Netflix continues to deepen its investments in live-action Japanese content, betting on the country’s continued domestic growth potential and cross-border appeal. Friday marks the 10-year anniversary of the company’s launch in the Japanese market, and the streamer unveiled a trio of buzzy local titles to mark the moment and build on its momentum.
The new series include the comedy-drama Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?, starring Japanese screen icon Koji Yakusho; Straight to Hell, a dramatization of the life of celebrity fortune teller Kazuko Hosoki; and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, the latest anime adaptation of Hirohiko Araki’s hit manga.
“Looking ahead to the next decade, Netflix will continue to push boundaries and bring unforgettable entertainment from Japan to the world,” the company said in a statement.
Did Someone Happen to Mention Me? is an original comedy drama from hitmaker Kankuro Kudo (Netflix Japan breakouts Let’s Get Divorced and Extremely Inappropriate!) and his longtime producing partner Aki Isoyama. Yakusho, one of Japan’s most recognizable stars and winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s best actor prize in 2023, plays Gen Takasegawa, a once-lauded Japanese actor who made history as the first from his country to lead at London’s Globe Theatre, only to return home after two years abroad and find that he has been inexplicably forgotten by everyone. The series probes the human obsession with recognition through the prism of a man whose reputation, family and money have vanished overnight.
“Based on Kankuro Kudo’s brilliant script — which is intricate, wild, funny, and strangely moving — I’m having a great time filming with the cast and crew, even in the intense summer heat,” Yakusho said. “This is the second time in my life that I’ve been given the role of ‘an actor.’ The shoot will be a long one, spanning into the next year, but I’ll do my best until the very end to make this a work that everyone can enjoy.”
Kudo added: “Koji Yakusho pours his heart and soul into even the most trivial lines I write … Whether you’re an actor, a screenwriter, or just someone with a social media account, everyone has a surplus of desire for recognition — they perform, exaggerate, edit themselves, and sometimes tweet unnecessary things late at night and end up feeling self-loathing. It can’t be helped. That troublesome human tendency — I’ve portrayed it as a comedy, without denying or affirming it. I hope you enjoy it.”
Isoyama said Yakusho’s casting felt inevitable: “I never could have dreamed that Koji Yakusho would end up taking the role … He has taken on an incredible number of challenges, shown us so many different sides of himself, and turned this into an unmissable drama.”
Did Someone Happen to Mention Me? is currently in production and slated to launch on Netflix in 2026.
Straight to Hell revisits the extraordinary life of Hosoki, a fortune-teller who dominated Japanese media from the 1980s through the 2000s. Hosoki became a household name — and something of a social phenomenon — with her blunt, sometimes brutal predictions (“You’ll die,” “You’ll go to hell”), while her fortune-telling books set Guinness World Records for sales. The series, starring Erika Toda, explores the darker, lesser-known chapters of her early life and her rise from postwar poverty to national notoriety.
“I knew of Kazuko Hosoki, but I didn’t know what kind of person she really was,” Toda said. “I just thought a flashy fortune-teller had shown up on TV … This story portrays the real life of Kazuko Hosoki from not so long ago — one you don’t know — and I’m certain it will draw you into this world and toss you around.”
Erika Toda as Kazuko Hosoki in ‘Straight to Hell.’
Netflix
Director Tomoyuki Takimoto admitted, “I disliked Kazuko Hosoki. Whenever she appeared on TV, I changed the channel. And yet I accepted this reckless project for two reasons … her little-known rise from post-war poverty is immensely compelling … and the powerful partner I had in Erika Toda. Through her performance, I discovered how that once-in-a-generation trickster came to be.” Straight to Hell streams in 2026.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run brings one of manga’s most celebrated arcs to the screen. Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has sold more than 120 million copies worldwide and spawned a vast multimedia franchise with its flamboyant characters and operatic storylines. Steel Ball Run, set in 19th-century America, follows paraplegic former jockey Johnny Joestar and mysterious outlaw Gyro Zeppeli as they enter a perilous, cross-continental horse race that tests their bodies, beliefs and fates.
“Steel Ball Run is a story that depicts characters running through a grand race, staking their own beliefs,” director Yasuhiro Kimura said. “My heart is pounding with excitement to be entrusted with directing this anime adaptation. The entire staff shares this feeling and is pouring their passion into daily production. I look forward to sharing our enthusiasm for this work with all of you and hope we can ride this journey together.”
The series reunites much of the acclaimed creative team behind earlier JoJo’s anime seasons, with David Production once again leading animation. Netflix will host a special event in Japan on Sept. 23 to unveil more details about the series and its launch.
Japan remains one of Netflix’s key growth engines in the Asia-Pacific region, as streaming deepens its foothold across demographics. The company surpassed the 10 million subscriber milestone in the market late last year. Some of Netflix’s biggest Japanese live-action titles are coming in the weeks ahead, including season 3 of sci-fi series Alice in Borderland, set to stream worldwide on Sept. 25, and the Meiji-era battle royale Last Samurai Standing, bowing globally on Nov. 13 (after a showcase at the Busan International Film Festival on Sept. 18).
