There are many differeing definitions when it comes to the term "anime." However, it is generally agreed upon that a series has to be animated and made in Japan for a Japanese audience for it to count. However, when it comes to stop-motion animation, puppet shows, and international co-productions involving Japan, fans can't seem to come to a consensus.
For the most part, if a series was made outside of Japan, it isn't anime, even if it was made in the stereotypical anime style. Netflix, however, sometimes groups anime with anime-influenced titles in order to capitalize on the popularity of anime.
9 Castlevania: The Series Isn't Completely Cut Off From Japan
Castlevania technically is Japanese in origin, as the video game series that inspired it comes from Japan. The animation team even received some assistance from D'Art Shtajio in Japan. That said, the series is generally considered Western for the most part, with American studio Frederator Studios serving as a producer.
The series deals with monster slayer Trevor Belmont fighting Count Dracula, who in turn wants to avenge his wife after she was burned as a witch.
8 Blood Of Zeus: The Series Is Something Of A Sister Series To Castlevania
Blood of Zeus, also known as Gods & Heroes, is an American animated series based around the figures of Greek mythology. It was even billed as a "Netflix original anime."
The series can be considered something of a sister series to Castlevania, as it has a similar production history. It is produced by Powerhouse Animation Studios with animation worked on by South Korean studios Mua Film and Hanho Heung-Up.
7 Trese: This Series Comes From A Comic From The Philippines
While Trese is designed to resemble an anime, it is a Filipino series with origins in a Filipino horror comic revolving around a detective who fights the forces of the supernatural when it proves too much for the police to handle.
For the most part, Trese is a Filipino production, although BASE Entertainment, its production company, is based in Singapore and Indonesia.
6 The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf: This Film Is A South Korean-American Project
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is a spin-off of the live-action series, The Witcher, a Polish-American co-production. For many anime fans, simply being animated in Japan would have allowed the film to be considered an anime production in its own right. However, the film is a South Korean-American co-production, with South Korea's Studio Mir working on it.
5 The Daily Life Of The Immortal King: It's Actually A Chinese Donghua
While Chinese donghua sometimes gets mistaken for Japanese anime, Chinese animation has become quite prominent over the years and has generated its own dedicated fanbase.
The Daily Life of the Immortal King was originally a Chinese novel before inspiring a donghua of the same name. While Western viewers may watch it on Netflix, it was originally streamed on the Chinese video-sharing site Bilibili.
4 Dota: Dragon's Blood: It's A South Korean-American Co-Production
Based on the Dota 2 video game, Dota: Dragon's Blood is an animated fantasy series produced by South Korea's Studio Mir and Ashley Edward Miller's Kaiju Boulevard, making it an international co-production.
The series revolves around a dragon knight, Davion, whose soul merges with an elder dragon and journeys with a moon princess to fight the demon Terrorblade.
3 Neo Yokio: It's Technically An American-Japanese Co-Production
When it comes to being animesque, Neo Yokio is one of the more complicated examples. It's usually considered an American production. However, various Japanese anime studios, like Production I.G. and Studio Deen, have worked on it.
Not only is its status as an anime in flux, so is its status as a Netflix Original. Although it has been billed as such by the platform, it was originally created for Fox before being optioned by Netflix.
2 The Haunted House: The Series Is A South Korean Production
In The Haunted House, also known as Shinbi Apartment, Hari and Doori are siblings who befriend a magical goblin named Shinbi who helps them fight ghosts. And with each ghost they defeat, they gain the power to summon them when they're in need.
The series' South Korean setting and references to Korean mythology should help viewers clue in on the fact that the series isn't a Japanese production but is actually from South Korea, coming from CJ ENM.
1 Voltron: Legendary Defender: Fans Aren't Even Sure If The Original Voltron Was Anime
While fans of the original Voltron series might think of it as an anime, the truth is far more complicated. It's actually an American compilation of Beast King GoLion with material from the unrelated Armored Fleet Dairugger XV mixed in.
The Netflix series, however, was animated by South Korea's Studio Mir and was produced by companies from the United States, like DreamWorks Animation Television and World Events Productions