The first episode of Godzilla: Singular Point is now streaming on Netflix... but only in Japan. Its lack of an immediate international release is predictable. Aside from a small number of anime that release full seasons at once worldwide, Netflix US has always waited to release its anime licenses in binge-able chunks. As predictable as it is, it's still frustrating for anime fans, and the mass appeal of Godzilla: Singular Point would make it the perfect show for Netflix to experiment with simulcasts.
Netflix has committed itself to the binge model of releasing, but anime thrives on week-to-week discussions rather than flash-in-the-pan streaming dumps. It's hard to imagine a series like Attack on Titan becoming nearly the phenomenon it became if there wasn't intense discussion surrounding each individual new episode. Anime fans are used to weekly releases courtesy of sites like Funimation and Crunchyroll, and news of Netflix licensing an anime is often greeted with disappointment in the fandom.
You could perhaps make the argument that, while delayed binge releases might annoy anime fans, they do help with marketing anime to casual audiences. It's hard to say for sure without having hard data on hand, but even so, it does seem like a good chunk of the general audience is gravitating more towards weekly releases. Disney+ has stuck to weekly releases, a strategy that has kept shows like The Mandalorian and WandaVision in the popular conversation far longer than most Netflix shows. Amazon's The Boys went from moderately popular in its binge-released first season to a genuine phenomenon in its episodically-released second season.
Netflix has started experimenting with weekly releases for competition and reality shows such as The Great British Baking Show and the upcoming second season of The Circle. Why not do the same with anime? If the concern is that weekly releases only benefit shows with pre-existing name recognition, then Godzilla: Singular Point would be the perfect anime to experiment with. Godzilla is a household name, and everyone's talking about the classic kaiju in anticipation of Godzilla vs. Kong's release in theaters and on HBO Max March 31. Releasing the Godzilla anime now would ride this wave of hype. Even people who don't watch anime might be curious about a well-reviewed Godzilla anime.
A desire to have everything dubbed in English doesn't quite explain Netflix's anime release patterns. Not only have simuldubs become common for other anime streaming services (albeit with increased delays over the past year due to the nature of recording from home), but Netflix has made simuldubs before -- and simply didn't simulcast them in the US. Back in 2018, Violet Evergarden was simuldubbed in four languages (English, French, Italian and Spanish) in the UK, Canada and the Philippines but still wasn't simulcasted in the US.
There's still time for Netflix to change course. Releasing Godzilla: Singular Point episodes in the US with a one- or two-week delay after their Japanese releases would be understandable, and a massive improvement over having to wait months to watch it. Godzilla: Singular Point is one of the most hyped anime of Spring 2021, and refusing to simulcast a series with this much mainstream appeal is extremely counterintuitive.
