled Doors Closed, Bids Open.
One Year to Live, Buy a Man is adapted from Toriko Yoshikawa’s 2021 novel and tells the story of Yui Katakura, a meticulous 40-year-old woman diagnosed with cancer. Given just one year to live, she embarks on a transformative journey, purchasing the companionship of Sena, a nightclub host, for 720,000 yen, leading to an unexpected romance.
Starring Ko Shibasaki and Eiji Akaso, the film features a screenplay by Yoshikazu Okada with Kazama as director. Kasumi Yao and Tsutomu Hirabayashi produce under AOI Pro. No release date has been announced.
Sparks of Tomorrow, produced by Kyoto Animation and directed by Minoru Ota, presents an alternative historical narrative where steam power defines technological evolution, casting Kyoto in a blanket of smoke. The plot centers around a boy dealing with the loss of his brother and a devout girl concealing her dreams for her late mother. Together, they seek to unlock the mysteries of the historical 20th Century Electrical Catalog.
The series is set for a July launch.
Viral Hit will make its debut even sooner, on May 28. This live-action adaptation of a webtoon by Taejun Park and Kim Junghyun follows Kota, a high school student who finds success in fighting after his school brawl is streamed online. The series is directed by Hideki Takeuchi and written by Yuichi Tokunaga, with notable actors including Ouji Suzuka and Ai Mikami.
Doors Closed, Bids Open will be hosted by Matsuko Deluxe, a renowned figure in Japanese television. This “forbidden auction show” invites a select group of bidders into a secretive club, where the items for sale remain unknown. The show is produced by Imagine, Inc., with Junji Nakayama and Shinichi Sakurai at the helm.
The announcements come amid a significant upswing in viewership for Japanese content on Netflix. During a recent digital roundtable, Kaata Sakamoto, Netflix’s VP of Content for Japan, identified 2025 as a transformative year for the platform, citing hits like Last Samurai Standing and Alice in Borderland Season 3.
Sakamoto noted that one in every two Netflix members worldwide watches Japanese anime, which has seen viewing hours triple over the past five years. He stated, “Today, discovering anime through Netflix has become part of everyday life for audiences around the world.”
In addition to these new titles, Netflix has partnered with MAPPA, the studio behind popular series such as Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu, to expand its anime offerings. The platform has also secured the streaming rights to all 47 games from the 2026 World Baseball Classic, set to take place from March 5 to March 18.
Among other titles announced at the event are One Piece: Into the Grand Line on March 10, Steel Ball Run Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure on March 19, Sins of Kujo on April 2, Straight to Hell on April 27, and Soul Mate on May 14.
Overall, Netflix is poised to release a total of 26 original series, films, and anime adaptations in 2026.
