It’s funny how quickly the “streaming wars” went from daily drama to background noise. One minute everyone was sprinting for subscriber growth at any cost; the next, the conversation shifted to something more sober: what actually works in Asia-Pacific now that the first decade of disruption has settled into… reality. Sitting with the APAC chiefs from Netflix, Prime Video, Disney, and Warner Bros Discovery at APOS, I kept coming back to a simple question for you (and for me): what’s the next obsession viewers will rally around?
The answer, delivered with surprising alignment across companies that usually compete on everything, was clear: Japanese live-action is heating up. Not “anime,” not “Japan as a vibe,” but the real, messy, actor-driven, story-first live-action adaptations and originals that can jolt fandoms awake.
Japanese live-action, and the fandom that “wakes up”
Netflix’s Minyoung Kim described it in a way that stuck with me: there’s a kind of “sleeping” fandom that stirs when Japanese live-action hits the right nerve. The same pattern, she argued, is showing up for Chinese-language storytelling too—audiences who may look quiet on the surface, then suddenly surge when a title lands that feels authentic to the culture and satisfying to long-time fans.
Prime Video’s Gaurav Gandhi echoed the global momentum. Japanese content, he said, is having a noticeable impact far beyond the region. And while Japan was a recurring headline, he also pointed to something that’s been steadily building: Indian dramas traveling wider and becoming more mainstream internationally. If you’ve noticed Indian series popping up in conversations that used to be dominated by US or UK shows, this is that shift taking shape in real time.
Warner Bros Discovery’s James Gibbons and Disney’s Tony Zameczkowski both landed in the same place: Japan is a key growth engine. When competitors agree this strongly, I tend to believe it’s not a fad—it’s a demand curve finally getting met properly.
Chinese- and Thai-language stories are rising—quietly, then all at once
If Japan is the obvious “watch this space,” the more intriguing part is what executives described as the next wave behind it. Kim pointed directly to Chinese-language content as another category with that latent, reactivatable fan energy—stories that can go from niche to widely discussed when the right series arrives.
Then there’s Thailand. Kim’s praise was less about hype and more about craft: Thailand’s industry, she said, has become remarkably good at finding fresh stories and delivering them with high production value. That’s the kind of compliment that matters, because it speaks to a pipeline—an ability to produce not just one breakout, but repeatable hits.
If you’re a viewer, this is the moment to pay attention. The next show that takes over your feed may not be another familiar Korean juggernaut (though Korea remains a powerhouse). It might be a Thai series you didn’t expect to binge, or a Chinese-language drama that pulls you in with a premise that feels both specific and universal.
The microdrama and the vertical video question
Here’s where the room started to sound less like a traditional TV panel and more like a glimpse of the next interface we’ll all be using. Gibbons pointed to microdrama and, more specifically, the vertical video format as a trend driven by demographics and devices—meaning, people aren’t necessarily choosing it because it’s artistically superior; they’re choosing it because it’s frictionless on the screens they live on.
Zameczkowski also called microdrama a format worth tracking, but what he said next felt even more consequential: the boundaries between “creators” and “mainstream” are blurring. More talent is crossing over from platforms like YouTube into premium ecosystems, and discovery is increasingly shaped by how content is surfaced, not just what it is.
Disney recently introduced a vertical browsing feature in the US called Verts, designed to let users scroll through clips in a portrait-first experience. The implication is hard to ignore: streaming apps want to borrow the discovery mechanics of short-form platforms—not to replace long-form storytelling, but to get you to it faster.
What actually travels: local language, not “globalized” storytelling
Across the panel, the most grounded point was also the most useful: authentic local-language originals travel better than projects engineered in a lab to be “global.” Everyone has tried the second approach. Everyone has the scars. And increasingly, it’s the first approach—specific, culturally rooted, unapologetically local—that finds the wider audience.
It’s also why each platform’s first decade in APAC looks slightly different:
- Disney+ has leaned heavily into Japan and Korea, with ESPN and sports playing a meaningful role in its overall mix.
- Prime Video invested deeply in Japan and India, and has recently been ramping up its commitment to Korean content.
- Netflix has spread its activity across Japan, Korea, India, and multiple Southeast Asian markets—Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and more recently the Philippines.
Kim shared a telling internal story from Netflix’s earlier days, when US teams were labeled “Global Original” and the rest were “International Original.” Her pushback—essentially, “from where I’m sitting, you’re international too”—helped reshape thinking at the top. What I took from that wasn’t corporate semantics; it was a statement of intent: APAC isn’t an outpost, it’s a center of gravity.
WBD’s premium play, distribution variety, and the power of IP
Warner Bros Discovery has been quieter on local originals during a period of corporate transition, but used APOS to announce five new titles from Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, including a remake of Call My Manager from Erik Matti. The company has produced local content in Japan for years and is getting more active in Korea through a partnership with CJ ENM and its streamer TVing.
When asked about strategy, Gibbons framed the focus tightly: premium scripted storytelling that sparks social conversation. That’s a clear north star—less volume, more cultural impact.
On distribution, WBD is leaning into flexibility: HBO Max is available as an app in parts of Southeast Asia, is offered as an integrated service via JioStar in India, and appears in different bundles across the region. It also recently launched direct-to-consumer and via Prime Video in New Zealand. The takeaway is pragmatic: in APAC, distribution isn’t one model—it’s many models stitched together.
Gibbons also reminded everyone that Western IP still has real weight in Asia-Pacific, even as global content faces pressure. He cited Harry Potter as a prime example, with Japan and China among its strongest markets worldwide. And he made the broader point that matters commercially: fans should be able to consume IP not just through video, but through products and real-world experiences, including theme parks planned for Tokyo and Shanghai.
Asia as the lab: pricing, bundles, and soft power
One of the most interesting undercurrents was the idea of Asia not just as a growth market, but as an innovation engine. Gandhi pointed to India’s tiered offerings—like mobile plans—as “playbooks” invented locally and exported elsewhere. That’s a reversal from the old assumption that product strategy flows only from West to East.
He also framed Asia’s expanding cultural influence in terms of soft power: where global hits once mostly came from the US and Europe, now major waves come from Korea, Japan, and India. If you’re wondering why your watchlist feels more Asian than it did five years ago, that’s not an algorithmic accident—it’s a structural shift.
Zameczkowski described Disney as “just getting started” in the region and emphasized that success isn’t only about making local originals. It’s also about localizing existing US content, ensuring it’s relevant market by market, and building the right bundles and partnerships. In a fragmented region, that kind of operational humility may be the real differentiator.
And maybe that’s the new era in one sentence: less conquest, more calibration. So, what will you binge next—Japanese live-action that reawakens a fandom, a Thai series with unexpected polish, or a vertical microdrama you pretend you’re “just sampling” before it eats your evening?
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