Disney isn’t going to let the success of “Squid Game” all go to it’s competitors like Netflix. They have just announced a slate of Asia-Pacific films and television shows coming including live-action and anime content.

I myself am a huge Korean drama (K-drama) and anime fan so this is extra exciting to me.

It also makes a lot of sense given that Disney+ is currently available in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. In November, 2021 it will be launching in South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Disney plans on greenlighting more than 50 APAC originals in the next two years.

According to Deadline:

The new APAC projects include original productions from scripted live-action tentpole series including drama, comedy, fantasy, romance, sci-fi, crime and horror to variety shows, documentaries and anime from markets including Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Greater China and Australia. Subject to local availability, the new APAC content titles will be available on the streaming service over the next year, Disney said today.”

Among to the offerings coming to Disney+ will ‘Rookies’ which is a K-drama (rom-com) featuring K-pop star Kang Daniel.  My daughter is going to flip because they are also bringing the documentary ‘Blackpink: the Movie’ to the platform as well.

I see that some of the offerings coming are based on webtoon (webcomics) and those offerings have been quite popular recently.

There are four anime series coming including:

Black Rock Shooter Dawn Fall – Anime
A Japanese reboot animation of Black★Rock Shooter, a popular character with global fans that has spawned music, action figures, games and animation.

Summer Time Rendering – Anime
A Japanese animation based on one of the top manga titles with a cumulative total of more than 130 million page views on the Japanese web manga app Shonen Jump +.

Yojohan Time Machine Blues (working title) – Anime
New Japanese animated series is the sequel to The Tatami Galaxy. It’s the latest work by writer Tomihiko Morimi and production studio Science SARU.

Twisted Wonderland – Anime
An anime series adaptation of Disney’s popular mobile game by Aniplex.

Other projects include:

Moving
Action-hero thriller series from Korea based on the webtoon by Kang Full about three teenagers discovering their unusual powers.

Snowdrop
A romantic melodrama starring top Jung Hae-in and Blackpink’s Jisoo. Told by the creators behind the 2019 K-drama hit Skycastle.

Tokyo MER (Mobile Emergency Room)
TBS collaboration is a medical drama starring Ryohei Suzuki and Kento Kaku.

Susah Sinyal (Bad Signal)
A comedic drama series adapted from the 2017 movie follows a group of hotel employees managing a classy resort hotel in West Java.

Bumilangit
Produced by Screenplay Bumilangit under the creative vision of director Joko Anwar, the property’s first series will be launching soon.

Small & Mighty
The comedic drama about self-discovery features Chen Bo-Lin in his first Taiwanese drama since In Time With You.

Delicacies Destiny
The Chinese period drama is veteran producer’s Yu Zheng’s newest endeavor into food rom-com, following Story of Yanxi Palace.

Shipwreck Hunters
The first Australian documentary for Disney+ centers on iconic shipwreck mysteries in Western Australia’s vast coastline.

Luke Kang, President of Disney Asia Pacific offered the following statement:

“Disney is “combining the global resources of the company with the best content creators from Asia Pacific to develop and produce original stories on Disney+. With over-the-top services going mainstream, emergence of world-class content from Asia Pacific and rising consumer sophistication, we believe that this is the right time for us to deepen our collaboration with the region’s best content creators to deliver unparalleled storytelling to global audiences.”

Jessica Kam-Engle, Disney’s APAC Head of Content & Development added:

“Our production strategy is centered on working with the best local storytellers in the region, leveraging our brand power, scale and dedication to creative excellence.”

I’m glad that streaming is bringing other cultures and shows to main stream. Other platforms, like Netflix, have been doing it for awhile now, but Disney is joining in. Likely because they need subscribers to stay competitive and the APAC content is in demand.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!

Source: Deadline