London-based company 8 Lions Entertainment announced earlier this week that it has finalized a global licensing deal with TV Asahi to distribute the Ninja Hattori anime franchise in regions outside Japan. Variety reported the agreement being announced at the Hong Kong FilMart event.
Under the new agreement, 8 Lions will distribute the Ninja Hattori anime franchise across various video-on-demand platforms worldwide, excluding Japan, and launch a network of localized YouTube channels dedicated to the anime series. The first slate of languages the anime will be released in include Spanish, Arabic, Thai, and Vietnamese.
The first Ninja Hattori-kun manga series by Fujiko Fujio A (also known as Motoo Abiko, who is one half of the Doraemon manga duo Fujiko Fujio) was published in Japan between 1964 to 1968, while a second manga series was published from 1981 to 1988.
©FUJIKO A/SHIN-EI, SHOGAKUKAN, TV Asahi
The manga inspired two TV anime series, with the first series from Shin-Ei Animation running from 1981 to 1987 and the second series from 2013 to 2015. The latter series was an Indian-Japanese co-production between Shin-Ei Animation and Reliance MediaWorks. Both series have previously been streamed in several regions by Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
A 1960s live-action TV drama series and several anime films were also released.
8 Lions describes the main premise of Ninja Hattori, via press release, as:
The series follows Kanzo Hattori, an 11-year-old ninja from the Iga mountains who moves to modern Tokyo, navigating school life and everyday challenges alongside his best friend Kenichi. Blending comedy, slice-of-life storytelling and adventure, the series centres on enduring themes of friendship, loyalty and resilience.
Sources: Variety (Naman Ramachandran), press release
