Disney+ Boosts Japanese Content Offering With Nippon TV Partnership

Disney+ has entered into a long-term collaboration agreement with leading Japanese broadcaster Nippon TV, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

What’s Happening:

The partnership between Disney+ and Nippon TV will include the co-production of Japanese-language content ranging from drama series, animation to variety shows for global release on Disney+, and for the companies to share content for their respective platforms.
The first Nippon TV series to hit Disney+ will be mystery drama The Files of Young Kindaichi, starring pop star turned actor Shunsuke Michieda. The show begins broadcasting on Nippon TV in April 2022 and it will release on Disney+ immediately afterward.
The Files of Young Kindaichi is based on the phenomenally popular manga The Kindaichi Case Files — over 100 million copies in circulation across 12 countries, according to Nippon TV — and the new version is the fifth time the property has been adapted into a season of television, stemming back to its debut on Nippon TV in 1995. The manga also has spawned an enormously popular anime series.
The partnership between Disney and one of Japan’s leading legacy broadcasters comes as the Burbank-based entertainment giant is revving up its content creation engine throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Disney+ launched in Japan in June 2020 and unveiled its first slate of 18 Asian originals last fall. The company has set an ambitious goal of greenlighting at least 50 original films and series from the region by 2023.

What They’re Saying:

Carol Choi, a Disney managing director:
- “As Disney moves into the world of local content production, we are excited to expand our collaboration with Nippon TV Holdings as one of our strategic partners, starting with a very popular title to audiences across Asia Pacific,”
Yoshikuni Sugiyama, president of Nippon Television Holdings:
- “Disney is a world leader in entertainment and a long-standing important partner for us. Over the years, we have worked together on many business initiatives. It is an incredible honor to be able to develop our relationship further and join forces to advance our global expansion.”