Anime

Why Does Netflix Only Have First Seasons of Some Anime?

Why Does Netflix Only Have First Seasons of Some Anime?

Especially when other services have more seasons.

Summary:

  • Some series, like MHA and One Piece, don’t have all their episodes on Netflix.
  • These are usually available on other streaming services.
  • If someone who doesn’t watch anime gets invested in these, they’d probably subscribe to Crunchyroll and keep their Netflix subscription, making it profitable for both companies.

If your preferred anime streaming service is Netflix, you might have wondered about their business model. Of course, everyone knows about how they prefer putting out entire batches of anime instead of simulcasting it weekly — and many fans still can’t accept the format, as for some anime to become popular, weekly discussion is crucial.

Netflix is also known for its “originals” — many of which they outright invest in production of (although for some series, they just buy their exclusive streaming rights). That said, some of the anime that aren’t “Netflix originals” are also not unique to the platform — and many of them only have their first seasons on Netflix itself.

Many Anime Are Available on Netflix — but Not Fully

One Piece used to only have selected arcs on Netflix, although they’ve been releasing more and more lately. My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) still only has 3 of its seasons on the platform. While Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) left US Netflix in 2022, the platform still used to only have the first season.

Some might be confused by this entire model. After all, why would people subscribe to Netflix, if the entire series isn’t available? Most of the time, the anime in question would already fully be on Crunchyroll or another service, and there’d be no reason to have the Netflix subscription to watch a bunch of incomplete stories.

Why It Might Be Profitable for Netflix to Only Partly License an Anime

However, there are many reasons why Netflix might opt to only license the first season. Most of these are sublicenses, with other streaming services being the actual license holders. As such, Netflix only provides a part of the full experience, as there would be no reason to put a series on the biggest competing streaming service.

Netflix being the biggest streaming service doesn’t really have to do anything with its anime catalog. It’s primarily known for its selection of live-action movies and TV series. As such, anime is secondary for them.

A lot of fans feel like these first seasons are only on Netflix to get fans invested — and they can watch Netflix originals or proceed to subscribe to Crunchyroll to watch more of their newfound favorite series instead.

As such, perhaps Netflix only licensing parts of the series is a joint effort by them and other streaming services to get viewers to subscribe. After all, this agreement profits both licensors of the series.

Do you watch anime on Netflix?

Especially when other services have more seasons.

Summary:

  • Some series, like MHA and One Piece, don’t have all their episodes on Netflix.
  • These are usually available on other streaming services.
  • If someone who doesn’t watch anime gets invested in these, they’d probably subscribe to Crunchyroll and keep their Netflix subscription, making it profitable for both companies.

If your preferred anime streaming service is Netflix, you might have wondered about their business model. Of course, everyone knows about how they prefer putting out entire batches of anime instead of simulcasting it weekly — and many fans still can’t accept the format, as for some anime to become popular, weekly discussion is crucial.

Netflix is also known for its “originals” — many of which they outright invest in production of (although for some series, they just buy their exclusive streaming rights). That said, some of the anime that aren’t “Netflix originals” are also not unique to the platform — and many of them only have their first seasons on Netflix itself.

Many Anime Are Available on Netflix — but Not Fully

One Piece used to only have selected arcs on Netflix, although they’ve been releasing more and more lately. My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) still only has 3 of its seasons on the platform. While Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) left US Netflix in 2022, the platform still used to only have the first season.

Some might be confused by this entire model. After all, why would people subscribe to Netflix, if the entire series isn’t available? Most of the time, the anime in question would already fully be on Crunchyroll or another service, and there’d be no reason to have the Netflix subscription to watch a bunch of incomplete stories.

Why It Might Be Profitable for Netflix to Only Partly License an Anime

However, there are many reasons why Netflix might opt to only license the first season. Most of these are sublicenses, with other streaming services being the actual license holders. As such, Netflix only provides a part of the full experience, as there would be no reason to put a series on the biggest competing streaming service.

Netflix being the biggest streaming service doesn’t really have to do anything with its anime catalog. It’s primarily known for its selection of live-action movies and TV series. As such, anime is secondary for them.

A lot of fans feel like these first seasons are only on Netflix to get fans invested — and they can watch Netflix originals or proceed to subscribe to Crunchyroll to watch more of their newfound favorite series instead.

As such, perhaps Netflix only licensing parts of the series is a joint effort by them and other streaming services to get viewers to subscribe. After all, this agreement profits both licensors of the series.

Do you watch anime on Netflix?