Netflix has lined up its next Japanese original series, a mystery thriller adaptation of the hit manga Burn the House Down.
The show created by up-and-coming artist Moyashi Fujisawa, the original manga began serialization in Kodansha’s Kiss magazine in 2017 and became an immediate hit, attracting multiple adaptation offers in the year’s since.
The Netflix series, described as Anzu Murata, a young woman who infiltrates the house of the wealthy Mitarai family as a housekeeper in order to reclaim the life that was taken from her. She is greeted by the beautiful and impeccable second wife of Mr. Mitarai, Makiko, and undertakes a mission that will reveal the secrets behind a shocking fire that took place 13 years ago.
Anzu Murata will be played by popular Japanese actress Mei Nagano, while local screen veteran Kyoka Suzuki co-stars as Makiko Mitarai. Burn the House Down will be the first Netflix project for both of them.
Prolific director Yuichiro Hirakawa (The Promised Neverland, Group Demotion) will helm the series, with screenwriter Arisa Kaneko (Orange, An Incurable Case of Love) penning the adaptation. Shinichi Takahashi executive produces and Kei Haruna will produce.
Netflix says it is targeting Burn the House Down for launch in 2023.
The series joins a growing slate of live-action, Japanese-language originals for Netflix. With subscription penetration plateauing in North America and Europe, Japan represents an important growth territory for all global streaming platforms. At the end of the first quarter of 2022, Japan counted 48.4 million subscription video subscribers, with Amazon Prime accounting for 34 percent of the total, followed by Netflix with 14 percent and Hulu Japan at 6 percent, according to a report from research firm Media Partners Asia. The research found that Japanese anime represented 51 percent of consumption (i.e. time spent viewing) on SVOD platforms in Japan, with Japanese live-action content taking 18 percent, U.S. series 10 percent and U.S. movies and Korean series accounting for 7 percent each.
